Remarks by Chief Justice William J. Sullivan
announcing the Renaming of the New Haven Juvenile Matters
Courthouse and Detention Center
in Honor of The Honorable John T. Downey
September 25, 2002

      LT. GOVERNOR RELL, JUDGE DOWNEY, MEMBERS OF THE DOWNEY FAMILY, FELLOW JUDGES AND ATTORNEYS, SENATORS, STATE REPRESENTATIVES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

     IT IS MY PLEASURE THIS AFTERNOON TO ANNOUNCE THE RE-NAMING OF THE NEW HAVEN JUVENILE MATTERS COURTHOUSE AND DETENTION CENTER IN HONOR OF A FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE, THE HONORABLE JOHN T. DOWNEY.

     I CAN THINK OF NO MORE APPROPRIATE PERSON TO WHOM THIS DEDICATION COULD BE MADE.  JUVENILE COURTHOUSES ARE NOT SIMPLY BUILDINGS, STRUCTURES OF BRICK AND MORTAR.  THEY ARE, INSTEAD, CROSSROADS IN THE LIVES OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ENTER THERE.  OFTEN BESET BY PROBLEMS BEYOND THEIR CONTROL – LACK OF BASIC PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL SKILLS, A STABLE HOME LIFE, NURTURING NEIGHBORHOOD, OR COMPENSATING EDUCATION, AN ACCUSED JUVENILE, A TROUBLED CHILD, COMES BEFORE THE COURT.  THE TRUST OF SOCIETY IS THAT THIS MEETING AND ITS JUST, JUDICIALLY-IMPOSED, CONSEQUENCES WILL BE A TURNING POINT IN THE LIFE OF THAT CHILD.  WE HOPE THAT THE WISDOM OF THE JUVENILE JUDGE WILL ALTER THAT CHILD'S FUTURE FOR THE GOOD OF US ALL.

     WHO BETTER EPITOMIZES THE EXTRAORDINARY QUALITIES REQUIRED OF A JUVENILE JUDGE THAN JUDGE JOHN DOWNEY, A MAN WHO REACHED HIS JUDICIAL CAREER BY WAY OF AN EXTRAORDINARY PATH.  WITHIN A YEAR OF COLLEGE GRADUATION, HE WENT FROM BEING AN OUTSTANDING SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AT YALE TO BEING A LIFE-SENTENCED PRISONER IN A HOSTILE COUNTRY.  SHOT DOWN DURING A MISSION IN CHINA, HE, AS WE ALL KNOW, SERVED MORE THAN 20 YEARS IN PRISON THERE.  DURING THOSE YEARS, CITIZENS NATIONWIDE KEPT ABREAST OF HIS PLIGHT.  WITH LITTLE COMMUNICATION POSSIBLE, WE WERE ALL LEFT TO WORRY HOW THIS YOUNG MAN WOULD HAVE THE EMOTIONAL RESOURCES TO COPE WITH THAT PUNISHMENT.  BUT THE YOUNG JOHN DOWNEY DID COPE WITH SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, WITH SEVERELY RATIONED FOOD, WITH DEPLORABLE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS.  HE KEPT HIMSELF TOGETHER IN MIND AND SPIRIT.

     AFTER HIS RELEASE TO AMERICA, HE GRADUATED FROM HARVARD LAW SCHOOL.  HE BECAME A HUSBAND AND FATHER, ROLES THAT HE COUNTS AS HIGH POINTS OF HIS LIFE.  HE ENTERED PRIVATE PRACTICE.  BUT THE DRAW OF PUBLIC SERVICE ALSO BECKONED, AND HE ADDED THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF SECRETARY OF BUSINESS REGULATION AND CHAIR OF THE PUBLIC UTILITIES CONTROL AUTHORITY TO HIS PROFESSIONAL LIFE.  HIS 1987 APPOINTMENT TO THE SUPERIOR COURT WAS UNIVERSALLY HAILED.  NOT ONLY WAS JUDGE DOWNEY INTELLECTUALLY GIFTED, BUT HE WAS A MAN OF COURAGE, DEDICATION, AND ABIDING FAIRNESS, WITHOUT A HINT OF VANITY.  IN 1990, JUDGE DOWNEY BECAME CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE FOR JUVENILE MATTERS.  IN THAT POSITION, HIS REPUTATION FOR INTEGRITY AND COMPASSION WAS RECOGNIZED BY BOTH HIS COLLEAGUES AND THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE HIM ON THE BENCH.

     MANY YEARS AGO, UPON HIS RETURN FROM CHINA, JOHN WAS QUOTED IN AN INTERVIEW AS SAYING, "ONE OF THE STRONG FEELINGS THAT I HAD WHEN I GOT HOME WAS THAT I'D HATE TO HAVE MY WHOLE LIFE DEFINED BY THAT INTERLUDE . . . "  THAT PHILOSOPHY, THAT ONE EXPERIENCE, NO MATTER HOW EGREGIOUS, SHOULD NOT DEFINE A LIFE, CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF HIS ENORMOUS TALENT AS A JUVENILE JUDGE AND AS A PERSON.  HE HAS TRULY ALTERED FOR THE GOOD, THE FUTURE OF COUNTLESS NUMBERS OF CHILDREN SO UNABLE TO HELP THEMSELVES.  THERE CAN BE NO GREATER SATISFACTION FOR A JUDGE.

     THIS DEDICATION IS A SMALL TOKEN OF OUR RESPECT.  WITH GREAT ADMIRATION, I AM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE NEW HAVEN JUVENILE MATTERS COURTHOUSE AND DETENTION CENTER WILL BE NOW  KNOWN AS THE JOHN T. DOWNEY COURTHOUSE.  ON BEHALF OF ALL OF US, JUDGE DOWNEY, I CONGRATULATE YOU.