Markeshia Ricks Photo
Clifton Graves Jr.
The woman had been living in the woods in a tent, disowned by her family, homeless and battling substance abuse. New Haven’s Probate Court judge asked attorney Clifton Graves Jr. to help her not only get into treatment but find permanent stable housing.
Graves went one step further after being appointed her conservator. He helped her reestablish a relationship with a member of her family.
Graves recalled that story in describing why he’s now running to become probate judge himself, in a three-person race.
Graves has served as the director of the city’s prison re-entry program, Project Fresh Start, since 2014. He said opportunities to help people like the woman who found herself far from her California home and living in New Haven drew him into the race to succeed Probate Judge Keyes, who is retiring in January.
Probate is the only elected judgeship in the state. Judges serve four-year terms; the position pays an annual salary of $125,000. Candidates are required to live in the district where they serve.
The probate court deals with adoptions and custody cases. It also can sort out what to do with an estate after someone has died and how to protect the rights and money of people who are elderly and physically infirm.
Graves faces two opponents for the seat that Keyes has occupied for over three decades, attorneys Americo Carchia and Orlando Cordero. (Read this article about a recent ward committee meeting in which all three candidates recently participated.)
Graves said while he has enjoyed helping men and women reintegrate into society after incarceration, he’s ready to offer “help and hope” in a different capacity.
“What I’ve learned over time is that we all have contributions to make in different forms and different settings,” he said. “I’m certainly honored to have served in the Harp administration and thank the mayor for giving me this opportunity to be of service … The reason I’m throwing my hat in the ring for probate judge is that I believe that there is another level of service that I can provide.”
Graves, 64, has been a fixture in city government and social justice circles for more than 30 years, having served in different capacities under three mayors. He received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University and his law degree from Georgetown University. He has served as assistant and deputy corporation counsel for the city, as a staff attorney for the city’s housing authority and as the director of diversity and equity for Southern Connecticut State University. He made an unsuccessful bid in 2011 for mayor.
Graves said his varied experiences, including seven years of working with the probate court system, make him a natural candidate for probate judge.
“Having a law degree and having over 25 years of experience in the legal field has more than equipped me with the necessary tools to serve effectively and efficiently as probate court judge,” he said.
The People’s Court
Graves said he believes that the person who succeeds Keyes has to have three qualities — or the “three Cs”: Competence, compassion, and connectedness.
He said he has had experiences both as an attorney serving as a hearing officer and as an administrator having to weigh and interpret state and federal laws. He said that has helped him develop the competence needed to adjudicate the many matters that come before a probate court judge. He said getting to watch the way Keyes conducts court — without wearing a judge’s robe or sitting on a high bench — and being involved in the intimate details of someone’s life through the court and his own many civic commitments over the years taught him the compassion needed tobe efficient and effective,fair and just.
He said he wants to continue his family’s legacy of commitment to serving New Haven. His mother was a public school teacher; his father served two terms on the Board of Education. His two adult children are a product of the New Haven Public Schools.
“The voters of New Haven decide who is going to serve as their probate judge,” he said. “Why is that? Probably because the legislature understood that the probate court judge deals with everyday problems and issues that confront our families, our children, our elders, our mentally, physically and intellectually disabled and all of that as well as wills and estates and other issues. In many ways, it is truly a people’s court.”
“Folks love and respected Judge Keyes because he is down to earth,” he said. “He was a people person and that made him effective and respected. The person who succeeds him has to bring that as well to build on that foundation he has established.”
Making The Law Respectable
The woman who once lived in a tent in the woods is now in an independent living facility. She’s still mostly estranged from her family, but through continued outreach, Graves said, her sister was convinced to come and visit her.
“I’m still her conservator, ” he said. “It was a very sad and tragic situation that I was thrust into, but I’m pleased to say after several years now that her situation is far better now than when I was assigned the case.
“To call it a happy ending is too simple,” Graves said. “But it is one that at least has had positive results thus far. That experience and many others that I can account for have demonstrated the role a probate court can play. The fact that Judge Keyes saw fit to appoint me for this particular client means that he thought that someone with my background and experience would be effective at meeting her needs.”
Graves said if elected he would continue Keyes’ legacy through the Thomas Keyes Fund. Keyes established the fund to help alleviate some of the financial stress of would-be guardians taking on the full-time care of children. He said such a fund is more important than ever because of the state’s ongoing financial crisis.
“This is not Fairfield County, Darien or New Canaan,” he said. “This is New Haven, where many people are not like my client, who came from wealth but come before the court with a low to moderate income. They are often grandmothers who don’t have enough resources to take care of children and grandchildren. “
He said if he is elected he would like to see the pool of people who are designated as conservators expand. The current pool is composed mostly of attorneys. He said he’d like to see more people who come from caring backgrounds and who are studying to be future lawyers, social workers, and health care professionals. He said he’d like to partner with Southern Connecticut State University to get graduate students and professors involved.
He said he also wants to see court forms simplified.
“I have heard of those with professional degrees having a difficult time filling out these forms,” he said. “Imagine what someone who is working class might go through trying to figure out these forms. It is certainly a challenge, to say the least, to complete the forms and I would like to make them more user-friendly for the clients and those who avail themselves of the court.”
Graves said he wants to do what U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandies said should be done over 100 years ago.
“He said, ‘If we desire respect for the law, then we must make the law respectable,’” Graves observed. “So my position is Judge Keyes has done that, and I want to continue to make the law, the probate court and the court system respectable. By that I mean fair and just, providing the help and hope that folks need.
“Fairness and justice are essential to make the law respectable,” he said.