Judicial Pioneer Ellen Ash Peters Dies, Was West Hartford Resident

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A pioneering Connecticut judge who lived in West Hartford and broke gender barriers in the state's judicial system has died.

State officials Wednesday announced the death of Ellen Ash Peters of West Hartford, who, in 1978, became the first woman ever appointed to the Connecticut Supreme Court.

Peters then became the first female chief justice, a position she earned in 1984.

Peters, 94, took senior status in 1996 and retired completely from the court in 2000.

In 1994, Peters' life — which started with her fleeing Germany in World War II as a child and ended with her tenure as a legal pioneer — earned her a spot in the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame.

Wednesday, both Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewizc released statements on the loss of Peters.

Lamont: “Chief Justice Peters achieved many firsts. She’s the first woman professor to gain tenure at Yale Law School, the first woman justice to serve on the Connecticut Supreme Court, and the court’s first woman chief justice. She is a trailblazer, who in her nearly two decades of public service authored hundreds of opinions, many of which continue to have a lasting impact. Among those opinions is the landmark Sheff V. O’Neill decision, which extended civil rights to our schools, holding that the state has an obligation to provide school children with equal educational opportunities. Throughout her tenure, she dedicated her work to ensuring that Connecticut’s courts are operated fairly and are equally accessible to all of this state’s residents. Her service is to be emulated and she will be remembered for her intelligence, her tenacity, and her remarkable fortitude. On behalf of the State of Connecticut, I applaud and thank Justice Peters for her dedication to our state, and I express my condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues in the Judicial Branch.”

Bysiewicz: “Connecticut mourns the passing of a trailblazing female lawyer, law professor, and jurist on our state’s highest court who paved the way for women to excel in the legal profession. I had the privilege of knowing Chief Justice Peters since I was a child. She and my mother were friends and colleagues, both teaching law at Yale and UConn, and both becoming the first female law professors at their respective schools. She went on to again make history when the nation’s first female governor elected in her own right, Ella Grasso, selected her to become the first women appointed our Supreme Court, and then again when Governor William O’Neill appointed her chief justice. Chief Justice Peters was a prolific jurist who wrote more than 600 opinions during her 18 years on the Supreme Court. Her majority opinion in the Sheff v. O’Neill case paved the way for greater equity and opportunity in our state’s public schools. Her time on the court was guided by a belief in equal access for all, and an unwavering commitment to eradicating gender and racial bias across our state’s judicial system. Her legacy will live on in the hundreds of law students and clerks she mentored over her distinguished career. My heart goes out to her family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

For Ellen Ash Peters' biography in the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame, click on this link.