Robert I. Berdon (December 24, 1929 – October 31, 2019) was a justice of the

Connecticut Supreme Court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, ac ...

from September 4, 1991 to 1999.

Education and career

Berdon earned both his undergraduate and an LL.B. degree from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

, graduating from the University of Connecticut law school in 1957. Berdon worked for sixteen years in private practice before entering his political career. In 1970, Berdon ran for and was elected

Connecticut State Treasurer The Connecticut State Treasurer serves the office of treasurer for the state of Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Ma ...

. He received national attention during his tenure, first in 1972 when refused to give up his office space at the Capitol, even when an eviction notice was served. Another significant feat during Berdon's tenure occurred when Connecticut won a seat on the PBW Stock Exchange in Philadelphia, "becoming the first public body to gain membership on a stock exchange." In 1973, he was appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court, and after being passed over for the position by Governor William A. O'Neill following a controversial 1981 ruling requiring the state to pay for

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

s for poor women, in 1991 he was elevated to the Connecticut Supreme Court by Governor

Lowell Weicker Lowell Palmer Weicker Jr. (; born May 16, 1931) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the 85th Governor of Connecticut. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president in 1980. He was ...

. Berdon stepped down in 1999 after reaching the mandatory retirement age, but continued working as a state trial referee until 2014. Berdon was married until the death of his wife in 1992. Berdon died in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berdon, Robert I. Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court 1929 births 2019 deaths University of Connecticut School of Law alumni 20th-century American judges