Peter Zarella
From Ballotpedia
Peter Zarella
Prior offices
Connecticut Supreme Court
Education
Peter T. Zarella was an associate justice of the seven-member Connecticut Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court by Republican Governor John G. Rowland on January 22, 2001. His last term was set to expire in 2017.[1]
Justice Zarella retired on December 31, 2016.[2]
Education
Zarella received his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University in 1972 and his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1975.[1]
Career
- 2001-2016: Justice, Connecticut Supreme Court
- 1999-2001: Judge, Connecticut Appellate Court
- 1996-1999: Judge, Connecticut Superior Court
- 1975-1996: Attorney/Partner, Brown, Paindiris & Zarella[1]
Awards and associations
Associations
- Member, Massachusetts Bar Association
- Member, Connecticut Bar Association
- Member, Charter Revision Commission, 1995-1996
- Member, Town of West Hartford Ethics Commission, 1992-1995
- Member, Connecticut Bar Association, Banking Law Committee, 1990-1994
- Member, Connecticut Bar Executive Committee, Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section, 1985-1990
- Former Chairman, Criminal Justice Commission[1]
Noteworthy cases
Zarella dissented from the 4-3 majority in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, the October 10, 2008, decision that legalized same-sex marriage in Connecticut.[3][4]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Zarella received a campaign finance score of 0.62, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.05 that justices received in Connecticut.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[5]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 State of Connecticut Judicial Branch, Justice Peter T. Zarella
- ↑ RepublicanAmerican, "Zarella leaving Connecticut Supreme Court after 16 years," November 3, 2016
- ↑ New York Times, "Gay marriage is ruled legal in Connecticut," October 10, 2008
- ↑ Zarella's dissent in Kerrigan
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
