Kenneth Wynne (May 6, 1888 – August 19, 1971) was a justice of the

Connecticut Supreme Court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit i ...

from 1953 to 1958.

Early life, education, and career

Born in Unionville (later Farmington), Connecticut, to attorney John F. Wynne and Henrietta Barnes Kinney Wynne, the family moved to

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, where the Wynne's father opened a law office. Wynne attended the public schools of New Haven, graduating from New Haven High School, and working for a time as a newspaper reporter.J. Warren Upson,
Connecticut Reports
' (1971), volume 161, p. 612-613. Wynne graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and went on to

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

, where he was a member of the school's debate team and on the board of the

Yale Law Journal ''The Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ) is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School. The journal is one ...

, before receiving an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1910.Kenneth Wynne, 83, Connecticut Judge
, ''

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'' (August 20, 1971). He gained

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

the same year, and thereafter held a variety of positions in public service first as clerk of the State Senate in 1913, then was executive secretary to Governor Simeon E. Baldwin in 1914 and 1915. Wynne and his father practiced law in New Haven as the firm of Wynne and Wynne until 1921, when Wynne's father died. Wynne then practiced with various other attorneys, and was appointed assistant city attorney for New Haven beginning in 1923. During this period, Wynne "also served as acting coroner for New Haven County". Wynne served as executive secretary to Governor

Wilbur Lucius Cross Wilbur Lucius Cross (April 10, 1862 – October 5, 1948) was an American literary critic who served as the 71st governor of Connecticut from 1931 to 1939. Biography Born in 1862 in Mansfield, Cross attended Natchaug School in Willimantic. He ...

from 1931 to 1935.

Judicial service

In 1936, Wynne was appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court, and in 1939, he presided over a case in which defendants were prosecuted under a statute that made the use of birth control illegal in Connecticut. Wynne wrote a brief decision finding the wording of the law unconstitutional.David J. Garrow, ''Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade'' (2015), p. 67-70. In 1953, Wynne was elevated to the Connecticut Supreme Court, serving as chief justice from 1957 until his mandatory retirement in 1958. Wynne died in retirement in

Woodbridge, Connecticut Woodbridge is a New England town, town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, South Central Connecticut Planning Region. The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynne, Kenneth Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court 1888 births 1971 deaths People from Farmington, Connecticut Yale Law School alumni American coroners 20th-century Connecticut state court judges