GOVERNOR-ELECT MALLOY APPOINTS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE JOETTE KATZ TO BE COMMISSIONER OF DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

November 30, 2010

(HARTFORD, CT) - Governor-Elect Dan Malloy made his second commissioner-level appointment today, naming Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Joette Katz to lead the Department of Children and Families.

Of her appointment, Governor-Elect Malloy said, "Justice Katz's body of work - her work on the State Supreme Court, her time as an assistant Public Defender, as well as her time as chief of legal services for the Office of Chief Legal Defender -- convinced me that she's tough enough to manage what has been, at times, an unwieldy bureaucracy that is too insular, and a bureaucracy that has too often failed to protect our children. She'll think outside the box, and she's committed to ensuring that the Department of Children and Families does a better job going forward by communicating and coordinating with other agencies that interact with troubled families and their children."

"I am honored by this appointment. I can think of few things more important than the mission of this agency," said Justice Katz. "There are obviously a number of challenges in the agency that pre-date this administration, but we cannot allow the care, health and welfare of our state's children to languish. I look forward to working with Governor-Elect Malloy and the providers, families and children within the DCF system to ensure that our number one priority is the children we serve."

Justice Katz, a resident of Fairfield, was appointed to the Superior Court bench by Gov. William A. O'Neill in 1989 and to the state Supreme Court by Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 1992. She currently serves as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and administrative judge for the state appellate system, a position she also held from 1994-2000. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Justice Katz served as chief of legal services for the Office of the Chief Public Defender from 1983 to 1989. She served as an assistant public defender from 1978 to 1983. Before that, Justice Katz was an associate at Winnick Vine and Welch in Shelton. She received a bachelor of arts degree, graduating cum laude, in 1974 from Brandeis University and her law degree, graduating cum laude, from the University of Connecticut Law School in 1977.

In addition to fulfilling her responsibilities as a judge, she serves as a member of the Criminal Practice Commission, the CBA Attorney Trust Account Task Force, the Public Service and Trust Commission, the chair of the Client Security Fund, and is a member of the American Law Institute (participating in its Model Penal Code Sentencing Project). In the past, she was a member of the Public Defender Commission, the Law Revision Commission, the Fairfield County branch of the American Inns of Court, as well as the chairperson of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, and the chairperson of the Code of Evidence Oversight Committee. She has taught at all three of the state's law schools and is an associate fellow of Trumbull College at Yale University. Justice Katz has received many awards and honors as well as an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Quinnipiac University School of Law. She has had the great fortune to be able to mentor children in foster care and to do Katrina relief work and post-tsunami relief work in Sri Lanka. Justice Katz is married to Dr. Philip Rubin, CEO of Haskins Laboratories in New Haven, and has two adult children, Jason Rubin and Samantha Katz.