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Ceremonial Swearing-in of Chief Justice Chase T.
Rogers:
Introductory Remarks by Retired C.J. Ellen A. Peters
Justices and Judges,
state and federal, officers of our state and federal government, family
and friends:
It is my great honor - and it gives me enormous pleasure -
to welcome all of you here this afternoon. To this beautiful courtroom,
to witness the ceremonial installation of Chase T. Rogers as the new
Chief Justice, to preside over the Connecticut supreme court and to lead
the Judicial Branch of the state of Connecticut. Our new Chief Justice
is the 37th person to hold this high office since the adoption of our
state constitution in 1818.
It
is altogether fitting that a new Chief Justice take her oath of office
here, in this courtroom . This ceremony will take place under the
watchful eyes of her recent predecessors as Chief Justice. The portraits
that you see all around you are those of all the Chief Justices who
served in the latter half of the twentieth century. You may recognize
some of us, but probably not the oldest. To your far right, which is the
portrait of Chief Justice Patrick B. O'Sullivan, whose term of office
ended in 1957, exactly fifty years ago.
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Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers |
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This courtroom also
is graced by the pictorial representation, at the back of the bench, of
a much earlier event, the signing of the fundamental orders. The
promulgation of the fundamental orders, three hundred seventy years ago,
in 1638, marked the beginning of constitutional government in this
state. Every day that the Chief Justice presides in this courtroom, she
will be challenged to preserve this constitutional heritage.
Before introducing
our governor to conduct the ceremonial swearing-in of Chief Justice
Rogers, I want to add one more quasi-historical note, of more recent
vintage. I cannot resist the feeling that somehow, somewhere, perhaps
from her portrait in our State museum, another woman governor, Ella
Grasso, Is looking down on these proceedings with a broad smile. That
smile signals her enthusiastic approval of what has led to this day and
what is about to take place. She changed our legal landscape, and here
we are.
It is now my honor to
introduce Governor M. Jodi Rell, who will perform the ceremonial
swearing-in of Chief Justice Rogers. Governor Rell, after a
distinguished career as a member of our Connecticut legislature, served
as lieutenant governor for more than nine years, and was elected to
begin her term as governor in January of this year. Throughout her long
years of devoted service to this state, she consistently has manifested
her strong support for the Judicial Branch. That support has taken many
forms, none more important than her presence here today. It gives me
great pleasure to welcome: Governor Rell.
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