Connecticut Supreme Court

The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a chief justice and six associate justices, who sit in Hartford across the street from the Connecticut State Capitol. The court was created in 1784, and the Connecticut Constitution of 1818 established an independent judiciary with the Supreme Court of Errors as the highest court of the state. The words of Errors referred to writs of error and were deleted in 1965. The court holds eight sessions a year, each lasting two to three weeks. Justices are appointed by the governor and approved by the General Assembly, and they must retire on reaching the age of 70, although they may go on hearing cases as judge trial referees or take senior status and sit as needed. When a justice is recused or absent, a judge of the Appellate or Superior Court may be called to sit with the court. Its landmark decisions include Sheff v. O'Neill in 1996 on education and civil rights and Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health in 2008 on same-sex marriage.