Associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is nominating Judge Joan K. Alexander of Cromwell to serve as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court; Judge Hope C. Seeley of Coventry to serve as a judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court; and 11 other jurists to serve as judges of the Connecticut Superior Court.

Judge Alexander, 59, is currently a judge of the Appellate Court, where she has served since 2020. Prior to that, she served as a judge of the Superior Court since 2000. In addition to her courtroom responsibilities, she was the chief administrative judge for the Connecticut Judicial Branch’s Criminal Division, chair of the Sentence Review Division, and co-chair of the Judicial Media Committee. Before her appointment to the bench, she served as a prosecutor with the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. She is a graduate of Yale University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Judge Seeley, 58, is currently a judge of the Superior Court, where she has served since 2013. She is an assistant administrative judge for the Judicial District of Hartford and the presiding criminal judge. Prior to being appointed to serve in Hartford, she served as a criminal trial judge in the Windham and Tolland judicial districts. Before her appointment to the bench, she was in private practice and handled a broad variety of complex criminal cases at the trial and appellate levels, both in state and federal courts. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Judge Alexander is being nominated to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court that was created earlier this month when Justice Christine E. Keller took senior status. Judge Seeley is being nominated to fill the vacancy on the Appellate Court that is anticipated to be created upon the confirmation of Judge Alexander to the Supreme Court.

“Selecting nominees to fill vacancies on our courts is one of the most important tasks a governor is required to do, and it is an honor to have the opportunity to elevate these two talented judges to the Supreme and Appellate Courts,” Governor Lamont said. “Judge Alexander has more than two decades of experience on the bench and is an incredibly respected member of Connecticut’s legal community. Likewise, Judge Seeley has an impressive career handling criminal cases and will be an excellent addition to the Appellate Court.”

There are currently 60 judicial vacancies on the Superior Court. The 11 nominations to that court that are being announced today come in addition to 22 others that were announced in February. All of those nominations are currently pending confirmation by the state legislature.