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Connecticut's new top public defender 1st Black woman in job

TaShun Bowden-Lewis said she hopes to provide minority clients with a greater sense of trust in the state's criminal justice system.
Credit: FOX61

HARTFORD, Conn. — For the first time, a Black woman has been appointed as Connecticut's chief public defender.

TaShun Bowden-Lewis, who officially began her job on Friday overseeing the Division of Public Defender Services, said she hopes to provide minority clients with a greater sense of trust in the state's criminal justice system.

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“I do want our clients and our families to understand that we’re in the trenches with them. We support them," she told The Hartford Courant.

Bowden-Lewis was appointed in late May by the Public Defender Services Commission. The division represents clients in more than 100,000 criminal, child protection, delinquency defense, and family support cases annually.

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Bowden-Lewis said she understands the importance of being the first Black woman to hold the job, noting that “representation matters" given the racial makeup of the division's clients.

Bowden-Lewis grew up in Norwalk and earned her law degree from Quinnipiac University. She began her career working as a temporary assistant law clerk in New Haven before joining the Connecticut Division of Public Defender Services.

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Bowden-Lewis has worked in the New Haven and Waterbury courts, most recently serving as supervisor of the public defender's office for the Waterbury Judicial District.

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