Gov. Ned Lamont nominated attorney Nora R. Dannehy to the Connecticut Supreme Court on Sept. 1. Dannehy, a well-known former prosecutor who previously served as Lamont’s general counsel, represents the governor’s second attempt this year to fill a vacancy on the high court.
“Nora Dannehy is a person who knows what she knows, but you also know that she cares – she cares deeply about justice,” Lamont said during a morning press conference announcing her nomination. “She’s going to be an extraordinary justice on the Supreme Court and we’re going to move this along in this special session coming up in just a few weeks.”
Dannehy served as the 49th U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 2008-2010 and was the first woman to hold the position. She previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy U.S. Attorney in that office, beginning in 1991. She specialized in the prosecution of white collar and public corruption cases and was called upon to supervise national investigations during her tenure with the Department of Justice.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and Attorney General William Tong praised Dannehy for her counsel during the coronavirus pandemic when the governor’s emergency executive orders were admired by the state’s residents.
Through her work as an attorney, Dannehy shares some professional experience with Sandra Slack Glover, Lamont’s first appointment to fill the seat vacant by former Justice Maria Araújo Kahn, who resigned earlier this year after being confirmed to serve as a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Glover, chief of the appellate unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of the State of Connecticut, withdrew herself from consideration for the position in May after it became clear that she lacked adequate support to secure approval from the legislative committee.
Much apprehension expressed surrounding Glover proceeding in the running stemmed from her previous advocacy for now-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. In 2017, Glover wrote a letter to Democrats on the Judiciary Committee in support of Barrett. This prompted concerns over Glover’s commitment to protecting abortion rights, given Barrett’s role in overturning Roe v. Wade.
Like Glover, some advocates and lawmakers worry that former prosecutors are over-represented on Connecticut’s benches. Dannehy’s nomination reinforces those concerns.
The People’s Parity Project, a group that lobbies to balance the court with judges from different backgrounds like public defenders, issued a statement arguing that Lamont failed to take the right lessons from the failure of the Glover nomination.
“While Attorney Dannehy is a very experienced attorney, we are disappointed to see the Governor nominate yet another prosecutor to the state’s highest court when we still do not have a single appellate-level judge with experience in public defense, legal aid, or civil rights,” group director Steve Kennedy said.
Democrat Sen. Gary Winfield, a member of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and chair of the Judiciary Committee, had pressed Lamont to cast a broader net for judicial nominations.
“The concerns are that a lot of picks we’ve seen in judicial nominations are very much of the same mold, if you will, with prosecutors and others with not too dissimilar backgrounds,” Winfield said on Friday. “The governor understands that concern, and I believe it was a fruitful conversation.”
Lamont, who has been sensitive to addressing racial and gender disparities in the courts, assured Winfield that diversity of all kinds was important to him. “I think people appreciate the fact we’ve had the most diverse group of jurors that we put on the court over the last four and a half years. And we wanted to make sure we maintain that as a commitment,” Lamont said.
The House co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, state Rep. Steve Stasfrom, D-Bridgeport, said he was not aware of any initial concerns from committee members that would serve as an impediment to her nomination, though he added that he had yet to caucus to Democrats who make up the majority of the committee.
Stasfrom called Dannehy “an excellent attorney of high intellect with a long record of public service” and said he looked forward to her nomination hearing.
Dannehy did not answer any questions at the press conference, but she is “honored” to be nominated.
“I am honored and humbled by the governor’s nomination and I recognize the tremendous responsibility this position brings,” Dannehy said. “I appreciate that this is the first step in the process, and if confirmed I will fully and eagerly do everything I can to serve the people of Connecticut to the best of my ability.”
She will be presented to the Democratic-controlled General Assembly for consideration. Lawmakers are scheduled to meet for a special legislative session later this month.
