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	Chief Justice Nominee Raises No 'Red Flags' By Brian Lockhart The Advocate [Connecticut] April 4, 2007 http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.chase4apr04,0,7846089.story? coll=stam-news-local-headlines Although her confirmation hearing tomorrow is expected to last several hours, Judge Chase Rogers of New Canaan appears set to become the next chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. "She's very smart, she seems very sane and she seems like she really cares," said state Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, a co-chairman of the legislature's Judiciary Committee, which will question Rogers at a 1 p.m. hearing tomorrow in Hartford. "(There are) no red flags in particular." Rogers, who oversaw Stamford's litigation docket until her confirmation to the appellate court a year ago, was nominated for chief justice on by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Feb. 20. She would be the state's second female chief justice and, at the age of 50, could lead the Supreme Court for many years. The mandatory retirement age for chief justices is 70. "We'll take some time, and the committee members will certainly ask questions and go through whatever areas of concern they have," Lawlor said. "But the overall response, so far, has been positive . . . Granted, she was only nominated a month or so ago, but for the last six months, she was one of the leading contenders. As a result, the vetting process really began quite a long time ago." He said the committee will delay a vote on her confirmation until next week, so its members can digest the information gleaned in the hearing, and the public can comment on Rogers' performance. Lawlor and his co-chairman, state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, were among the Judiciary Committee members who scheduled meetings with Rogers last month. Other area legislators with seats on the committee include state Reps. Gerald Fox III, D-Stamford, a committee vice-chairman; Claudia "Dolly" Powers, R-Greenwich; and freshman legislators Bruce Morris, D-Norwalk, and William Tong, D-Stamford. "We both met with her to talk privately about her administrative philosophy for the (judicial) branch," McDonald said. "We didn't talk to her about judicial philosophy. We thought that should be discussed for the first time in the context of our hearing." McDonald said he and Lawlor have been reviewing Rogers' written opinions and receiving feedback from people who have worked with her. "Let me say, since her nomination there have been a number of comments received by members of the committee, most of which are glowing," McDonald said. "The only criticism I received was an e-mail from someone who thought that they were treated poorly in a case where Judge Rogers was presiding." McDonald would not provide details but said he expected to ask Rogers about it tomorrow. Rogers was a law partner at Cummings & Lockwood in Stamford for more than 14 years. In 1998, former Gov. John Rowland appointed her to the Superior Court. She presided over cases in Bridgeport and Waterbury before taking over Stamford's litigation docket in 2001. She ruled in several high-profile cases there. Her decisions included ordering Cardinal Edward Egan, of the Archdiocese of New York, to answer questions under oath in a sexual abuse case involving a former Stamford priest; confining Stephen Ferenz, a mentally ill Greenwich man who stabbed his mother to death on New Year's Eve in 2003, to 40 years in a maximum- security mental health facility; dismissing lawsuits opposing construction of the Target department store in downtown Stamford; and allowing Norwalk to seize the Maritime Motors Chevrolet dealership along lower West Avenue for the Reed Putnam redevelopment. Lawlor and McDonald said one area they intend to focus their questions is Rogers' position on judicial openness. Four years ago, The Hartford Courant and Connecticut Law Tribune exposed a controversial practice whereby the judicial branch would "super-seal" certain cases, concealing any public record of their existence. Some of the prominent cases sealed included University of Connecticut President Philip Austin's divorce and a paternity action against Bruce Springsteen's saxophonist, Clarence Clemons. McDonald said a recent Connecticut Law Tribune report alleged Rogers' involvement in super-sealing a case. But he said the judicial branch refuted the report last week. "That would have been a potential real source of contention," McDonald said. "Now it's a non-issue." Rogers has declined to be interviewed since her nomination, which McDonald said is appropriate. "I've never heard of a judge under active consideration for confirmation granting interviews or making herself available to (newspaper) editorial boards," McDonald said. "It's inappropriate prior to a confirmation hearing." State Rep. Fox said Rogers appears particularly concerned about the juvenile courts and disparities in the state's prison population. He said he also spoke to her about recent complaints by the Norwalk branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and attorneys in the Norwalk and Stamford area accusing criminal judges Susan Reynolds and Barbara Bellis of bullying defendants. Judge William Lavery, the state's chief court administrator, has tried to mediate a solution. Morris has scheduled a news conference announcing the results for noon tomorrow. Fox said Rogers hopes to improve judges' training. "I think she wants to do proactive things to make sure those kinds of situations don't come up," Fox said.
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