Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Wednesday that she is nominating Superior Judge Stuart D. Bear of West Hartford to Connecticut’s Appellate Court, to replace retiring Chief Appellate Judge Joseph P. Flynn.
Bear, 65, a Republican, has served since 2003 on the Superior Court bench in Middletown. Bear received his law degree cum laude from Harvard in 1968. He worked previously at Zeldes, Needle & Cooper from 1973 to 2003 and at the New Haven Legal Assistance Foundation from 1968 to 1973.
“Judge Bear will make an outstanding addition to the Appellate Court,” Governor Rell said in a press release. “His extensive experience as an attorney and his years on our Superior Court bench have given him a depth of knowledge and a strong sense of the law’s role in society – key strengths that will enable him to deal fairly and wisely with the range of issues that come before the appeals court.”
Rell said she looks forward to Bear’s confirmation by the General Assembly.
Flynn notified Governor Rell this month that he intends to take “senior status.” Chief Justice Chase Rodgers appointed Appellate Judge Alexandra D. DiPentima to replace Judge Flynn as head of the Appellate Court.