Former state Supreme Court Justice David M. Borden served as acting chief justice for just one year but when he died Sunday at 79 both judicial and elected officials praised his extraordinary legacy of transparency in a court system that was badly in need of it.

Justice Borden served on the Supreme Court from the time of his appointment by Gov. William A. O'Neill in 1990 until his mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2007.

Perhaps it was his age, which would have prevented him from taking over as chief justice, that contributed to his selection to fill the role in an acting capacity for the last year of his tenure. But it was also the respect in which he was held, and he proceeded to show why.

Justice Borden drew praise for ordering at least a half-dozen measures to make the business of Connecticut courts more open, as recounted in an editorial in The Day midway through that year,.

In the ensuing decade some changes became not only routine but obvious, such as televising the judges' debates on the state Supreme and Appellate Courts.

Justice Borden sagely initiated steps toward transparency in a political climate that might shortly have led to changes in law or even the state Constitution, had the judicial department not begun to refresh its practices. The situation had come to a head because the former chief justice, William Sullivan, had attempted to ensure the appointment of his chosen successor by hiding a Supreme Court decision that might have hurt the nominee's chances. Justice Borden filed a complaint over the matter with the state Judicial Review Council.

Under Justice Borden's brief but intense tenure he created the Judicial Branch's Public Access Task Force, a group that made a series of recommendations for transparency that the acting chief justice then ordered put into place.

In keeping with a new law inspired by the Sullivan scandal, he started the practice of posting criminal docket information online. He encouraged judges to open departmental meetings, including those that developed rules for Superior Court proceedings.

And in an action that still resonates, he established and served on a judicial media committee meant to improve both judges' and lawyers' dealings with the press and journalists' understanding of courts and trials. With enthusiastic participation from both sides, the committee continues to alternate the annual Law School for Journalists and Journalism School for Judges programs.

Long before his tenure on the Appellate and Supreme Courts, Justice Borden had already left his mark as a reformer of juvenile sentencing and a leader in developing the Connecticut Penal Code. Long afterward he took on the leadership of the General Assembly's Eyewitness Identification Task Force, intended to improve the identifying of suspects.

Justice in Connecticut is better administered and better understood because of David M. Borden.