Peter T. Zarella's request to Gov. M. Jodi Rell to withdraw his nomination
for chief justice of the state Supreme Court sounded ominously tentative.
She might renominate him after the storm pounding the high court subsides.
With all due respect, Mrs. Rell should fill Connecticut's top judicial post
with someone else.
Associate Justice Zarella has been compromised too much by a fellow jurist
to take over a job that requires the highest standard of conduct. Justice
Zarella has compromised himself as well.
The booby prize for poor judgment goes to William J. Sullivan, who now
admits that in March, while he was still chief justice, he directed
subordinates not to release a highly controversial decision in a case
regarding open government. He wanted to wait until after the legislative
hearings on Justice Zarella's nomination. Such politically driven
manipulation should have no place in the judicial system.
Justice Sullivan, who remains on the state payroll as a senior jurist,
engaged in extraordinarily reckless behavior. Yet he insists he has not
violated the Code of Judicial Conduct. Whether the Judicial Review Council
is investigating is - as you might guess - a secret.
That fits the pattern of secrecy that continues to shroud the high court.
Under the Sullivan regime, for example, certain divorce cases were
arbitrarily sealed. Even the names of the sealing judge and litigants were
classified.
In time, Justice Sullivan and his close colleague, Justice Zarella - serving
as head of the judiciary's rules committee - relented, but only partially.
It's apparently hard to kick an addiction to secrecy.
Last year, the court heard arguments on whether computerized dockets of
criminal and motor vehicle cases were subject to disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act.
Writing for the 4-3 majority in March, Justice Sullivan held that the data
aren't subject to public access. Justice Sullivan did not want Justice
Zarella's confirmation to be compromised by the fact that the two were on
the same side in a controversial case that involved that old obsession,
secrecy. So the order went out to the office of the Reporter of Judicial
Decisions to keep the ruling under wraps.
But the Sullivan machination was not nearly as devastating to Justice
Zarella's nomination to be chief as the letter Justice Zarella wrote to
acting Chief Justice David M. Borden on Sunday.
In that letter, Justice Zarella sounded like a champion of open government
and reminded Justice Borden that he (Zarella) intended to tell the governor
and lawmakers about the Sullivan matter. Justice Borden shot back that he
recalled no such statements from Justice Zarella and proceeded to set the
record straight. Justice Borden replied that the Zarella letter contained
inaccuracies and created "misleading impressions." He all but accused
Justice Zarella of lying.
Justice Zarella may be an excellent lawyer, a talented writer of court
decisions, a bon vivant, a loyal friend to people in high places and a
member of the governor's political party. But promotion to chief justice
requires much more. It requires deep wisdom, impeccable judgment and an
unwavering commitment to open government.
Surely Mrs. Rell can do better by choosing a chief justice who has the
highest respect for the letter as well as the spirit of the law, who comes
with minimal political baggage and who pledges to end the secrecy that tars
the highest chamber of justice.