Open Admission

MANIFESTO

The Constitution State had a farce nearly a year ago wherein the chief justice of the Supreme Court at the time delayed the publication of a court decision about the public release of judicial records in order to grease the skids for the incoming chief justice, who was about to face confirmation hearings. The situation was so outrageous that the aspiring CJ, Peter T. Zarella, was forced to remove his name from consideration for the post. As all of this was going on, Connecticut's governor paid little attention, apparently attending to her macaroni and cheese.

Now it turns out that the governor had paid little attention to the whole process from the get-go.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell launched her ill-fated nomination of Peter T. Zarella as chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court last year without interviewing the nominee about his career, philosophy or vision for the judiciary.

Zarella, 57, an associate justice of the state's highest court since January 2001, told surprised legislators at a hearing Friday that Rell called him and posed only one question last March about a possible promotion to chief justice: Would he take the job?

"It was a very loose way in which the governor handled the most important nomination she will ever have," said Sen. Andrew J. McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the judiciary committee, after the hearing.

Golly. Ya think?

At any rate, this has been pretty much the modus operandi of Governor Clubwoman from the start: Make sure everyone gets along; don't ask too many questions because, after all, we all want to be friends, don't we?

Twenty-five years ago or so, a few of Connecticut's struggling state colleges tried to fatten their rolls by using an open admission policy. That is, one applied to college pretty much via post card. Bottom line: If the applicant answered "yes" to the crucial question, "Would you like to attend this college," he was accepted.

This might be a good policy for money-starved public institutions, but it's a hell of a way to choose a Supreme Court chief justice.