Louis Pollak (1922-2012)
posted by Dave Hoffman
From the federal courthouse comes the very sad news that Senior District Court Judge Louis Pollak has died. Judge Pollak, a jurisprudential giant, mentor to many, and former dean of both Yale and Penn Law Schools, served on the bench from 1978 until his death. He will be missed.
(Update: The Inquirer’s brief obituary is here, though obviously there is much more that could and will be said.)
May 9, 2012 at 10:55 am
Posted in: History of Law, Jurisprudence, Law Practice
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Responses (5)
Howard Wasserman - May 9, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Very sad news. I knew his clerks both years I was on EDPa and it looked like the most unique clerkship–a perfect combination of a district court and appellate court clerkship because Judge Pollak spent so much time sitting by designation on the Third Circuit.
Orin Kerr - May 9, 2012 at 7:21 pm
I met him once or twice, and he seemed like a mensch and a true gentleman.
Shag from Brookline - May 12, 2012 at 7:11 am
The NYT obit noted that Judge Pollak would come off the bench at criminal trials to shake the hands of defendants. We may never find out, but I wonder how these defendants reacted. Were those handshakes demonstrative of the presumption of innocence in his court?
Joe - May 12, 2012 at 11:27 am
The bit about letting the defendant to be alone with her child and articles like “Louis H. Pollak, Teacher and Friend,” suggest the hand shaking reflects a certain respect for the humanity of the defendants. I don’t know about presumption of innocence. Perhaps. But, like a handshake in the robing room with people you think are very wrong, I think it might go beyond that.
Shag from Brookline - May 13, 2012 at 4:57 pm
Comment #3 correction: this was based not on a NYT obit but Lincoln Caplan’s column on 5/10/12 at the Editorial Page. (Today’s Sunday NYT has an obit on Judge Pollak that does not make reference to his handshakes but emphasizes his connection with Brown v. Board of Education, a great contribution.
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