Catherine G. Roraback Dies at 87

Civil rights attorney Catherine G. Roraback, board member emeritus of the ACLU of Connecticut, died October 17 at age 87. A Canaan resident, she was one of the nation’s foremost legal advocates for civil liberties.

She was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. Though her father came from a prominent family of Litchfield County lawyers, he became a Congregational minister and both parents were social activists. She received degrees from Mount Holyoke College and Yale University Law School, where she was the only woman in her class. After law school she developed an active civil and criminal trial practice both in New Haven and later in Canaan. In the early decades of her career she was one of the few women practicing in Connecticut courts.

Long before the advent of public interest law, Roraback made it part of her practice to protect the legal rights of "dissenters and the dispossessed". During her 50 year career, she litigated several landmarkcases, including Griswold v. Connecticut, which established reproductive health rights for women, securing the right to birth control and establishing a constitutional right to privacy. She then litigated Women v. Connecticut, the Connecticut counterpart to Roe v. Wade, which struck down Connecticut's anti-abortion statutes. She defended the Black Panthers in New Haven, civil rights workers in Mississippi, and citizens in the denaturalization proceedings during the McCarthy era.

Roraback helped found the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union in 1948 and served as legal counsel to Planned Parenthood of Connecticut. She was the former president of the National Lawyers Guild (1973-1985), and a former board member of the national American Civil Liberties Union (1973-1985). She also served on the board of the Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund and was the recipient of numerous legal honors and awards for making lasting contributions to the health and well being of the citizens of Connecticut and the nation. Often called the "least flamboyant of radical lawyers," Roraback was known for her meticulous research and dedication to her clients, and as a deeply influential role model to many of Connecticut's most notable trial lawyers.

Link to biography in Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Bill Curry Tribute: Catherine Roraback's Enduring Gift