HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Ellen Ashe, the first woman to serve as Connecticut’s chief justice, wrote the majority opinion in the state Supreme Court’s landmark 1996 school desegregation decision.・Mr. Peters passed away. She was 94 years old.
Peters, who was also the first female faculty member at Yale Law School, died Tuesday, according to the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office. The cause and location of her death were not immediately disclosed.
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“What a pioneer she was!” current Chief Justice Richard Robinson said in a statement. “Although she was small in stature, she was a fearless legal giant who was committed to upholding the rule of law. She also championed fairness, openness, transparency and true equal justice for all.” We also recognized the importance of providing access to
Chief Justice Ellen Ash Peters smiles during a press conference at the Connecticut Supreme Court on November 13, 1984 in Hartford, Connecticut. Peters was the first woman to become Connecticut’s chief justice, and she wrote the majority opinion for the state Supreme Court. She passed away on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, when she handed down the landmark school desegregation ruling in 1996. She was 94 years old. (Bob Child/AP Photo)
Mr. Peters was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 1978 by then-Gov. Ella Grasso is a Democrat and the first woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state who is not the spouse or widow of a former governor. Peters is also the first woman to serve on the state Supreme Court. She became Chief Justice in 1984 and served on the court until 1996, when she became a part-time senior judge.
In his final year as chief justice, Peters wrote the majority opinion in the 4-3 decision in Sheff v. O’Neal, declaring school segregation in the Hartford area unconstitutional. Specifically, the majority said the extreme racial isolation of minorities in Hartford schools deprives them of their state constitutional right to an equal education.
“In our hands, we do not want to be misunderstood about the urgency of finding an appropriate remedy for the plight of Hartford’s schoolchildren,” Peters wrote. “Every day our children become less capable of contributing to their own well-being and the well-being of this state and nation.”
In response, the state legislature created a network of magnet schools and school choice options to attract both urban and suburban children. But the lawsuit that led to the ruling continued, with supporters saying the inequities would continue until a settlement is reached in 2022.
During his tenure on the Supreme Court, Peters presided over a wide range of cases, from cases involving the death penalty to property disputes. She also led efforts to prevent gender and racial bias in the court system.
In 1995, she wrote the majority opinion in a decision upholding a state ban on assault weapons.
On her final day as chief justice, she spoke about the importance of upholding justice for all people.
“The court embodies the spirit of American pluralism,” Peters said. “If the court is to be a leader in the advancement of the law, it must be ready to serve the entire nation.”
Peters was born in Berlin, Germany in 1930. Her family fled eight years later, fearing Nazi control, and moved to New York City, according to a biography from Yale Law School.
She graduated from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 1951 and from Yale Law School in 1954. After she graduated from law school, she clerked for a federal appellate court judge in New York City, and then she taught at the University of California, Berkeley. She became the first female faculty member at Yale Law School in 1956, at the age of 26, according to the university.
Ms. Peters also became the first woman to receive tenure at Yale Law School in 1964. Even after she was appointed to the Supreme Court, she continued to teach law at Yale University as an adjunct professor until she became chief justice.
The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said at a 1994 event that Peters “gave generations of women law students a reason to hope and a reason to believe that they, too, could aspire and achieve.” ” he said.
Political leaders and legal experts praised Peters on Tuesday.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) also called Peters a pioneer and pointed to the importance of the school desegregation ruling.
“During my tenure, I worked to ensure that Connecticut’s courts operated fairly and were equally accessible to all citizens,” Lamont said in a statement. “Her service will be emulated, and she will be remembered for her intelligence, tenacity, and remarkable fortitude.”
Former Connecticut Chief Justice Chase Rogers, the state’s second female chief justice who retired in 2018, said Peters was an excellent jurist dedicated to ensuring justice is served.
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“Chief Justice Peters not only broke the glass ceiling for other women who wanted to become judges, but she set an example for all judges,” Rogers said.
Peters’ husband, Philip Blumberg, was a professor and dean of the University of Connecticut School of Law and died in 2021. The couple lived in West Hartford.
