Hartford State’s Attorney James E. Thomas is furious that the state Criminal Justice Commission passed over seven veteran members of his staff in selecting a relatively junior prosecutor from Waterbury, Gail Petteway Hardy, 44, as his successor. Hardy is the first black woman to be appointed a state’s attorney in Connecticut, and because of her lesser experience, Thomas doubts that she was selected on merit.
The Criminal Justice Commission’s chairman, Justice Richard N. Palmer, says Hardy’s appointment was “merit-based” but acknowledges that the commission wants to bring diversity to the ranks of its top regional prosecutors. So Hardy’s appointment raises the old “affirmative action” question: Do race and gender help to constitute merit or are they just political considerations?
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