Connecticut Appellate Court

Intermediate appellate court of Connecticut

The Connecticut Appellate Court is the court of first appeals for all cases arising from the Connecticut Superior Courts. Its creation in 1983 required Connecticut's voters and legislature to amend the state's constitution. The court heard its first cases on October 4, 1983. The Appellate Court was also a partial successor to the former Appellate Session of the Superior Court, a court established to hear appeals in minor matters (e. g., misdemeanors and minor civil matters.)

The Connecticut Appellate Court is composed of nine Appellate Court Judges. However, retired Judges of the Appellate Court and of the Supreme Court can still sit on Appellate Court panels, as needed. Retired Chief Justices Ellen Ash Peters, Francis McDonald, and William Sullivan continue to sit regularly with the Appellate Court, as do retired Justices David Borden and Barry Schaller, retired Appellate Court Chief Judges Antoinette Dupont and William Lavery, and a battery of other retired Appellate Court Judges (including Socrates Mihalakos, Joseph Pellegrino, George Stoughton, and Thomas West, among others). If the Chief Court Administrator is a Judge of the Appellate Court, the Appellate Court is authorized to have 10 seats. (Judge Joseph Pellegrino fulfilled this role and during his time, the Court had 10 members.) Some Judges of the former Appellate Session of the Superior Court went on to serve on the Appellate Court, notably, John Daly and Francis X. Hennessy.

JusticeBornJoinedTerm endsMandatory retirementAppointed byLaw schoolWilliam H. Bright Jr, Chief Judge1962 08 15, Age: 612017 (as Appellate Judge)
2020 (as Chief Judge)20252032Dannel Malloy (D)ChicagoBethany Alvord1957 06 20, Age: 67200920272027Jodi Rell (R)ConnecticutEliot D. Prescott1965 01 21, Age: 59201420302035Dannel Malloy (D)ConnecticutNina F. Elgo1962 06 18, Age: 62201720252032Dannel Malloy (D)GeorgetownIngrid L. Moll1973 04 17, Age: 51201820262043Dannel Malloy (D)ConnecticutMelanie L. Cradle202020282041Ned Lamont (D)Seton HallJosé A. Suarez1966 (age 58)202020282036Ned Lamont (D)ConnecticutRobert W. Clark1971 09 16, Age: 52202120292041Ned Lamont (D)ConnecticutHope C. Seeley1964 02 25, Age: 60202220302034Ned Lamont (D)ConnecticutAlexandra Davis DiPentima,Senior Judge1953 04 18, Age: 712003N/AN/AJohn G. Rowland (R)Connecticut