[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5526-5527]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING ROBERT SATTER

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, today I wish to pay tribute to the 
extraordinary life and immeasurable legacy of long-time Connecticut 
legislator and Superior Court judge, the Honorable Robert Satter, who 
passed away on January 16, 2012, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The 
symbolic meaning of this coincidence resonated with many who admired 
Judge Satter for his crusading work on behalf of civil rights and equal 
opportunity.
  After serving in the Navy during World War II, Bob dedicated himself 
wholeheartedly to the law, first as a well-known attorney in Hartford 
where he took on controversial death penalty cases. In 1959, Bob won a 
seat in the Connecticut Legislature, attributing his successful 
campaign to the path previously blazed by Democratic Governor Abraham 
Rubicoff. He served in the Connecticut Legislature until 1961 and then 
again from 1963 to 1966 where he is known for fighting for society's 
most marginalized. As a State legislator, he penned Connecticut's first 
civil rights bill that targeted discrimination in housing sales. 
Starting in 1966, Bob served as general counsel to the Democratic 
legislative majority, and was nominated to the bench in 1975 as a 
Connecticut State judge. Although officially retiring at the age of 70, 
Bob served as a senior judge and trial referee--only vacating this role 
when he was too ill to continue serving.
  As an attorney, legislator, Superior Court Judge and then as a senior 
judge,

[[Page 5527]]

Bob continually challenged himself, presiding in many difficult and 
controversial cases and always working to make laws to serve the people 
of Connecticut.
  He constantly made the time to give back to future generations of 
lawyers, teaching courses such as Constitutional Law at Trinity 
College, Liberties of an American at the University of Hartford, 
Administrative Law at the University of Connecticut's Graduate School 
of Political Science, and the Development of Social Policy at Yale 
University. Bob is a legend at the University of Connecticut Law 
School, where he taught a Legislative Process course for 27 years.
  Bob achieved national renown, but was also well known personally 
throughout his local community, participating in informal groups, 
including book, poker, and writing clubs. In his last column for the 
Connecticut Law Tribune, ``The Last Word on a Long, Rich Life,'' Bob 
wrote of his appreciation for practicing law in Hartford as opposed to 
New York City where he started out his legal career. In the greater 
Hartford area, Bob wrote, ``I found time to participate in the 
community.'' He created the Hartford Community Renewal Team, which was 
Hartford's first agency dedicated exclusively to combatting poverty, 
and in his last published newspaper column, he wrote that he ``would 
drop any legal matter to come to its assistance.''
  This humanity is clearly evident in Bob's essays and books--true 
gifts to future generations. When he turned 90, he wrote in the 
Hartford Courant: ``Internally, I am a bunch of memories of people I've 
known, events I've experienced, books I've read and poems I can still 
recite. More and more I live in that interior space, recalling the 
past. When I die, that presence and circuitry will vanish.'' 
Respectfully, my own view is that his memories will endure through the 
family and friends that adore him, his legal accomplishments will 
withstand time, and his ``presence and circuitry'' will be ever 
vibrant.
  Although he served Connecticut for more than 5 decades, Bob's 
contributions were immeasurable. Connecticut has lost a great mind, 
teacher, and integral part of its political and progressive 
infrastructure. Connecticut and the Nation will never forget this great 
man. He lives on through his words and his tremendous acts of vision 
and courage as well as his passion for life, the law, and the State of 
Connecticut.

                          ____________________