HARTFORD, Conn.– Ellen Ash Peters, the first woman to serve as chief justice of Connecticut and in 1996 wrote the majority opinion in the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on school desegregation, has died. She was 94.
Peters, who was also the first female faculty member at Yale Law School, died Tuesday, according to the Connecticut Judicial Branch. The cause and location of her death were not immediately disclosed.
“What a pioneer she was!” current Chief Justice Richard Robinson said in a statement. “Although small in stature, she was a fearless legal giant committed to upholding the rule of law. She also recognized the importance of honesty, openness, transparency and providing truly equal access to justice for all.”
Peters was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 1978 by then-Gov. Ella Grasso, a Democrat and the first woman who was not the wife or widow of a former governor, was elected governor of a US state. Peters was also the first woman to serve on the state’s highest court. She became chief justice in 1984, served on the court until 1996 and was later given part-time senior status.
In her final year as chief justice, Peters wrote the majority opinion in a 4-3 ruling in the case of Sheff v. O’Neill, declaring school segregation in the Hartford area unconstitutional. In particular, the majority said the extreme racial isolation of minorities in Hartford schools deprived them of the constitutional right to an equal education.
“In holding our hand, we do not want to be misunderstood about the urgency of finding an appropriate solution to the plight of Hartford’s schoolchildren,” Peters wrote. “Every day that passes, these children are shortchanged in their ability to contribute to their own well-being. and to those of this state and nation.”
In response, the state legislature created a network of magnet schools and school choice options to attract a mix of urban and suburban children. But the lawsuit that prompted the ruling continued to be litigated due to what advocates say was continued inequality until 2022, when a settlement was reached.
During her time on the Supreme Court, Peters presided over cases ranging from capital punishment to property disputes. She also led an effort to prevent gender and racial bias in the justice system.
In 1995, she wrote the majority opinion in a ruling upholding the state’s ban on assault weapons.
On her last day as chief justice, she spoke about the importance of preserving justice for all people.
“The court embodies the pluralistic spirit of America,” Peters said. “If the court wants to be a leader in the development of the law, it must be prepared to respond” to the entire population.
Peters was born in Berlin, Germany in 1930. Her family fled eight years later in fear of Nazi Party rule and emigrated to New York City, according to a biography from Yale Law School.
She went on to graduate from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 1951 and from Yale Law School in 1954. After law school, she clerked for a federal appeals court judge in New York City and then taught at the University of California in Berkeley. In 1956, when she was 26, she became the first female faculty member at Yale Law School, according to the university.
Peters also became the first woman to be appointed to Yale Law School in 1964. After being appointed to the Supreme Court, she continued to teach law at Yale as an adjunct professor until she became chief justice.
The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said at a 1994 meeting that Peters “gave generations of female law students reason for hope (and) a reason to believe that they too could strive and achieve.”
Top political leaders and legal experts praised Peters on Tuesday.
Democrat Ned Lamont, governor of Connecticut, also called Peters a trailblazer and noted the importance of the school desegregation ruling.
“Throughout her tenure, she has worked to ensure that Connecticut’s courts are fairly administered and equally accessible to all residents of this state,” Lamont said in a statement. “Her services are to be emulated and she will be remembered for her intelligence. , her tenacity and her remarkable fortitude.”
Former Connecticut Chief Justice Chase Rogers, the state’s second female chief justice who retired in 2018, said Peters was a brilliant jurist dedicated to ensuring justice was achieved.
“Chief Justice Peters not only broke the glass ceiling for other women aspiring to become judges, but also served as a role model for all judges,” Rogers said.
Peters’ husband, Phillip Blumberg, professor and dean at the University of Connecticut School of Law, died in 2021. They lived in West Hartford.