“Intellect, temperament and respect for the rule of law” — these were the top three qualities Connecticut Governor Dannell Malloy identified in the state’s Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald when the governor nominated McDonald to be the next chief justice of the state’s Supreme Court, according to a report in the Connecticut Mirror.
If confirmed, McDonald would become the first openly gay state chief justice in the United States.
According to the Mirror:
The appointment marks personal and professional milestones for McDonald and Malloy, friends whose careers have intertwined since McDonald served him as a legal adviser during Malloy’s time as mayor of Stamford. With a year remaining in office, the governor is poised to leave a Supreme Court dominated by his appointees.
Malloy, long a strong supporter of gay rights, said McDonald is qualified on the basis of his intellect, temperament and respect for the rule of law, but added, “It also can’t go without noting the national signficance of this nomination.”
McDonald would be the first openly gay chief justice of the highest court in any state, though not any jurisdiction. Maite Orono Rodríguez, who is a lesbian, was confirmed a year ago as the chief justice of the highest court in Puerto Rico. Nationally, there are only about a dozen LGBT justices in state supreme courts.
As an openly gay candidate, McDonald was a political rarity when he was narrowly elected to the state Senate from Stamford in 2002. Three years later, he helped win passage of a civil-unions law that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples, albeit under a different name. The distinction was erased in 2008 in a decision by the court he now hopes to lead.
