Longtime CT Federal Judge Dies

CONNECTICUT —Longtime U.S. District Judge Dominic Squatrito, 82, died Wednesday after serving in the court for more than 25 years.

Squatrito was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

“This is a very sad day for the federal court of Connecticut,” said Chief U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in a statement. “We have lost a colleague and dear friend. We will always remember Dom as a humble and compassionate jurist who was fearlessly devoted to ensuring fairness and equal justice to all who appeared before him.”

Judge Jose Cabranes with the Second Court Court of Appeals recalled Squatrito as an,“untiring guardian of equal justice for all.”

He graduated from Manchester High School as a star athlete in football, track and field and swimming, according to a statement from the U.S. District Court. He went on to attend Wesleyan University and served as co-captain of the football team.

While at Wesleyan he was the chief organizer of the Wesleyan Committee on Civil Rights helped collect funds for civil rights demonstrators in the South. He also

Squatrito also attended the University of Florence on a Fulbright scholarship and obtained his law degree from Yale University in 1965. He worked in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice while in law school where he primarily focused on cases involving voter registration disparities.

He joined the law firm Bayer and Phelon after graduating from law school and eventually became a partner at the firm.