[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 107 (Friday, July 19, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S8370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE DEATH OF U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE T.F. GILROY DALY

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I would like to pay tribute to a great 
public servant and one of the most honorable figures ever to serve on 
the Federal bench in the State of Connecticut, U.S. district judge T.F. 
Gilroy Daly, who died of cancer on Thursday, July 14.
  A true giant of jurisprudence, Judge Daly was a former Army Ranger 
who stood 6 foot, 6 inches and presided over his courtroom with a regal 
presence. People commonly described Judge Daly as the epitome of what a 
judge should be. He was known for his impeccable character, his sense 
of fairness, and his unwavering commitment to the ideals of justice.
  Judge Daly brought a wealth of life experience to the court, which 
shaped his career on the bench. After serving our country in the Korean 
war, Judge Daly worked as an assistant U.S. attorney, prosecuting 
organized crime cases in the Southern District of New York. After 
leaving the Justice Department, Judge Daly held a number of full and 
part time statewide posts in Connecticut, including deputy attorney 
general, deputy treasurer, and insurance commissioner.
  Judge Daly gained prominence as a trial lawyer and demonstrated his 
sense of justice in the early 1970s when he took an unpaid leave from 
his State position to defend a young man who had been wrongly convicted 
of murder. After a 6-week hearing, he won a new trial for his client, 
and charges against the young man were eventually dropped after a grand 
jury investigation cleared him.
  In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Judge Daly to the Federal 
bench. he served as chief judge from 1983 to 1988, and he is credited 
with modernizing the Connecticut court system and significantly 
reducing the backlog of cases before the court. During his time on the 
bench, he presided over a number of high-profile trials and earned a 
reputation among defense attorneys and prosecuters as a stern, but 
fair-minded jurist. He ruled on numerous complex and potentially 
volatile issues involving discrimination in municipal hiring, State 
police interrogation methods, and public corruption.
  He was particularly known for handing down harsh sentences to corrupt 
public officials who came before him. Being a man of such high moral 
standards, Judge Daly held a particular disdain for anyone who betrayed 
the trust of the general public. Judge Daly believed that without the 
people's trust, government cannot function effectively, and his career 
was dedicated to maintaining the integrity of the Constitution and 
protecting the rights of the general public.
  Judge T.F. Gilroy Daly never lost sight of the fact that law is a 
public service profession, and his legacy will live on for years to 
come. He will be remembered as one of the most accomplished figures 
ever to preside in a Federal court, and he will be sorely missed by the 
people of Connecticut.
  My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Stuart, and his four 
children Timothy, Loan, Matthew and Anna.

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