Kennedy, Edward M.

English

Penn Law: Legal Scholarship Repository

300 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA LAW REVIEWA TRIBUTE TO LOUIS H. POLLAKEDWARD M. KENNEDY tI take great personal pride in accepting the invitation of theUniversity of Pennsylvania Law Review to pay tribute to my goodfriend Louis Pollak. However one defines "Renaissance Man," onewould be hard pressed not to include within the definition of thatelusive term, Lou Pollak. He is an accomplished author, a leadingeducator, a superb lawyer, a determined humanitarian, and now apillar of the federal judiciary. His accomplishments during thepast thirty years bear witness to his extraordinary gifts. As a dis-tinguished graduate of both Harvard and Yale, he served as lawclerk to Supreme Court Justice Wiley Rutledge. During the nextyears Lou Pollak could be found working briefly in private practice,then in the State Department before becoming Assistant Counselto the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. Later, he became both aprofessor and Dean of the Yale and University of Pennsylvania LawSchools.And these are only the highlights. Lou Pollak has been in-volved in causes not well known but in the long run truly char-acteristic of the man: a director and vice-president of the NAACPLegal Defense Fund and Chairman of the New Haven HumanRights Commission.Justice Benjamin Cardozo once wrote that a great judge is halfhistorian and half prophet. That statement, written many yearsago, is still true today. Its truth is at the heart of the promise thatLou Pollak holds for our Federal judiciary.And yet, at first blush, one might wonder why this distinguishedscholar would want to be a judge. After all, he has already achievedmore honors and success than one could reasonably search for in alifetime.The answer, I believe, can readily be found by examining hisaccomplishments. Lou Pollak's entire career has been guided byone underlying principle-the challenge and rewards of publicservice. It is in the public arena that he is most comfortable. Hehas witnessed first-hand the importance and value of the law as asword to rid the Nation of injustice. He recognizes that the lawmust grow and change in order to react to modern society.Lou Pollak has spent thirty years searching and working towarda better and more just society. This larger vision has led him tof United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.[Vol. 12.7:283LOUIS H. POLLAKchallenge laws that served as barriers to racial and economicjustice, to defend Ralph Abernathy and the other freedom riders,and attack Florida's anti-miscegenation law; this larger vision hasprompted him to question both the constitutionality and efficacy ofthe death penalty and unregulated wiretapping; this larger visionhas led him to deplore Soviet treatment of Russian dissidents; thislarger vision has led him to deplore American involvement in VietNam.Nor does Lou Pollak limit his involvement and commitment tonational issues. His vision of a just America resulted in his workingas a member of the New Haven Board of Education to desegregatelocal schools and raise the level of education.One should not, therefore, be surprised by Lou's recent de-cision. It is as obvious and consistent as his accomplishments of thepast thirty years.Lou Pollak's measured voice is truly half that of a historian,half that of a visionary. And since judicial decisionmaking, in itshighest form, is both discovery and creation-a process requiringboth an understanding of the past and a vision of where decisionswill and should lead in the future-Judge Pollak will be an excep-tional jurist. His ascension to the federal bench brings honor toone of the nation's most distinguished law schools, and it is a majorvictory for our Nation and for the principle of equal justice underlaw.1978]

Tribute to Louis H. Pollak

https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4831&amp;context=penn_law_review

Tribute to Louis H. Pollak

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