The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
City native Judge Patricia Wald dies at 90
TORRINGTON — Judge Patricia McGowan Wald, a native of Torrington who was the first woman appointed to and to serve as the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, died Jan. 12. She was 90.
Charlene LaVoie, an attorney who operates the Office of the Community Lawyer in Winsted, said she learned about Wald’s death from her obituary in the New York Times.
“We’re talking about one of the most distinguished jurists, a human rights advocate, and a role model for women, throughout her career,” LaVoie said. “She hits every bell.”
LaVoie never met Wald, but remains impressed by the judge’s career of advocacy and hard work. She recalled a story in Wald’s obituary about her education.
“One interesting thing I do know about her is that she went to Connecticut College for Women, (now Connecticut College) when it was a women’s college, in New London,” LaVoie said. “She was able to go there because she got a scholarship from a woman in Torrington. I don’t know who it was, but it was someone who had money, who was somehow aware of this young woman, who maybe said to herself ‘she needs this.’ She gave her this vote of confidence and the money to start this amazing career.”
LaVoie called Wald “amazing and distinguished.”
“What a life she had,” she said. “What else can you say? She’ll be missed.”
Wald was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame in 2011. At that time, the Hall of Fame described her as a woman who “shaped policy and championed justice in the U.S. and around the globe.”
“As the first woman appointed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Judge Wald paved the way for future generations of women in the legal profession,” the Hall of Fame said on its website. “After her retirement from the federal bench, she went on to serve on the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, hearing cases involving the former Yugoslavia. Known for her practical handling of cases involving the rights of women, children and the poor and her trailblazing approach to international law, her career in public service has had a lasting impact by showing the humanitarian role the law can play both at home and abroad.”
In the Hall of Fame’s story, Wald was quoted as saying, “I see the law as a way to translate our most fundamental aspirations and goals for an open and orderly society that treats all people in the community with respect and in keeping with their behavior toward others and as a vehicle in which to move our society and everyone in it to a better place. It doesn’t always work out that way in the short run, but I never stop trying.”
Wald was born Patricia McGowan on Sept. 16, 1928, the daughter of Joseph McGowan and Margaret O’Keefe.
“Shortly after her birth, Joseph McGowan left his family, leaving Margaret to raise their daughter,” according to her biography from the Hall of Fame. “Alone and lacking resources, Margaret moved in with her mother and began working in a factory. Though she had not finished high school and no one in the family had ever attended college, she was determined that her daughter would go to college and have the opportunity to lead a different kind of life.”
After graduating from high school, Patricia McGowan won a scholarship to Connecticut College for Women where she was encouraged by one of her teachers to
“We’re talking about one of the most disinguished jurists, a human rights advocate, and a role model for women, throughout her career. She hits every bell.”
Charlene LaVoie, an attorney who operates the Office of the Community Lawyer in Winsted
consider law school, according to the Hall of Fame.
“In 1948, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and first in her class and won a scholarship to Yale University Law School. One of only 11 women in her class, she excelled and became Case Editor of the Yale Law Journal, graduating with honors in 1951,” her bio reads with the Hall of Fame. “Two law school professors recommended her for a federal clerkship with Judge Jerome Frank, on the Second Circuit. Though it was unusual for women to have federal clerkships at the time, Judge Frank believed in giving women opportunities and the experience proved invaluable.”
McGowan married Bob Wald in 1952 and moved to Norfolk, Va., where he was stationed with the Navy. Wald raised five children and “continued to pursue professional interests, researching and consulting on poverty issues and the criminal justice system,” according to the Hall of Fame story.
The New York Times reported that as a mother and wife, Wald left her job as a law clerk for 10 years to raise her children. She said she had no regrets for doing so, and assumed she would return to work eventually, which she did.
“I did not want to go back to work until my kids were in regular school,” she said, though she added, “I respect other women’s choices to go back earlier.”
In May 1972, Wald was honored by Connecticut College for her work on the National Conference on Bail and Criminal Justice. She co-authored the book “Bail in the U.S.” in 1964, which helped reform the nation’s bail system, according to a New Haven Register article from 1972.
“This work led to her appointment by President Johnson to the President’s Commission on Crime in D.C.,” the Hall of Fame bio said. “Three years later, in 1967, she re-entered the legal profession as an attorney in the Department of Justice’s Office of Criminal Justice.”
Wald left the Justice Department and joined the innovative Neighborhood Legal Services Program in Washington, D.C., in 1968.
“Her interest in the root causes of crime and violence led to further research on drug abuse and, in 1971, she turned her attention toward public interest law, joining the Center for Law and Social Policy, one of only two public interest firms in existence at the time,” her bio said. “She worked on cases primarily involving children, mental health, and disability rights.”
President Jimmy Carter appointed Wald assistant attorney general for legislative affairs in 1977, and she was then appointed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1979.
“Though her confirmation was not a smooth process, the U.S. Senate finally approved her nomination and Judge Wald became the first woman appointed to the D.C. Circuit Court, often referred to as the nation’s second most important court after the Supreme Court,” the Hall of Fame wrote.
Wald remained on the court for 20 years, and became a chief judge in 1986. In addition to her responsibilities as a federal judge, in 1994, Wald became active in the American Bar Association’s Central and Eastern European Law Initiative, designed to provide technical advice for establishing new judicial structures in the new democracies emerging from the former Soviet Union.
When she retired from the bench in 1999, she was appointed as a U.S. representative to the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague and served a two-year term on the court, hearing cases related to the former Yugoslavia.
“This new assignment posed many challenges for Judge Wald and her colleagues as much of International Law had not yet been written,” according to the Hall of Fame. “She quickly rose to a leadership role within the court and through her leadership helped to establish standards and procedures to ensure the rule of law and the respect of human rights.
In 2004, President George W. Bush appointed her to the President’s Commission on Intelligence Capabilities of the U.S. Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, an independent commission charged with evaluating the intelligence and policy decisions that led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Hall of Fame said. In 2010, Wald began serving on the Constitution Project’s Guantanamo Task Force.
Wald received many honors and awards and was recognized by the Constitution Project as the 2011 Constitutional Champion.
In 2013, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.