The Judge | Character. Cases. Courage.

Judge Merhige’s Legacy

The Judge – Character, Cases, Courage, is a feature length documentary film centered on Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr.’s tenure on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in Richmond, VA.

Immediately following his appointment to the U.S. District Court by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967, Judge Merhige was handed a full docket of landmark cases. Thus he embarked on what can be conservatively described as an extremely momentous, and at times tumultuous, 31 year tenure on the Eastern District bench.

News & Events

Producer Al Calderaro & Director Robert Griffith began filming The Judge – Character, Cases, Courage, in 2017. After 30 interviews and hours of research, they released the film in January 2021.

The project began in 2015 when Calderaro became interested in Judge Merhige after moving into an office building owned by the Judge’s son Mark. His existing knowledge of the Judge led to further research on the Judge’s career, and what he learned convinced him and Dir. Robert Griffith that the Judge’s career was indeed worthy of a documentary.

Judge Merhige’s Legacy

The Judge – Character, Cases, Courage, is a feature length documentary film centered on Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr.’s tenure on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in Richmond, VA.

Immediately following his appointment to the U.S. District Court by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967, Judge Merhige was handed a full docket of landmark cases. Thus he embarked on what can be conservatively described as an extremely momentous, and at times tumultuous, 31 year tenure on the Eastern District bench.

News & Events

Producer Al Calderaro & Director Robert Griffith began filming The Judge – Character, Cases, Courage, in 2017. After 30 interviews and hours of research, they released the film in January 2021.

The project began in 2015 when Calderaro became interested in Judge Merhige after moving into an office building owned by the Judge’s son Mark. His existing knowledge of the Judge lead to further research on the Judge’s career, and what he learned convinced him and director Robert Griffith that the Judge’s career was indeed worthy of a documentary.