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Interview with Joette Katz

IntervieweeInterview with Joette Katz American, born 1953

InterviewerInterviewed by Ernie Teitell American

Date2016 December 14

DimensionsDuration: 8 Minutes, 53 Seconds

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineGift of the Connecticut Bar Foundation

DescriptionOral history interview with Joette Katz who was interviewed by Ernie Teitell on December 14, 2016 for the Connecticut Bar Foundation's History of Connecticut Women in the Legal Profession Project.

Topics Discussed:

- Early Life and Family: Joette Katz, born in 1953, grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Her parents worked in the garment business. She describes her childhood as growing up in a "democracy" where she was encouraged to argue and where her parents made it clear she could pursue any career she desired.

- Education: Katz attended a small private high school where she was involved in many activities. She went to Brandeis University for college and then directly to UConn Law School.

- Marriage: She married Philip Rubin, who was getting his PhD in Psycholinguistics, while still in college.

- Early Legal Career: After law school, Katz decided to specialize in criminal law, inspired by Atticus Finch. She initially worked at a small firm. From 1978 to 1981, she worked in the appellate unit of the Public Defender's Office. From 1981 to 1983, she worked as a public defender in Bridgeport, handling at least 120 serious felony cases at a time. During this time, she was also a member of Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund and helped draft the rape shield statute.

- Experiences as a Woman in the Legal Profession: During her time as a trial lawyer, Katz faced challenges, especially when she was pregnant. She also encountered instances of gender bias from judges and male adversaries.

- Chief of Legal Services and Appellate Work: While pregnant, Katz applied for and became the Chief of Legal Services.

- Gaines v. Manson Supreme Court Case (1984).

- Becoming a Trial Judge: Katz was appointed a judge in 1989. In October 1989, she presided over the high-profile Bloomingdale's homicide case in Stamford. After a few criminal trials, she transitioned to juvenile cases and then to civil cases.

- Judicial Selection Process and Gender-Specific Questions: In the fall of 1988, during her interview for a judicial position, Joette Katz was asked gender-specific questions by a layperson on the Judicial Selection committee about childcare arrangements and whether she had a housekeeper.

- Appellate and Supreme Court Justice: Katz spent less than four years as a trial judge before being called by Governor Lowell Weicker's Chief of Staff to consider applying to the Appellate Court. She also served as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

- Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families: Joette Katz had been Commissioner. Key initiatives during her commissionership include improving family engagement through announced visits and respectful interactions, significantly increasing the percentage of children placed with family foster care and addressing implicit bias through a racial justice lens.

- Humorous Anecdote as a Supreme Court Justice: Katz shares a lighthearted story from her time on the Supreme Court.

Object number2024.38.52a-b

NotesProject Overview: At the turn of the 20th century, other than Mary Hall, women lawyers were virtually unknown in Connecticut. By contrast, at the turn of the 21st century, law schools were enrolling roughly the same number of women as men. Since their earliest time at the bar, women have become leaders in all areas of the profession at a pace out of all proportion to their brief history and number.

In 1999, the Fellows of the Connecticut Bar Foundation initiated the Oral History of Connecticut Women in the Legal Profession Project. Within the framework of this dynamic project, the Fellows have been creating a permanent video, audio, and photographic historical record of milestone achievements of women as they have become more visible and achieved prominence in the field of law. In 2019, a leadership donation of $20,000 from the law firm of Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey enabled the project to significantly broaden its scope and plan for the future.

Through its first two phases, the project worked with award-winning documentarian Karyl Evans and attorney/photographer Isabel Chenoweth to produce fifty-eight oral history interviews with outstanding female attorneys and 118 portraits of women in the Connecticut judiciary.

The oral history interviews have collected the stories of women whose ingenuity, perseverance, and intelligence dismantled barriers that historically prevented women from pursuing careers in the law. Connecticut has benefited from the efforts of these “pioneers” as they enriched the legal profession by joining the ranks of their male peers and paved the way for more women to join the profession. (Source: Connecticut Bar Foundation)