The obituaries for Thomas Meskill Jr. have largely focused on his time as Connecticut governor and congressman. But the legal community knew Meskill as a longtime judge on the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Appointed in 1975, he was still serving as a senor judge when he died last week at age 79.
Among those who clerked for him is Melanie Abbott, now a professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law. Abbott said she didn’t share Meskill’s Republican political philosophy, but she came to agree with virtually all his legal decisions.
