Thomas M. Stark (1925–2014) was born in Riverhead, New York, and graduated from Holy Cross College and Harvard Law School. Over his long career on the bench, including twenty-nine ...view moreThomas M. Stark (1925–2014) was born in Riverhead, New York, and graduated from Holy Cross College and Harvard Law School. Over his long career on the bench, including twenty-nine years as a New York State Supreme Court justice, Stark developed a reputation as a tough but fair-minded jurist with a deep knowledge of criminal law. “We needed a judge who absolutely could not be pushed around,” wrote the prosecutor in the trial of Ronald DeFeo Jr. “The only judge in Suffolk County who possessed that kind of total control was Thomas M. Stark.”view less