David M. Borden

David M. Borden
Connecticut Supreme Court Justice
In office 1990–2007
Nominated by	Governor William A. O'Neill

David M. Borden (August 4, 1937 – August 7, 2016) was a Connecticut Supreme Court Justice from 1990 to 2007.

Borden was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1937. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College in 1959 and his Bachelor of Laws degree from Harvard Law School in 1962. Upon graduating, he entered private practice in Hartford, Connecticut in 1962 and continued until 1977.

Borden played an important role in reforming the Connecticut judiciary, serving as executive director of the Commission to Revise the Criminal Statutes of the State of Connecticut from 1963 to 1971 and as principal architect of the 1969 Connecticut Penal Code. Judge Borden also served as Chief Counsel to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary (of the State of Connecticut), as judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1977 to 1978, and as judge of the Superior Court from 1978 to 1983. Additionally, he was president of the Connecticut Judges Association from 1981 to 1983.

In 1983, following a reorganization of the Connecticut court system, Borden became one of the six original judges of the Connecticut Appellate Court. Seven years later, in 1990, he was nominated to the Connecticut Supreme Court by Governor William A. O'Neill, a position he held until his retirement in 2007. Prior to his retirement, at the mandatory age of 70, Borden was the Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, following the resignation of Chief Justice Sullivan, who stepped down after it was revealed he delayed the release of an unpopular decision regarding the state's Freedom of Information Commission http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR278/278CR144.pdf so that his chosen successor, Justice Zarrella, would be elevated to the Court's top position. As acting Chief Justice, Borden formed the Public Access Task Force,http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/news/PATF_remarks_052506.pdf composed of judges, journalists, and attorneys to develop recommendations to ensure the Court's openness. Borden accepted most of the Task Force's recommendations,www.jud.ct.gov which have paved the way for an expanded transparency of court proceedings heretofore un-heard of in not only Connecticut, but in other state Supreme Courts. The Task Force was chaired by Justice Richard N. Palmer who co-authored with Borden a letter outlining their concerns about then-Chief Justice Sullivan's apparently deliberate decision to delay release of the FOI case, Clerk of GA7. Borden authored a dissent in that opinion, joined by Justices Norcott and Katz http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR278/278CR144E.pdf

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