Slain Arizona judge devoted to family

U.S. District Judge John Roll, who served nearly 40 years and was shot and killed last weekend, along with five others, during the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords, was remembered Friday at his funeral for his devotion to the law, family, faith and fairness.

Thirteen others were also wounded by a lone gunman in Tucson, Ariz., including Giffords, the local congresswoman who was shot in the head.

Security was tight at the funeral, Four big coach buses brought dozens of judges who knew Roll over the years. Dignitaries including Senator John McCain and former U.S. vice-president Dan Quayle attended. Quayle presented a handwritten message from former Republican president George H.W. Bush, who appointed Roll to the bench.

At the funeral, Roll's older brother, Ed, recalled how the family had moved to Arizona from Pittsburgh because their mother was in poor health. She eventually died when Roll was 15.

Ed Roll told mourners his brother changed his middle name from Paul to his Irish mother's maiden name, McCarthy, to keep that part of the family alive.

Roll's three sons were among the pallbearers, and family members and two federal judges gave readings.

Roll, 63, was heralded as a stern but fair-minded judge on the bench and as a fun, family-loving man outside court. He was Roman Catholic and attended daily mass. He had just come from a service when he stopped by the local Safeway to see Giffords.

Roll is survived by his wife, Maureen, three sons, and five grandchildren. Roll walked his two basset hounds around the neighborhood every morning, and seemed inseparable from his wife.

He was no stranger to death threats and controversy during his years on the federal bench.

Two years ago, Roll presided over the case of 16 illegal immigrants who had sued border rancher Roger Barnett, saying he threatened them at gunpoint, kicked them and harassed them with dogs. Roll upheld the civil rights claim and allowed a jury to hear the case.

Roll has also taken a leading position in pressing for more courts and judges to deal with the dramatic increase in federal cases caused by illegal immigration. A week before his death, he declared a judicial emergency in southern Arizona as the number of federal felony cases more than doubled, from 1,564 to 3,289.

Roll's funeral comes a day after the funeral for the youngest shooting victim, Christina Taylor Green, 9, as some 2,000 mourners said goodbye to her in the same Tucson church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Roman Catholic Church.

Meanwhile, at a press conference earlier Friday, Dr. Michael Lemole, the neurosurgeon treating her, said doctors are "actually confident."

Giffords's eyes are opening more frequently and she can carry out more complex sequences of activity in response to commands and on her own. He said doctors couldn't have hoped for better improvement, given the severity of the Democratic politician's wound.

The others who were wounded are also doing well, and one, Ron Barbar, was released from the hospital to attend Roll's church funeral.