The New York judge and former political activist Gustin Reichbach has died at the age of 65 after a lengthy bout with cancer. Reichbach was a leading figure in Students for a Democratic Society at Columbia University in the 1960s, before going on to become a New York State Supreme Court judge in Brooklyn. Reichbach helped lead the notorious 1968 Columbia student strike. Appearing on Democracy Now! to discuss the strike’s 40th anniversary, Reichbach reflected on the historic protest.

Gustin Reichbach: “There was some transcendent issues involved. We came together — Tom talked about the powerlessness that people felt, the powerlessness about being able to stop the war, the powerlessness in confronting an institution that had an incredibly paternalistic and controlling aspect to it. So, part of this coming together — and it’s really a spontaneous coming together — was because we thought in some small way that we could be agents or wanted to be agents in the course of history, and we shared this electric moment where collectively all our hearts were touched by a certain passion and fire.”

In May, Reichbach wrote a New York Times op-ed acknowledging he used medical marijuana to help him cope with the painful effects of his cancer treatment.