The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was at the heart of President Joe Biden’s push to reshape the federal judiciary, as the aging bench lost some of its most revered members in 2021.

The year was marked by the sudden passing of Robert A. Katzmann, the court’s former chief judge who died in June at the age of 68 after quietly battling pancreatic cancer. His passing came on the heels of Peter W. Hall’s death in March following his own cancer diagnosis.