Peter T. Zarella

Last updated

Peter T. Zarella (born October 13, 1949) [1] is a former Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. Zarella sat on the court he was appointed by Governor John G. Rowland in January 2001 until his retirement on December 31, 2016. [2]

Contents

Early life, education, and career

Zarella is a native of Boston. He received his B.S. from Northeastern University in 1972 and his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1975.

Zarella was in private practice from 1977 to 1996, and was a partner in the Hartford firm of Brown, Paindiris & Zarella from 1978 until 1996, when he was appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court. In December 1999, Zarella was elevated to the Connecticut Appellate Court.

Governor John G. Rowland nominated Zarella as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court on January 4, 2001, and was sworn in on January 22, 2001.

Supreme Court

In 2004, Zarella authored the dissenting opinion (joined by then-Chief Justice William J. Sullivan and Associate Justice Joette Katz) in the important Kelo v. City of New London case. The case was decided by the Connecticut Supreme Court in a 4-3 en banc decision, with the majority opinion authored by Justice Flemming L. Norcott, Jr., joined by Justices David M. Borden, Richard N. Palmer and Christine S. Vertefeuille. The Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the Connecticut Supreme Court's decision in favor of the city in a 5–4 decision, in what is viewed as a major decision in the history of the eminent domain power. A widespread negative reaction to the opinion led to many state legislatures restricting their eminent domain power.

On March 24, 2006, Zarella was nominated by Governor M. Jodi Rell to replace Chief Justice William J. Sullivan, who had announced his retirement [3] scheduled for April 15, 2005. The Connecticut Supreme Court became embroiled in a lengthy ethics scandal, however, when the Hartford Courant revealed that Sullivan had postponed the publication of a controversial decision opposing Freedom of Information Act requests for documents that track the status and history of legal cases in the Connecticut legal system until hearings for Zarella were completed. [4] Both justices ruled in favor of the restrictions, and legislators speculated that Sullivan delayed the publication of the court's opinion because he feared it might damage Zarella's chances of becoming chief justice. This was subsequently confirmed in testimony by Sullivan. [5] In April 2006 Rell withdrew Zarella's nomination to be Chief Justice at his request after these revelations. [6] There is no evidence that Zarella had knowledge that Sullivan was intentionally delaying publication of an opinion for the benefit of his nomination.

On October 10, 2008, Zarella dissented in the case of Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health , in which the court held that gay and lesbian couples could not be denied the right to marry because of the Equal Protection Clause of the state constitution. [7] This decision made Connecticut the third state (along with Massachusetts and California) to legalize same-sex marriage through judicial decree of the state supreme court.

Zarella is a former chair of the Connecticut Criminal Justice Commission and the Rules Committee.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John G. Rowland</span> Former governor of Connecticut and convicted felon

John Grosvenor Rowland is an American politician, author, and convicted felon who served as the 86th Governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004. In July 2004, Rowland resigned from office amid a corruption investigation, and later pleaded guilty in federal court to a one-count indictment for conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, mail fraud and tax fraud. A Republican, Rowland previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1985 to 1991, representing the state's 5th district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jodi Rell</span> 87th Governor of Connecticut

Mary Carolyn "Jodi" Rell is an American former Republican politician who served as the 87th governor of Connecticut from 2004 until 2011. Rell also served as the state's 105th lieutenant governor of Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme Court of New Jersey</span> Highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey

The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging the validity of state laws under the state constitution. It has the sole authority to prescribe and amend court rules and regulate the practice of law, and it is the arbiter and overseer of the decennial legislative redistricting. One of its former members, William J. Brennan Jr., became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut Supreme Court</span> Highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut

The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, across the street from the Connecticut State Capitol. The court generally holds eight sessions of two to three weeks per year, with one session each September through November and January through May. Justices are appointed by the governor and then approved by the Connecticut General Assembly.

Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held, 5–4, that the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another private owner to further economic development does not violate the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. In the case, plaintiff Susette Kelo sued the city of New London, Connecticut, for violating her civil rights after the city tried to acquire her house's property through eminent domain so that the land could be used as part of a "comprehensive redevelopment plan". Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the five-justice majority that the city's use of eminent domain was permissible under the Takings Clause, because the general benefits the community would enjoy from economic growth qualified as "public use".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Bysiewicz</span> 109th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut

