Governor Ned Lamont announced yesterday that he is nominating the Honorable Raheem L. Mullins ’97 to serve as chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. In addition to serving as a justice on the state’s highest court, the position of chief justice is responsible for serving as the head of the judicial branch of state government and overseeing the administration of the state’s courts.
Justice Mullins is currently an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, where he has been serving since November 1, 2017. At the time he took the oath of office, he became the youngest person to ever serve on the Supreme Court. During his tenure on the court, he has participated in more than 150 cases and authored approximately 70 majority opinions.
Immediately prior to joining the Supreme Court, he served as a judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court from 2014 to 2017, participating in more than 200 appeals and authoring approximately 95 written opinions. He also served as a judge of the Connecticut Superior Court from 2012 to 2014, during which he presided over criminal jury trials and civil matters for the Judicial District of New Haven. Additionally, he presided over habeas corpus trials and various other civil matters for the Judicial District of Tolland at Rockville.
“Justice Mullins has had an impressive career serving on all three levels of Connecticut’s courts, and during his years on the bench he has earned the respect of many in the state’s legal community and those who have come before him as a fair, transparent, measured, and sensible jurist with a keen interest in researching and analyzing any number of complex legal issues that come before him,” Governor Lamont said. “I appreciate that he understands the impact that the court system has on the lives of the people who live our state and the need for it to function efficiently, evenhandedly, and equitably. Justice Mullins has already served as a member of the state’s highest court for several years, participating in more than a hundred cases and authoring dozens of opinions. He is well-suited to transition to the position of chief justice and his leadership in this role will benefit Connecticut’s judicial branch.”
“I am honored by the nomination to serve as chief justice of the State of Connecticut and am grateful for the confidence Governor Ned Lamont has in me,” Justice Mullins said. “My respect for the judiciary runs deep, having served at all three levels – as a Superior Court judge, an Appellate Court judge, and a Supreme Court justice. If confirmed, I will strive to enhance the Connecticut Judicial Branch’s accessibility, efficiency, fairness, and responsiveness to the needs of the diverse communities we serve. I will work diligently to live up to the responsibilities of the position and to honor the hard work and sacrifices of all those who have come before me to make this day possible.”
Born in Middletown, Connecticut, Justice Mullins graduated from Watkinson School in 1997, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and earned a Juris Doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating from Northeastern, he clerked for Judge Frederick Brown on the Massachusetts Appeals Court from 2004 to 2005. Justice Mullins is admitted to the Bar of the United States Supreme Court and the Connecticut Bar.
Before becoming a judge, Justice Mullins served as an assistant state’s attorney in the Appellate Bureau of the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. In this position, he argued appeals before the Connecticut Supreme Court and Appellate Court. Before becoming an appellate prosecutor, Justice Mullins served as an assistant attorney general in the Child Protection Division of the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office and tried cases before judges in the Superior Court for juvenile matters.
Justice Mullins is currently a faculty member of the Connecticut Judicial Branch’s Civics Academy and participates in the annual Read Across America event and the Judicial Branch’s Speakers Bureau. He serves as chair to the Code of Evidence Oversight Committee, is a fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, and is a member of the Watkinson School Board of Directors. He has also previously been a member of the Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court, the Young Lawyers Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, the board of directors for the Fund for Greater Hartford, the government division of the Connecticut Bar Association, the Law Library Advisory Committee, and the Task Force to Study the Feasibility of Amending Title 46b to Permit a Person Other Than a Family or Household Member to Apply for a Restraining Order.
The Office of the Governor is forwarding Justice Mullins’ nomination to the Connecticut General Assembly for the advice and consent of the Judiciary Committee as an interim appointment to succeed Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson, who is retiring from the court effective September 6, 2024. At the start of the next regular legislative session, which begins January 8, 2025, the Office of the Governor will again forward Justice Mullins’ nomination for the advice and consent of the full legislature. If confirmed by both chambers of the General Assembly, Justice Mullins will then begin serving a full eight-year term as chief justice.
