Public Defense

Chief Justice reflects on first year at helm

By Gideon

Wow, it’s already been a year since the CT Supreme Court got a new Chief Justice. In an interview with WFSB, Justice Rogers reflects on a year at the head of the Court.

Part of her agenda for the past year has been courthouse security:

As she met with judges during her first year in the state’s top judicial job, Rogers said she heard the same concern over and over: There’s a lack of security in Connecticut courthouses.

Judges across Connecticut, particularly those working in older buildings, confided that they don’t feel safe.

“They shouldn’t,” Rogers said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “There’s not adequate security for these buildings.”

She asked for additional funding for more marshal positions, but that money didn’t make it into the Governor’s budget.

She has also focused on opening the courts to the public and the media, which some have not taken to too kindly (*cough*Norm*cough*), and has asked a Commission she appointed to re-examine how judges are evaluated.

She formed a 42-member Public Service and Trust Commission, which has held more than 90 focus group sessions and spent thousands of hours on a three- to five-year strategic plan for the branch that is due to be released soon.

The ideas range from making sure all courthouses open at 8:30 a.m. to reaching out to minority law students and encouraging them to seek judgeships or apply for Judicial Branch jobs.

Despite all this, she has found the time to author 30 opinions. Thirty!

From what I’ve seen of her in oral argument, I’ve been impressed. She seems to be extremely well prepared and asks intelligent, pertinent questions. For my CT practitioners: what are your impressions of her first year in office?

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Full post as published by A Public Defender on April 09, 2008 (boomark / email).