Keynote Speaker

136th Annual Meeting
Saturday Morning

The Honorable Frederica S. Brenneman

Second woman to be appointed a judge in Connecticut and Advocate for wholistic approach for juvenile justice

Judge Brenneman is a graduate of Harvard Law School and was a member of the first class to admit women. Her appointment to serve as a Connecticut Juvenile Court Judge in 1967 allowed her to be a champion for improving the systems that deal with child abuse and neglect, and to help society become more realistically responsible for disadvantaged children. Judge Brenneman is the mother of Amy Brenneman, star of CBS’s “Judging Amy.”

In a speech given to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in 2002, Judge Brenneman reflected on current trends in the Juvenile Justice system; “But I believe that on top of them all should always be: ‘Least Detrimental Alternative’ and DO NO HARM. …Be aware of the IMPACT of every decision so that the child, presumably already traumatized by the circumstances which bring him into our courts, is not further harmed by the decisions made in those courts.”

In a faith story shared for a Covenant Sunday in her home church, Saugatuck Congregational Church of Westport, Judge Brenneman reflected “I am always conscious of the fact that every person in front of me, adult and child, saint or sinner, is made--as I am--in the image of God and is therefore entitled to be treated justly, fairly and courteously.”