Per Balzac: are you now, or have you ever been a conservative?

She joined other former clerks to write a letter of support for Amy Coney Barrett, and now she must pay.

Gov. Lamomt’s nominee for the State Supreme Court is rejected by Hartford Democrats

Sandra Slack Glover of Guilford, a veteran federal prosecutor who came under fire for her support of a conservative federal judge, and gained meager support after a nearly seven-hour legislative hearing this week, withdrew her name for a state Supreme Court nomination on Friday.

The withdrawal spares the 52-year-old assistant U.S. attorney, who heads the state Department of Justice's appellate unit, from a potential lopsided loss in the 38-member legislative Judiciary Committee. The committee would have been required to meet for a vote if she kept her nomination in play.

Sources said that fewer than 10 committee members supported her, following the revelations that she had signed a letter of support for the controversial conservative Amy Coney Barrett prior to gaining a position as a federal appeals court judge that was quickly followed by an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court by the Trump administration.

…. Lamont said that lawmakers needed to get to know Glover better, but the reaching out failed to move committee members. Some members said that her signing a 2017 letter with other former federal law clerks in support of Barrett's nomination for a federal judgeship was a deal breaker, combined with her lack of experience with Connecticut criminal and civil cases, despite of her nearly two decades of work in the U.S. Attorney's office.

But by 3:38 p.m. on Friday, Lamont announced that Glover had been discouraged to pursue the post any further.

“Attorney Sandra Slack Glover would have been an extraordinary justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court,” Lamont said in a statement. “I stand by that, and I stand by her as a lawyer of experience, character, and compassion, while respecting her decision today to withdraw from consideration.”

Lamont cited her two decades in the U.S. Attorney’s office. “She did a terrific job during her seven-hour public hearing and had substantive and positive meetings with legislative leaders from both parties. From beginning to end, she showed her talent, demonstrated her keen legal mind, and let people know she shares Connecticut’s values.”

…. The CT Pro-People Judiciary Coalition, a group of advocacy groups for civil rights and racial justice created this year, called on Lamont to pick a candidate for the state's top court who has experience in legal aid, civil rights of public defense.

 “Advancing professional diversity is not some kind of box-checking exercise. Recent empirical studies have shown that professional diversity on courts has a significant impact on the people appearing before them, with former prosecutors imposing harsher sentences than others, and former prosecutors and corporate attorneys siding more often with employers over their workers in discrimination and other employment cases," said Steve Kennedy, the organizing and network director for the coalition.