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Melanie L. Cradle | |
|---|---|
| Chief Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court | |
| Assumed office March 5, 2025 | |
| Appointed by | Raheem L. Mullins |
| Preceded by | William H. Bright Jr. |
| Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court | |
| Assumed office August 2020 | |
| Appointed by | Ned Lamont |
| Preceded by | Robert J. Devlin Jr. |
| Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court | |
| In office 2013 –August 2020 | |
| Appointed by | Dannel Malloy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1970or1971(age 53–54) [1] |
| Residence | Durham,Connecticut |
| Education | Adelphi University (BA) Seton Hall University (JD) |
Melanie L. Cradle is the chief judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court.
Cradle earned her bachelor's degree from Adelphi University in 1993,and her Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1998. [1] [2]
Cradle was appointed to the superior court by Governor Dannel Malloy in 2013. [3] [2] She has heard criminal cases in Bridgeport for a year before moving to the New Haven Judicial District in 2014. In 2015,she became the presiding judge in GA 23 in New Haven. Cradle also serves on the Law Library Advisory Committee,the Rules Committee of the Superior Court,and the Criminal Justice Commission. [1]
On July 20,2020,Governor Ned Lamont announced the appointment of Cradle to the Connecticut Appellate Court to the seat being vacated by Judge Robert J. Devlin Jr. who reached mandatory retirement age in April 2020. Upon her appointment,Judge Cradle beaome the first African-American woman to serve on the Appellate Court. [1] She was appointed as chief judge in March 2025. [4]
Cradle has served as a member of the National College of District Attorneys,the National Association of Black Prosecutors,the Ansonia/Milford Multidisciplinary Team,and the State of Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice Diversity Committee. She was also a mentor for the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity. [1]
At her original confirmation hearing,Cradle noted that her parents married in 1967,the year when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws prohibiting interracial marriage in Loving v. Virginia,the state where her father lived before entering the U.S. Army. Her parents met while her father was a serviceman overseas. [3]
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