Susan Bysiewicz is an American politician and attorney who is the 109th lieutenant governor of Connecticut, serving since January 9, 2019. She previously served as the 72nd secretary of the state of Connecticut from 1999 to 2011. She was briefly a candidate for governor of Connecticut in 2010, before dropping out to run for Connecticut Attorney General. She was disqualified from running for the office by the Connecticut Supreme Court and announced in 2011 that she was running for the United States Senate in the 2012 election to replace the retiring Joe Lieberman. She lost the Democratic primary to U.S. Representative Chris Murphy, who went on to win the general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joette Katz</span> American judge

Joette Katz is an American attorney who is a partner at the law firm, Shipman & Goodwin LLP. She was an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, where she also served as the administrative judge for the state appellate system, and as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. In various roles during her career she has had an impact on issues of state and national importance, such as: criminal law, capital punishment, civil rights and the right to education, eminent domain, same-sex marriage, LGBTQ rights, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and helping children in state care move from institutions to families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew J. McDonald</span> American judge

Andrew J. McDonald is an American judge and former politician from Connecticut. He serves as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court.

Michael P. Lawlor is an American politician, criminal justice professor, and lawyer from Connecticut. A Democrat, he served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1987 to 2011, representing the 99th district in East Haven. Lawlor resigned from the legislature on January 4, 2011 to serve in Dan Malloy's administration as undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning at the Office of Policy and Management.

Christine S. Vertefeuille is a Senior Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court.

Flemming L. Norcott Jr. is a former Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court in 1979 and remained there until his elevation to the Connecticut Appellate Court in 1987. He was appointed to the Connecticut Supreme Court in 1992. He also serves as Associate Fellow of Calhoun College at Yale University, as well as a lecturer. Justice Norcott received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1965 and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School in 1968. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut.

William J. Sullivan was an American Judge Trial Referee of the Connecticut Superior Court. He served as chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Connecticut Appellate Court by Gov. John G. Rowland in 1997 and remained there until his elevation to the Connecticut Supreme Court in 1999. Justice Sullivan was nominated to be Chief Justice by Gov. Rowland in 2000 and was appointed to the Connecticut Supreme Court in 2001. Justice Sullivan took senior status on April 15, 2006 and continued to serve as a Senior Justice until 2009, when he attained the age of 70.

David M. Borden was a Connecticut Supreme Court Justice from 1990 to 2007.

Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, 289 Conn. 135, 957 A.2d 407, is a 2008 decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court holding that allowing same-sex couples to form same-sex unions but not marriages violates the Connecticut Constitution. It was the third time that a ruling by the highest court of a U.S. state legalized same-sex marriage, following Massachusetts in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (2003) and California in In re Marriage Cases (2008). The decision legalized same-sex marriage in Connecticut when it came into effect on November 12, 2008. There were no attempts made to amend the state constitution to overrule the decision, and gender-neutral marriage statutes were passed into law in 2009.

Dennis Gene Eveleigh is an American lawyer and former justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lubbie Harper Jr.</span> American judge (born 1942)

Lubbie Harper Jr. is an American lawyer and judge who was the third African American to become a justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, serving from 2011 through 2012. While seconded to the court in 2008, he cast the deciding vote in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, a ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in Connecticut. Harper also served as a justice on the Connecticut Superior Court (1997–2005) and on the Connecticut Appellate Court (2005–2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin R. Clark</span> American lawyer (born 1975)

Justin Reilly "JC" Clark is an American attorney, former government official, and former presidential campaign official for Donald J. Trump. He served as Director of Public Liaison and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House under the Trump administration. Prior to his government service, Clark was a partner at the law firm of Davis, Clark & Bonafonte LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard A. Robinson</span> American judge

Richard A. Robinson is an American lawyer and judge, who has served as chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court since 2018, and previously as an associate justice from 2013 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory D'Auria</span> American judge

Gregory Thomas D'Auria is an American lawyer and judge who has served as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court since 2017. He previously was Solicitor General of Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Araújo Kahn</span> American federal judge (born 1964)

Maria Araújo Kahn is an American lawyer who is serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She previously served as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court from 2017 to 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "Peter T. Zarella". NNDB . Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Zarella leaving state Supreme Court after 16 years". Republican-American Associated Press . November 3, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Governor Rell Formally Nominates Peter Zarella as Chief Justice" . Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Contrite Sullivan Admits Mistake; Tried to Help Friend Secure Chief Justice Job".
  5. ↑ "In Hartford, Rebuked Justice Apologizes for Delaying News of '06 Ruling". February 22, 2007. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Zarella Wants Rell to Withdraw His Nomination for Chief Justice" . Retrieved January 27, 2017.[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ "High Court Grants Marriage Rights For Same-Sex Couples". Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.