José A. Cabranes, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit, Portrait Dedication [51:00-54:46]

And I have no reason to doubt that, although I have not seen the birth certificate. But accepting that fact as I do and honor him for it, my point is that that's not his only heritage. There are other strands to the heritage of this distinguished fellow. One may surprise you, it is the strand of Connecticut Yankee. I suspect you didn't know that. But if you examine the brilliant account of the history of the District of Connecticut that he authored some years ago, you will see evidence. He not only surveyed the history of this district in the late 1790s, but he delighted in dwelling on the name of the second second judge of the District of Connecticut. Judge Pierpont Edwards. You don't get more Connecticut Yankee than Pierpont Edwards. He then went on to discuss a case that was handled in the early days, brought by a plaintiff whose name was Jedithan Cobb. This is all out of the Judge Capronis' lecture. Jedithan Cobb. So he delights in recounting Connecticut Yankee history. He's very good at it. Now there's another strain. Perhaps a little better known to you. It's the New York strain. I don't mean just that he spent many years in Queens and was active in New York political and civic affairs. I mean the extent to which he brings New York lore into his opinions. I give you an example. Taking a fairly obscure case that came to our court from the National Labor Relations Board. The Judge wrote, our subject is labor relations at Katz's delicatessen, a landmark rough and ready eating establishment on the northern precincts of Fable Lowery's side. It is a legendary site of pilgrimage by among others domestic political campaigners and foreign visitors in search of photo opportunities placing them in a New York setting authenticated by the proximity to hot pastrami and stuffed dharma. He went on. Katz's has earned a reputation for its contribution to the national defense. Having advertised its take-out menu with the immortal rhyme, send a salami to your boy in the army. And he continued with the fact that Katz's delicatessen was visited by Vice President Gore and Premier Chamorrand. And he quoted the owner as saying, we'll treat them rudely like we treat everyone else. It's part of the New York ethos. Who but a New Yorker would write lines like that. Another case that caught my attention illustrating this point is one that began, this is his opinion, the question presented in this case concerns a rarely celebrated but instantly recognizable feature of everyday life in New York City subway breaks.