Federal Judge Haddon Lee Sarokin died last month. While not a Connecticut native, nor a Connecticut judge, his rulings set the stage for several Connecticut cases and his bravery served as a model for many judges. Justice Robert Berdon, of course, comes immediately to mind.

Judge Sarokin was born in New Jersey and grew up in a Jewish immigrant family. His father, who had emigrated from Russia, was a newspaperman from whom the judge inherited a tart and playful writing style, as well as a willingness to challenge powerful institutions and actors. Sarokin was a serious jazz drummer through college, touring Europe in 1949 with a band before his senior year, but eventually his father re-directed him to the path of the law (the judge remained a committed musician, performing into his 90s, and while on the bench kept an eye out for talented law clerk applicants with a knowledge of jazz).