Sandra Slack Glover, Gov. Ned Lamont’s choice to fill a vacancy on the Connecticut Supreme Court, withdrew herself from consideration on Friday amid legislative resistance stemming from her 2017 endorsement of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
The governor’s office announced the decision on Friday afternoon after days of speculation that Glover, chief of the Appellate Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, lacked support from the legislature’s Judiciary Committee.
“Attorney Sandra Slack Glover would have been an extraordinary justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court,” Lamont said in a statement. “I stand by that, and I stand by her as a lawyer of experience, character, and compassion, while respecting her decision today to withdraw from consideration.”
Much of the committee’s opposition began with Glover’s signature on the 2017 letter in which she and other former clerks of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1998 term praised Barrett, a fellow former clerk, as “eminently qualified” to serve as an appeals court judge. Barrett went on to ascend to the Supreme Court where she voted with the conservative majority last year to overturn abortion rights protections under Roe v. Wade.
During a contentious hearing on Monday, Glover told lawmakers that she supported a woman’s right to choose and regretted signing the letter.
“I thought there were guardrails and I thought they would hold,” she said. “I thought lower court judges were constrained. I thought the Supreme Court was constrained. I was wrong. And looking back and knowing what I now know, I shouldn’t have signed it.”
The committee gauged support for her nomination and then adjourned their meeting without taking a vote.
In his Friday statement, Lamont said that in the coming months he would consider other candidates for the vacancy left by former Justice Maria Araújo Kahn, who resigned earlier this year after being confirmed to serve as a judge in a federal appeals court.
The governor praised Glover for her public service and testimony before the Judiciary Committee.
“She did a terrific job during her seven-hour public hearing and had substantive and positive meetings with legislative leaders from both parties,” he said. “From beginning to end, she showed her talent, demonstrated her keen legal mind, and let people know she shares Connecticut’s values.”
