Conn. high court needs a Black woman, too

Of the 115 people who have served as U.S. Supreme Court justices, none has been a Black woman, although people of color represent 40 percent of the U.S. population. But there's a glaring omission in our home state judiciary, as well.

Astonishingly, Connecticut has never had a Black woman sit on its own Supreme Court. Connecticut lags behind Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Oregon in naming a Black woman to its high court.

In the 238-year history of the Connecticut Supreme Court, there have only been three Black men, one Latina woman, one member of the LGBTQ community and four white women justices. According to my research, all other 122 justices have been white men.

Full equity to the people of Connecticut is less likely without diverse perspectives. We need the skills of a judge who has lived as a Black woman.

I've avoided this discussion until now because of rumors that I was among the short list of candidates for the state Supreme Court. Having retired from the bench, I now feel liberated to address this topic.

Sadly, until 2020, Connecticut didn't even have a Black woman on our appellate court. The omission was remedied when Gov. Ned Lamont appointed the well-qualified Judge Melanie Cradle, a former prosecutor and young star in the criminal trial courts.

There are far too many overqualified Black women jurists and lawyers for there to be a reasonable excuse for not having one on my home state's Supreme Court.

State supreme courts decide critical issues that affect the lives and livelihood of their state residents. Where state law is concerned, the buck stops with these state courts of last resort.

As the home of three law schools, Connecticut loses far too many talented legal minds due to a lack of opportunity.

Such was the case in 1931, when Jane Matilda Bolin chose to pursue a legal practice in New York, after having lived in New Haven for three years while attending and graduating from Yale Law School.

Such was also the case when New Haven native Constance Baker Motley opted not to return to Connecticut as a practicing lawyer, though she continued throughout her life to have a residence here.

Such is the case every time a Black woman comes to one of Connecticut's dozens of institutions of higher education and then opts to establish a thriving legal career elsewhere.

Connecticut has too many diamonds in our backyard to be satisfied with courts that lack the diversity they deserve.

We know that diverse groups reach better, more well-reasoned and carefully considered outcomes. Thus far, the Connecticut Supreme Court has lacked the input of a Black woman to its detriment.

This commentary is not criticism of current or past justices. Connecticut has been well-served by a particularly strong appellate judiciary.

But each time the state Supreme Court has become more diverse, it has become stronger. As when Robert Glass became the first Black justice; or when Ellen Peters became the first woman justice; or when Carmen Espinosa became the first Latina Justice; or when Raheem Mullins became the youngest justice in the court's history; or when Andrew McDonald became the first openly LGBTQ justice; or when Richard Robinson became the first Black chief justice. Each elevation has led Connecticut's Supreme Court to become one of the strongest in the nation.

It's time to appoint a Black woman to the Connecticut Supreme Court.

Connecticut's current bench and bar include numerous qualified candidates. Among them are national legal scholars such as UConn School of Law Dean Eboni S. Nelson, Assistant Dean Karen DeMeola, Professors Nadiyah Humber and Willajeanne F. McLean. Also, Yale Law School Professors Tracey L. Meares and Monica C. Bell.

There are leaders in the legal community such as Vanessa Avery in the state attorney general's office; Leander A. Dolphin, managing partner of Shipman Goodwin; Elicia Spearman, general counsel and vice president of Quinnipiac University; and Moy Ogilvie of McCarter English.

And such rising stars as Christine Jean-Louis, also in the state attorney general's office and, of course, any of the 11 talented Black women jurists serving on the Connecticut Superior Court, including (but certainly not limited to) Judge Dawne G. Westbrook, the administrative judge of Tolland and the chief administrative judge for juvenile matters, or former New Haven Family Presiding Judge Erika Tindill.

2022 seems the perfect time for the appointment of the first Black woman to the Connecticut Supreme Court, just as it is the time for the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Retired Connecticut Superior Court Judge Angela Robinson is counsel with Halloran and Sage. She is the Waring and Carmen Partridge Faculty Fellow and visiting professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law. She is also the author of “First Black Women Judges: The Story of Three Black Women Judges in the United States.”