{"id":193,"date":"2017-03-15T18:46:41","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T22:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/?post_type=article&p=193"},"modified":"2017-03-16T12:30:25","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T16:30:25","slug":"diane-cookie-polan-an-extraordinary-life","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/article\/diane-cookie-polan-an-extraordinary-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Diane \u201cCookie\u201d Polan: An Extraordinary Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Anne M. Hamilton<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reprinted with permission of<\/em> The Hartford Courant [original piece available here<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Cookie Polan\u2019s political sensibilities became apparent in high school when she refused to stand for the National Anthem at a Jets game. Her sense of right and wrong shaped her career as a courageous, committed, outspoken criminal defense lawyer.\u00a0 \u201cShe was all about protecting people\u2019s rights and making sure they were treated fairly,\u201d said her sister.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a tiger; smart, relentless, a renowned civil rights attorney extraordinaire,\u201d said Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford, the presiding judge of the New Haven Superior Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was fearless. It didn\u2019t matter how hard the case was\u201d said Jim Bergenn, a Hartford lawyer and close friend. \u201cShe was strong and zealous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diane Polan\u2014everyone called her Cookie \u2014died October 21 of a rapid-moving, rare brain tumor. She was a resident of New Haven, where she had lived since being part of the first class of women undergraduates at Yale. She was 65.<\/p>\n

She arrived in New Haven in the fall of 1969 to study political science, the year that Yale President Kingman Brewster disappointed many conservative alumni by opening the college to women.<\/p>\n

Polan soon discovered that admission was not the same as equality: the number of women admitted was a fraction compared to the number of men, and the college climate reflected more than a small amount of male privilege. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a very welcoming environment for women; the vibe wasn\u2019t positive,\u201d said her sister, Kelly Polan. The time she spent in New Haven, however, politicized Cookie.<\/p>\n

In the spring of 1970, New Haven was rocked by the trial of Black Panther leader Bobby Seale, who was accused of murdering a party member thought to be an FBI informant. There were protests against the war in Vietnam, and many students also became immersed in civil rights and women\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n

Polan worked as a paralegal for Catherine Roraback, a lawyer representing Ericka Huggins against murder charges. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on either Seale or Huggins\u2019 case, and a judge dismissed the charges against both.<\/p>\n

Polan joined New Haven\u2019s first feminist law firm, Levine, Kuriloff and Polan. In her mid-30s, she decided she wanted a child, and had twin daughters, raising them as a single mother. She opened her own law practice, and worked with a partner, Max Simmons, until she became ill.<\/p>\n

When the New Haven Public Defender\u2019s office needed a lawyer in private practice to take a case, she was at the top of his list, said Tom Ullmann, a senior public defender in New Haven. Once, after a conference in chambers, the judge remarked: \u201cDiane: every time you leave my chambers I feel like I have to check my pockets.\u201d It was a backhanded compliment. \u201cHe was really saying, you put one past me again,\u201d Ullmann said.<\/p>\n

In 1985 Polan was asked to participate in the trial of 16 advocates for Puerto Rican independence who were accused of robbing $7 million from a Wells Fargo delivery truck. The legal team was comprised of some of the country\u2019s top criminal defense lawyers\u2014and Polan, who was only five years out of law school.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was wicked bright,\u201d said Bergenn, another member of the defense team. Charges against Polan\u2019s client were ultimately dismissed.<\/p>\n

A longtime member of the National Lawyers Guild, Polan was honored in October with the Champion of Liberty Award by the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. In remarks at the ceremony, which Polan was too ill to attend, \u201cShe is steadfast in her work for the poor and the disadvantaged, and tireless in her advocacy against racism and gender discrimination,\u201d Ullman said.<\/p>\n

Polan is survived by her wife, Linda Barrett, two daughters, Maya and Rosa, a sister, Kelly, and a brother, Michael Miller. Her older sister Susie died in 1993.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Anne M. Hamilton Reprinted with permission of The Hartford Courant [original piece available here] Cookie Polan\u2019s political sensibilities became apparent in high school when she refused to stand for the National Anthem at a Jets game. Her sense of right and wrong shaped her career as a courageous, committed, outspoken criminal defense lawyer.\u00a0 \u201cShe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"issuem_issue":[93],"issuem_issue_categories":[],"issuem_issue_tags":[96],"class_list":["post-193","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","issuem_issue-guild-notes-vol-42-no-1-spring-2017","issuem_issue_tags-in-memoriam","post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t