Kevin Thomas Duffy ‑ an American lawyer and United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York – died from Covid-19 on April 1, 2020.
Born on January 10, 1933, in the Bronx, Duffy received a bachelor's degree from Fordham University in 1954 and a Bachelor of Laws from the Fordham University School of Law in 1958.
He clerked for Judge J. Edward Lumbard at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1955–1958). Duffy served as an Assistant United States Attorney (1958–1959) and assistant chief of the Criminal Division (1959–1961) at the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York before going into private practice as an associate with the New York City firm Whitman, Ransom & Coulson (1961–1966).
He later became a partner with Gordon & Gordon (1966–1969). Duffy was later appointed New York regional administrator of the Securities and Exchange Commission office (1969–1972). His tenure as Regional Administrator of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission was in a time of turmoil in Wall Street. He is viewed by many as having been the first proponent within the Commission of what eventually became Securities Investor Protection Corporation or SIPC.
On September 25, 1972, Duffy was nominated by President Richard Nixon to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge Irving Ben Cooper. Duffy was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 12, 1972, and received his commission on October 17, 1972. At that time, he became the youngest member of the federal judiciary. He assumed senior status on January 10, 1998. He retired from active service on September 30, 2016.
Duffy lived in Greenwich, Connecticut and Southampton, New York at the time of his death. He and his wife, Irene, had four children. Because of his work in presiding over terrorism cases, Duffy was under security protection by the United States Marshal Service for ten years.
Duffy died from complications of COVID-19 at Greenwich Hospital on April 1, 2020, at age 87.