Chief Judge Ed Carnes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit opened a memorial service for the late Judge Phyllis Kravitch on Monday by illustrating her sense of humor about jurists' liberal and conservative reputations.

Kravitch, who died in June at the age of 96, presided over one of the first three-judge panels Carnes joined after he was confirmed to the court in 1992.

Carnes understatedly recalled that he wasn't perceived to be as sympathetic to criminal defendants as Kravitch was. Critics had opposed him for his handling of death penalty cases for the attorney general of Alabama.