He was elected to a 14-year term as a Supreme Court Justice in 1973 with multi-partisan support and would rule his courtroom with an iron fist , using his stentorian voice to chide prosecutors , defense attorneys and even witnesses as he saw fit . He presided over the case involving the 1990 Happy Land fire , in which 87 people were killed at an unlicensed social club . In remarks made before he sentenced the convicted arsonist to 25 years in jail , Roberts pointed out that the club had been visited months before the fire and had been ordered closed after multiple fire code violations were discovered , saying " there are many to be blamed , " for the tragic results of the fire " not just Julio Gonzalez " . The Happy Land fire trial was a model for the way he ran his courtroom , allowing " No histrionics . No emotion run amok . " He would feel free to interrupt any lawyer or witness who strayed off the topic or rambled . Roberts later oversaw negotiations with families of the victims that led to a settlement of $ 15.8 million in 1995
Happy Land fire
Happy Land fire
Burton B. Roberts