Louis Scolnik

One of Maine’s most prominent jurists and a leader in the civil rights movement turns 100 today.

His family’s “Valentine baby,” Justice Louis Scolnik (known as Lou or Louie to his friends) is a Navy veteran; a career lawyer known for his unstinting commitment to the rights of minorities; a justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court who dissented frequently from the majority; a passionate lover of animals; a skilled lifelong jazz sax player; and a devoted husband, father and grandfather.

Scolnik was the youngest of five, born and raised in Lewiston and the apple of his parents Julius and Bessie’s eye.

Following stints in the U.S. Navy and a career as a prominent local attorney, Lou was appointed to the Maine Superior Court in 1974 and then, in 1983, to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, from which he retired in 1988.

Far beyond his service to the law, Scolnik’s life tells a story of commitment to those less fortunate. He came from humble beginnings. His parents were first-generation immigrants from Ukraine, and Jewish at a time when Jews were often singled out and discriminated against. Scolnik, who was educated in the Lewiston public schools, recalls how his mother would send him to school with potato latkes in his pockets, unwrapped.

Upon graduation from high school, he attended Bates College both as a civilian and as a member of the Bates V-12 Navy officer training program. He served as an officer in the Pacific Theater in World War II, eventually commanding LCI(L) 776, an amphibious landing ship.

Scolnik returned to Bates to complete his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1947, and then turned his attention to law. He received his LLB degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., in 1952. He recalls the advice of a professor who urged him to return to his hometown to practice law, and not to work for the government.

And return to Lewiston he did, running his own single-attorney practice until 1974, when Gov. Kenneth Curtis appointed him to serve on the Maine Superior Court.

A hallmark of Scolnik’s legal career both on and off the bench was his commitment to civil liberties. While a lawyer in private practice he served as Maine’s Chair of the Maine Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and as a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Human Rights. In 1968, he helped organize and became the first president of the Maine chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Among other roles, Scolnik also served as corporation counsel for the City of Lewiston from 1957 to 1962, as counsel to the Central Maine Branch NAACP from 1962 to 1969, and as counsel for the Lewiston Housing Authority and the Lewiston Urban Renewal Authority.

Though Scolnik won numerous awards throughout his career, his greatest pride came in 1989 when he was presented with the Roger Baldwin Award, named for the late founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, in recognition of his lifelong service to civil liberties.

In the same year, the Maine Civil Liberties Union established the Justice Louis Scolnik Award, which annually honors members of the legal community who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the protection of civil liberties. Scolnik himself received the eponymous honor for lifetime achievement in 2019.

In an editorial in the Portland Press Herald on Sept. 27, 1989, about the Roger Baldwin award, the writer said, “If Maine has a reputation for the high quality of its judiciary — and it does — certainly Scolnik’s 16 years of intelligent, principled service on the bench contributed greatly to it.”

Throughout his life, Scolnik has been a passionate and accomplished jazz musician on the tenor saxophone and clarinet. He played in various dance bands during his high school and college years and even had a jazz trio on board his ship in the Pacific. His passion for jazz continues to this day.

As he still enjoys telling people, “I wasn’t a hanging judge, but a swingin’ judge.”

Justice Scolnik was married for nearly 70 years to Paula Scolnik, with whom he had three daughters, Nina, Donna and Julie, as well as three grandchildren, Sophie, Sasha and Ted.

Paula passed away after a long illness in 2018. During her final years Scolnik was devoted to her care.

He now lives independently in Andover, Massachusetts, with the loving support of his nurse, Sandy, and his children and grandchildren.

Michael Brower of Brookline, Massachusetts, is a son-in-law of Louis Scolnik. His wife is Julie Scolnik, daughter of Louis.