Judiciary Committee Backs Mullins as Next Chief Justice in Nearly Unanimous Vote

The legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted overwhelmingly to allow Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Raheem L. Mullins to begin serving as chief justice following a Monday public hearing in the Legislative Office Building.

The committee approved Gov. Ned Lamont’s nomination of Mullins in a nearly unanimous vote, which will permit him to fill, on an interim basis, a vacancy left by the recent retirement of Chief Justice Richard Robinson. His nomination will need to be approved by the legislature after January, when lawmakers will convene for the 2025 session.

Throughout Monday’s hearing, legislators questioned the justice about his judicial background and philosophy while Mullins described his goal of fostering a more technologically advanced Judicial Branch.

“My vision for the Judicial Branch is this: to leverage technology so that we can enhance access, efficiency and transparency with the ultimate goal being to better serve our citizens,” Mullins told the committee.

Mullins has served as an associate justice on the state’s high court since he was nominated by then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. At the time, Mullins was the youngest justice to serve on the state’s Supreme Court. Prior to that nomination, he served on both the Connecticut Appellate Court and Superior Court.

Mullins represents the second Black man to serve as chief justice of Connecticut’s Supreme Court, following his immediate predecessor, Robinson.

During Monday’s hearing, Sen. Gary Winfield, a New Haven Democrat who co-chairs the committee, said it was important for policymakers to recognize the impact of the state’s past, including its historical tolerance of slavery.

“While some may feel that we’ve done a good job in this state, we had humans in bondage and when we released them from bondage, we did it gradually,” Winfield said. “So, the system we have here thought it was appropriate to do that.”

Mullins said he felt it was important to remember both the opportunities he had received and the people who came before him.

“From the first time I was appointed to the Superior Court, I saw many people in the New Haven GA that looked just like me and could have been me when I was 17 — I could have gone a very different path and didn’t, and that always makes an impression on me, on how I treat people and how I approach the opportunities that I do have because I could have been that kid that went a different direction,” Mullins said.

State Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, was the only lawmaker on the judiciary panel to vote in opposition to Mullins following Monday’s hearing.

Posted By Hugh McQuaid