Joette Katz (born February 3, 1953) is an American attorney who is a partner at the law firm, Shipman & Goodwin LLP [1]. She was an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, where she also served as the administrative judge for the state appellate system, and later was the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. In various roles during her career she has had an impact on issues of state and national importance, such as: criminal law,[1][2] capital punishment,[3] civil rights and the right to education,[4] eminent domain,[5] same-sex marriage,[6][7] LGBTQ rights,[8][9] sexual assault,[10] sex trafficking,[11][12] and helping children in state care move from institutions to families.[13]
Katz was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were Harry and Sayre Katz. She lives in Fairfield, Connecticut and is married to Philip Rubin, CEO emeritus of Haskins Laboratories and a former White House science advisor. They have two children, Jason Rubin and Samantha Katz.
Katz went to high school at the Berkeley Institute in Brooklyn (now known as the Berkeley Carroll School). She received a bachelor of arts degree, graduating cum laude, in 1974 from Brandeis University and her J.D. degree, graduating cum laude, from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1977.
Katz started her professional career in 1977 as an attorney at the law firm of Winnick, Vine and Welch (now Winnick, Vine, Welch & Teodosio [2]) in Shelton, Connecticut. From 1978 to 1981 she was as an assistant public defender in the appellate unit of the office of the Chief Public Defender in New Haven, Connecticut. From 1981 to 1983 she was an assistant public defender in the trial unit in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She served as Chief of Legal Services for the Office of the Chief Public Defender from 1983 to 1989 and was the first woman to serve in this role in Connecticut.
Katz was nominated for the Superior Court bench by Gov. William A. O'Neill in 1989. She was elevated to the state Supreme Court by Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 1992. Her appointment at age 39 made her, at the time, the youngest justice ever appointed to the Connecticut Supreme Court.[14] She was reappointed by Gov. John G. Rowland in 2001 and Gov. M. Jodi Rell in 2009. She was the first public defender to serve on the Connecticut Supreme Court and the second woman to serve on the court after Justice Ellen Ash Peters. From 2006 until her resignation on January 5, 2011, she also served as administrative judge for the state appellate system, a position she previously held from 1994 to 2000. She was the first woman to serve in this position.
During her 18+ years as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, Justice Katz sat on approximately 2,500 cases and authored nearly 500 opinions. Some notable and/or controversial opinions and cases include:
On November 30, 2010, incoming Gov. Dannel Malloy named Justice Katz to head the troubled Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF).[22] She stepped down from the Connecticut Supreme Court on January 5, 2011 in anticipation of assuming the DCF post. Justice Katz said she looked forward to the challenge of leading DCF, noting, "I can think of few things more important than the mission of this agency."[23]
Joette Katz was confirmed as Commissioner of DCF by unanimous vote of the Connecticut State Senate on February 4, 2011.
Connecticut made considerable progress reforming the state child welfare system under the leadership of Commissioner Katz. In 2015, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, one of the leading organizations in child welfare issues in the U.S., published a case study that described changes at Connecticut's DCF as the "Connecticut Turnaround". In this report, they indicated that, "Over five years, Connecticut has made substantial progress in turning around its troubled child welfare agency. ... the state has instituted improvements, driven down the number of unnecessary child removals and ensured that children entering state custody live in families whenever possible, not in group placements."[24]
A report ("The Malloy-Wyman Record: A Review Across Five Areas of Policy, January 5, 2011 – January 9, 2019") released by Governor Malloy and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman at the end of their terms,[25] summarized some of the progress made at DCF under Commissioner Katz's leadership:
On Dec. 6, 2018, Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform [3], wrote an op-ed in the Hartford Courant titled, "Connecticut losing the gutsiest leader in child welfare."[26] He called her job as commissioner, "probably the hardest in state or local government."
In a year-end editorial, "Hearts and darts, Connecticut's highs and lows, for 2018," the Hartford Courant awarded Katz a Heart, saying, "... we believe her policy of trying to keep struggling families intact did a lot of good."[27]
Commissioner Katz retired from DCF in January 2019.[28]
On Jan. 14, 2018, Katz joined the law firm Shipman & Goodwin LLP as a partner in its Business Litigation Practice Group.[29] [30] She works in several areas, including with the firm's practitioners who handle federal, state and administrative appeals. In addition, she provides mediation services, and assists the firm's clients both when facing government investigations, and in the conduct of their own internal investigations. The firm's business litigation practice group comprises nearly 70 attorneys representing clients in state and federal courts throughout the U.S. across a range of subject areas. She works in the firm's Stamford and Hartford, Connecticut offices.[31]
Justice Katz has served on numerous committees and commissions, including the American Law Institute Model Penal Code: Sentencing project [4], the Connecticut chapter of the American Inns of Court, the Connecticut Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules [5] (which she chaired), the Connecticut Code of Evidence Oversight Committee [6] (which she chaired), the Connecticut Criminal Practice Commission [7], the Connecticut Law Revision Commission [8], the Connecticut Public Defender Services Commission [9], and the Connecticut Client Security Fund [10] (which she chaired).
She is co-author of the book, Connecticut Criminal Caselaw Handbook: A Practitioner's Guide, published in 1989 by the Connecticut Law Tribune.
Justice Katz has been an instructor at the Yale Law School in New Haven, where she is currently serving as Visiting Clinical Lecturer [11], teaching Ethics in Litigation and Children and the Law. She also has been an instructor of criminal law and ethics at the Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden and also served from 1981 to 1984 as an instructor in legal research and writing, Moot Court, and appellate advocacy at the University of Connecticut School of Law.
She is a Trustee at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut [12].
She is the Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.
Justice Katz has received many awards and honors, including:
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