Connecticut has lost a great citizen and a remarkable jurist with the passing of former state Supreme Court Justice David M. Borden, 79, on Sunday. The state’s courts are far better today because of him.
Justice Borden’s fingerprints are on just about every significant improvement in the state’s courts, from writing the penal code to crafting the evidence code to authoring the decision that set the standard for admission of scientific evidence. It took a few tries, but in 2014 he persuaded lawmakers to pass a bill giving juveniles with long prison sentences a second look. In the past few years, he helped improve the reliability of all-too-fallible eyewitness identification in the criminal justice system.
But his finest moment, in our view, was in 2006, when he exposed wrongdoing at the highest level of the judiciary, to the consternation of some of his colleagues. The state Supreme Court chief justice at that time, William J. Sullivan, had furtively withheld the release of a sure-to-be-controversial decision exempting certain court records from the Freedom of Information Act so that it wouldn’t hurt the chance of his chosen successor, Justice Peter Zarella, who was waiting to be confirmed. Justice Borden wouldn’t stand for such subterfuge. Mr. Sullivan eventually resigned and Justice Zarella’s nomination was withdrawn.
As acting chief justice, Mr. Borden then restored the courts’ damaged integrity and repaired its reputation for secrecy by asking a task force of journalists, judges, lawyers and laymen to recommend reforms. He championed dozens of needed changes in a judiciary that had grown cloistered and accountable only to itself. Those changes include posting criminal dockets online, opening meetings of the judiciary’s rules committee and letting cameras into courtrooms. Today’s courts are far more transparent thanks to him.
He wasn’t just the “Big Brain on the Court,” as Courant columnist Colin McEnroe once called him. He was a beloved mentor to those inside and outside the judicial system. It’s hard to overstate his impact for good in this state. His loss is deeply felt.
