The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Court fight coming
Malloy’s pick for chief justice faces opposition
The first battle of the 2018 election season is set for Monday, when lawmakers consider the man who may become the first openly gay state Supreme Court chief justice in the United States.
It’s shaping up to become a proxy fight, with conservative Republicans, including two gubernatorial hopefuls, importing Washington-style partisanship against Democrats and a disliked governor in his final year. The atmosphere has been heightened by homophobic internet attacks from fringe groups.
Stuck in the middle is state Supreme Court Justice Andrew J. McDonald, of Stamford, whose nomination to replace Chase T. Rogers will be the subject of a public hearing Monday morning before the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee.
McDonald was a longtime legal adviser to Dannel P. Malloy, dating to Malloy’s tenure as Stamford mayor. A former state senator who was cochairman of the Judiciary Committee, McDonald left the General Assembly following Malloy’s 2010 election as governor to become his Capitol legal counsel. Malloy nominated him for a post on the Supreme Court in 2013.
‘One of the smartest people’
McDonald declined to comment, but the governor said his former adviser has the experience to lead the high court.
“He’s brilliant,” Malloy said. “He’s one of the smartest people I have ever met. All I ask is that he be judged on the answers to questions and on what he’s written. At the end, if there are reasonable differences, so be it.”
Malloy and Democrats, with a nominal majority in the Senate and a narrow 79-72 edge in the
House, are critical of GOP attempts to take a tactic from Washington and push for a delay in the appointment of a new chief justice until after the next governor takes office in January.
Criticism of McDonald has been led by Tim Herbst, the former Trumbull first selectman, and state Rep. Prasad Srinivasan, R-Glastonbury, both of whom are running for governor.
As recently as Wednesday, during a GOP debate in West Haven, Herbst railed against McDonald several times, criticizing his links to Malloy.
“I’ll tell you what the swamp is,” Herbst said. “When the governor of the state of Connecticut nominates his best friend and political adviser to be the chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court with limited judicial experience.”
A website called thefamilycourtcircus.com, referred to McDonald’s nomination under a headline called “Jewdicial Sodomites.” The ultra-conservative Breibart news site, claims opposition is growing against McDonald because he is a “progressive judicial activist.”
In 2009, McDonald, as co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, came under fire from Catholics after scheduling a public hearing on a bill that would have rewritten century-old church incorporation rules. The legislation was filed on behalf of parishioners dealing with million-dollar embezzlement cases in Greenwich and Darien. Roman Catholic officials considered the bill a threat to the state law that makes individual parishes liable for legal action, protecting the dioceses. Church officials bused in hundreds of church members from throughout the state to protest.
Republican Senate Leader Len Fasano, of North Haven, said he will listen to Monday’s testimony and he has been reading through decisions McDonald has written.
“I like Andrew, personally,” Fasano said. “I think he’s a good guy, but it’s about where he believes the role of the Supreme Court is.”
Sen. Michael McLachlan, R-Danbury, a veteran fiveterm member of the Judiciary Committee, said the big question is whether McDonald is qualified to run the Judicial Branch. McLachlan has filed several requests with the Judicial Branch in connection with McDonald’s nomination.
‘A dangerous trend’
“This is a very unusual job in government,” McLachlan said. “You’re appointed and you’re never answering to voters. You’re supposedly answering to the Legislature. Justice McDonald has been on the court for five years, but without judicial-management experience. He wasn’t a chief judge in a Superior Court district.”
Meanwhile, a group of the state’s top lawyers has warned all 151 House members and 36 senators that recent reviews of judicial nominees indicate “a dangerous trend ... increasingly partisan in tone and increasingly focused on political concerns.”
The 45-member group, which calls itself the Ad Hoc Committee of Concerned Lawyers, includes the deans of the University of Connecticut, Yale and Quinnipiac University law schools, as well as the state’s major law firms and organizations.
Senate President Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said McDonald’s experience in the Legislature, in the Capitol as the governor’s counsel and his Supreme Court tenure make him uniquely qualified.
Looney said while some might characterize McDonald as an activist judge, he has made many decisions in which he has supported the Legislature’s role. Looney said McDonald’s understanding of the “totality” of state government makes his candidacy even more attractive.
“He’s lived it all, rather than just dealing with it in theory, over the last 15 years,” Looney said.
A tradition of qualifications
“Andrew is a good friend of mine, someone I served with,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. “He is eminently qualified to be chief. I am deeply disappointed and frustrated by the Republicans in our state who may use Andrew’s nomination for some kind of political tool because they may not like him personally, or the person who appointed him.”
Sen. Beth Bye, D-East Hartford, expects opposition during the hearing.
“There are definitely some folks lining up
against him,” Bye said. “I think it’s because of his strong advocacy for LGBT rights. The courts are there to stand up for people and for individual rights. But there are other groups that were not happy with his stands.”