Richard A. Robinson’s retirement as chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court takes effect at close of business Friday, but his nominated successor, Raheem L. Mullins, cannot succeed him on even an interim basis until an affirmative vote of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee.
So, until a vote that is not expected before Sept. 17, the court’s senior associate justice, Andrew J. McDonald, temporarily will be chief justice — the post denied him in 2018 after an extraordinary 13-hour confirmation hearing and opposition by Republicans at a time when they held 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate.
The Senate rejected McDonald’s confirmation on a 19-16 vote, with a conservative Democrat, Sen. Joan Hartley of Waterbury, joining all 18 Republicans in opposition. Another Democrat, Gayle Slossberg of Milford, recused herself, giving the GOP control over the nomination.
The vote kept McDonald, who was nominated by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, from becoming the first openly gay chief justice of any state’s highest court. Instead, Robinson became the first Black chief justice of Connecticut’s court, a post he is relinquishing at age 66.
It was one of the last times Republicans held such power: Democrats won a 22-14 majority in November 2018, and their advantage now stands at 24-12 — with a possibility of picking up more seats this fall.
Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat elected governor on the same night Democrats won strong majorities in the General Assembly, was assured by key lawmakers that McDonald easily would be confirmed as chief justice, should Lamont choose him as Robinson’s successor.
Lamont did not, opting instead for another Malloy appointee, one who could serve for nearly a quarter century as chief before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. Judges and justices are appointed to eight-year terms, with the expectation of reappointment barring performance issues.
On Aug. 29, Lamont announced his choice as chief justice was the 46-year-old Mullins, whom Malloy had appointed to the Superior Court in 2011, the Appellate Court in 2014 and the Supreme Court in 2017.
On Thursday afternoon, Lamont, Robinson, McDonald and Mullins attended a retirement ceremony at the Supreme Court for Robinson. McDonald, who is 58 and has been an associate justice for 11 years, sat on the bench between Robinson and Mullins.
Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, one of the lawmakers who says he had assured Lamont that a McDonald’s confirmation would have been easy, sat in the audience.
Lamont praised Robinson for leading the court system through the COVID pandemic, which forced the court to begin to confront the judiciary’s lack of modern technology.
“On a personal note, of all the amazing things I get to do in this job and something I really honor is the chance to interview judges and folks who want to be judges,” Lamont said.
He said he leaves the assessment of legal qualification — “legal chops,” as Lamont put it — to others.
“I care a lot more when I talk to folks about the person and their ability to communicate why they decided, what they decided,” he said. “And I think that’s particularly important in this day and age where people are, let’s say, a little skeptical of elites and institutions.”
Robinson briefly became overcome as he thanked the court’s staff, pronounced himself retired and nodded to his successor, saying, “Long live the chief justice.”
Mullins, who has been through three confirmation hearings and votes in his rise through the legal system, is not expected to face difficulty in his interim confirmation this month or to a full eight-year term next year.
Once approved by the Judiciary Committee, Mullins would become the interim chief. He would drop interim from his title once confirmed by the full General Assembly in the 2025 session.
Lamont said Thursday he was unlikely to nominate a successor to Mullins as an associate justice until after his confirmation.
“I think it’s going to take a little time. We’re going to give Raheem a chance — he’s got the Judiciary Committee meeting in a couple of weeks — to let things settle a little bit,” Lamont said.
As needed, the Supreme Court can designate a judge from the Appellate or Superior courts to sit on its cases until the vacancy on the seven-person court is filled.
In not quite six years, Lamont now has nominated nearly 100 judges to all levels of the judiciary — a majority. Natalie Braswell, the governor’s general counsel, said there are no plans for additional nominations this year.