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20 ¦ FEBRUARY 1, 2021 NEWS

Get to Know Judge Victor Bolden

By Robert Storace

Calling the late U.S. Supreme him a better and more rounded ju-
Court Justice Thurgood Mar- rist.
shall one of his legal heroes,
U.S. District Judge Victor Bolden “With the NAACP Legal De-
fense and Educational Fund, I got
of Connecticut said he’s proud to to work on housing and employ-
have worked for the same organiza- ment and voting rights. It was just
tion as Marshall: as counsel for the wonderful. The NAACP has such a
NAACP Legal Defense and Educa- rich history and did some ground-
tional Fund Inc. breaking work. … Working for the
Bolden, who as of this month legal defense and educational fun, I
has served six years on the federal learned and appreciated the work
bench based in Bridgeport, said he the organization has done histori-
learned a lot from Marshall’s ca- cally to advance the cause of justice.
reer, as well as his time with the civil They took on fundamental issues of
rights organization. Bolden served fairness,” Bolden said.
as assistant counsel from 1994 to Bolden, who grew up in the Med-
2000 and then as general counsel ford neighborhood of Long Island,
from 2005 to 2009. U.S. District Judge Victor Bolden New York, said he never had any
While Bolden never met Mar- of the District of Connecticut. desire to be anything other than an

shall, he has met several members Courtesy photo attorney.

of his family, including his widow Cecilia, who was “I didn’t know any lawyers growing up, but there
a member of the organization’s board of directors. was this notion of a lawyer, this image you picked
“Thurgood Marshall was a mentor to me, one of up from the media, that lawyers helped people ob-
many. Marshall had an extraordinary life and ca- tain justice. It’s the notion of serving others that
reer, including his amazing achievement as one of appealed to me,” Bolden said in an interview Tues-
the attorneys in Brown v. Board of Education. That day.
was the most important legal decision in the history In addition to his work with the NAACP and the
of legal law,” said the 55-year-old judge. ACLU, Bolden also worked for five years at Wiggin
Bolden, a New Haven-area resident, continued: and Dana in New Haven and for five years as corpo-
“Thurgood Marshall went around the south dealing ration counsel for New Haven before being named
with criminal matters and voting rights cases and to the federal bench.
he argued many of them before the U.S. Supreme Bolden, who received his law degree from Har-
Court and was successful. He then went on to the vard Law School in 1989, is also a member of the
Second Circuit Court of Appeals, to solicitor gen- American Bar Association’s litigation section and is
eral of the United States, and to associate justice of president-elect of the New Haven County Bar As-
the U.S. Supreme Court. What a career.” sociation.
Bolden, who said he wanted to be an attorney ¦

from as early as 12 years old, said working for the Robert Storace covers legal trends, lawsuits and
NAACP, as well as the four years he worked as staff analysis for the Connecticut Law Tribune. Follow
attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union him on Twitter @RobertSCTLaw or reach him at
Foundation’s National Legal Department, made 203-437-5950.

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