The Council

The Council
Co-Chaired by Judge Douglas S. Lavine and Attorney Amy Lin Meyerson, the council is housed within the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.

Members

  • Co-chair: Douglas S. Lavine, Judge Trial Referee
  • Co-chair: Amy Lin Meyerson, Esq., Past President, Connecticut Bar Association
  • Corrie Betts, NAACP
  • Michael Bloom, Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut
  • Jason O. Chang, Asian American Studies Institute, UConn
  • John Doyle, New Haven State's Attorney
  • Rabbi Michael Farbman, Temple Emanuel of Greater New Haven
  • Andrew A. Feinstein, Feinstein Education Law Group, LLC
  • Brian Foley, Tolland Town Manager
  • Steven D. Ginsburg, August Strategic Communications
  • Erene Hammond, UnitedHealth Group
  • Steven Hernández, ConnCAN
  • Rathanak M. Keo, #IAmNotAVirus
  • Tamara K. Lanier, NAACP, Connecticut Racial Profiling Project, ACLU Connecticut
  • Diana R. Lombardi
  • Duane J. Lovello, Deputy Director of Public Safety, Yale University
  • Gary M. MacNamara, Public Safety & Government Affairs, Sacred Heart University
  • Robin P. McHaelen
  • John P. Merz, Advancing Connecticut Together
  • Aida Mansoor, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace 
  • Fernando J. Muñiz, Community Solutions, Inc.
  • MD Masudur Rahman, Marjars Sourcing, Inc.
  • Precious Price, Middletown Racial Justice Coalition
  • Sharad A. Samy, The Commonfund for Nonprofit Organizations
  • Jonathan S. Slifka, Connecticut Department of Aging and Disability Services
  • Stacey G. Sobel, Regional Director, ADL Connecticut
  • Richard A. Wilson, UConn School of Law

Statutory Appointees (Ex-officio members, or their designees)

  • Patrick Griffin, Chief State’s Attorney
  • Verinda Birdsong (Chief Public Defender designee)
  • Seth Hershman (Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection designee)
  • Sergeant Luke LaRue (Connecticut Hate Crimes Investigative Unit)
  • Hon. Cecil J. Thomas (Connecticut Bar Association designee) 
  • Makana Ellis (George W. Crawford Black Bar Association designee) 
  • Riju Das (South Asian Bar Association of Connecticut designee) 
  • Michelle Querijero (Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association designee)
  • Leonard Rodriguez (Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association designee)
  • Christopher D. Ferace (Connecticut Police Chiefs Association designee)

As required under state statutes, ten officials serve as ex-officio members and the governor is responsible for appointing the remainder of the members, as well as selecting two of them to serve as co-chairpersons.

Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council

The Council

Co-Chaired by Judge Douglas S. Lavine and Attorney Amy Lin Meyerson, the council is housed within the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney
The Council
Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council

Meetings

View a calendar of upcoming council meetings and agendas and minutes for past council meetings.
meetings
Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council

Subcommittees

View the subcommittees of the Hate Crimes Advisory Council
Subcommittees