Views from the Bench
| Publication year | 1992 |
| Pages | 40 |
| Citation | Vol. 5 No. 3 Pg. 40 |
Romania in Transition and Personal Reflections
David Sam, Judge.
Last August, it was my privilege to be assigned by the United States Department of State to visit Romania, the land of my heritage, with five other judges. I was fortunate to be accompanied by my wife, Betty. At the request of the Romanian government, we met with officials from the Romanian Ministry of Justice, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, law school deans, professors, students, leaders of the human rights movement and local government representatives to discuss a variety of subjects relating to Romania's transition from communism to democracy.
The other members of the U.S. delegation included delegation leader The Honorable Jane Roth, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit; The Honorable Patricia M. Wald, U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia; The Honorable Nely L. Johnson, Judge, Circuit Court of Appeals, Multnomah County, Oregon; The Honorable Frank A. Kaufman, Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland; The Honorable Samuel L. Bufford, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of California; and Amy L. Schwartz, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs. It was an honor to be in the company of such outstanding individuals, and to observe how effective they were in their assignments. We, as a group, received tremendous support from the United States Information Service ("USIS") personnel in Washington and in Bucharest.
Romania is a beautiful land inhabited by warm, hospitable people. It covers approximately 91, 699 square miles — somewhat smaller than New York and Pennsylvania combined — with a population of nearly 23 million. The principal cities are Bucharest (2.1 million+), Constanta (290, 000+), Iasi (284, 000+), Timisoara (282, 000+), Cluj-Napoca (262, 000+), and Brasov (262, 000+). Romania occupies the greater part of the lower basin of the Danube River System, which contributes to its ability to produce an abundance and variety of farm crops and its reputation for being the bread basket of Europe. The Carpathian Mountains and Transylvanian Alps run through the central and northern regions of the country, giving variety and further enhancing the beauty of the land.
Our conference took place in Poiana Brasov, a ski resort in the Carpathian Mountains. Although some of the larger cities, such as Bucharest, appeared grey (general lack of grooming and upkeep because of the recent revolution and poor economic conditions), the country and mountains were lush and beautiful. The land is dotted with many historic monasteries, such as the monasteries of Bukovina, and castles, which are attractive and interesting to visit. We were taken to the beautiful live-in, as opposed to fortress, castle at Sinaia, which was the residence of some of the Romanian Royal families. We felt it was the most beautiful building of its kind we had ever seen.
Also impressive was the ancient city of Sighisoara, home of Vlad IV, the Impaler. Otherwise known as Count Dracula, he is of particular interest to American tourists. Our Romanian hosts appeared troubled that Americans have made a folklore vampire out of one of their national heroes from the 15th century. Vlad defended their land against the invading Turks and was much feared by the invaders because of his ferocity in battle. Our hosts were anxious to set the record straight and point out the important role he played in their proud history. We also visited "Dracula's Castle", where he was imprisoned for a short period of time. Dracula's Castle is being restored and will be an important tourist attraction and I expect future American tourists will be told the real story of Count Dracula by their Romanian guides.
On Sunday, August 18th, we were taken to one of the large cathedrals in Bucharest. We...
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