The dispute arose when attorney Josephine Smalls Miller filed complaints with the commission alleging that the Connecticut Judicial Branch discriminated and retaliated against her during her application for reinstatement to the bar. Miller's law license had been suspended by the Superior Court in 2018 for one year with conditions for reinstatement.
Miller filed her first complaint in December 2020, alleging that delays in scheduling a hearing on her reinstatement application constituted racial discrimination. She filed a second complaint alleging retaliation after the standing committee sought advice from the Superior Court about how to proceed while her commission complaint and federal lawsuit were pending.
The Judicial Branch moved to dismiss Miller's complaints before the commission's human rights referee, asserting immunity from suit under the separation of powers doctrine. When the referee denied the motion, the Judicial Branch filed an interlocutory administrative appeal in Superior Court.
The trial court sustained the Judicial Branch's appeal and ordered dismissal of Miller's complaints, finding that commission jurisdiction over the Judicial Branch's attorney regulation decisions violated separation of powers. The Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed, holding that "decisions regarding reinstatement to the bar ultimately lie within the exclusive authority of the Judicial Branch."
The court emphasized that its ruling "did not afford the Judicial Branch carte blanche to engage in unlawfully discriminatory conduct under the guise of regulating the legal profession, as a decision regarding reinstatement remains subject to independent review by the courts."