Richard A. Robinson (born December 10, 1957) is an American lawyer and judge, who has served as chief 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 in ...

since 2018, and previously as an associate justice from 2013 to 2018. Born in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, Robinson received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

in 1979 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1984. He was Staff Counsel for the City of Stamford Law Department from 1985 to 1988, when he became Assistant Corporation Counsel in Stamford.Connecticut Supreme Court biography of Richard A. Robinson
In 2000, Robinson was appointed to the

Connecticut Superior Court The Connecticut Superior Court is the state trial court of general jurisdiction. It hears all matters other than those of original jurisdiction of the Probate Court, and hears appeals from the Probate Court. The Superior Court has 13 judicial distr ...

, serving until his appointment to the

Connecticut Appellate Court 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 f ...

on December 10, 2007. He was appointed to the

on December 19, 2013. In November 2017, the Chief Justice of Connecticut Chase T. Rogers announced that she would retire in February 2018.

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Dannel Malloy Dannel Patrick Malloy (; born July 21, 1955) is an American politician, who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. On July ...

nominated associate justice

Andrew J. McDonald Andrew J. McDonald (born March 11, 1966) is an American judge and former politician from Connecticut. He serves as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. He previously served as a member of the Connecticut State Senate from 2003 ...

to be the next chief justice, but his nomination was rejected by the

Connecticut Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

. In April 2018, Governor Malloy nominated Robinson to be chief justice of Connecticut. Robinson was sworn in as chief justice on June 18, 2018. He is the first African-American chief justice in Connecticut's history.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Richard A. 1957 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges African-American judges African-American lawyers Chief Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court Connecticut lawyers Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court Politicians from Stamford, Connecticut University of Connecticut alumni West Virginia University College of Law alumni 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people

See also

References