HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut Supreme Court nominee told state lawmakers on Monday that she would not have signed a 2017 letter supporting Amy Coney Barrett for a position on the federal appeals court if she knew Barrett would vote later to overturn Roe v. Wade abortion protections as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sandra Slack Glover, a federal prosecutor nominated by Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont, made the comment during her confirmation hearing before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, when several members of the Democratic majority expressed concern about her support for Barrett. The committee delayed Monday night’s vote on Glover’s nomination, citing the late hour. A date for a vote was not immediately set.
Glover had said she wouldn’t “demonize” Barrett, “but looking at that letter now…I’m no longer comfortable with some of those statements.
“But I also believed, obviously naively at this point, that I thought there were guardrails,” she said, referring to judges’ respect for legal precedent. “And I thought lower court judges were limited. I thought the Supreme Court was limited. And I was wrong. And looking back and knowing what I know now, I shouldn’t have signed it.”
Glover added that she was a staunch supporter of abortion rights, both from a woman’s and a lawyer’s perspective.
A message requesting comment from Barrett was sent to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Glover was one of 34 people who served as clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1998, along with Barrett, who signed the 2017 letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leaders supporting Barrett’s appointment to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. In 1998, Barrett was a clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia and Glover was a clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
The letter said the signers believed Barrett was “fully qualified” to be a federal appellate judge.
“Professor Barrett is a woman of remarkable intellect and character,” the letter said. “She is ideally qualified for the job. This opinion is unanimous: all lawyers of October 1998 have joined this letter.
“Based on our observations, we have come to respect Professor Barrett’s conscientious work ethic, her respect for the law and her remarkable legal abilities,” the statement said. “She behaved with professionalism, grace and integrity.”
Glover said the letter was not an endorsement of Barrett’s political views.
Barrett was later nominated by President Donald Trump for the U.S. Supreme Court and last year was among the conservative majority that overturned Roe v. Wade. During Senate hearings for her confirmation, Barrett had said she would obey stare decisisthe doctrine of courts giving weight to precedent in making decisions.
State Representative Patricia Dillon, a Democrat from New Haven, said the state Supreme Court was vital to act as a “firewall” against the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Some very dramatic things are happening in Washington,” Dillon said at Monday’s hearing. “If I could quote Justice (Elena) Kagan, the stakes really couldn’t be higher at the state level, because that may be the threat we have when it comes to some issues.”
All current Supreme Court justices from seven member states have been nominated by Democratic governors.
Glover, 52, of Guilford, is chief of the appeals division of the U.S. law firm in Connecticut, where she has worked since 2004. She previously served as a career attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and in private practice.
If Glover finally approves a vote in the Judiciary Committee, her nomination will go to the Senate and House of Representatives for approval. Both are controlled by the Democrats.
If the committee rejects her nomination, the chambers can still take it up.
Associated Press writer Susan Haigh contributed to this report.