Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, Inc. v. Governor M. Jodi Rell Et A — Palmer, J…

Summary

Justice Palmer concurred in the judgment reversing the trial court and remanding the case, agreeing that the plaintiffs' education-adequacy claims under article eighth, § 1, are justiciable and allege a substantive constitutional right. He would define that right narrowly as an opportunity for a minimally adequate education and would defer substantially to the political branches, allowing relief only upon proof that the state's educational system is unreasonably insufficient by any fair or objective standard. Justice Schaller concurred in the judgment while advocating a broader adequacy standard, whereas Justices Zarella and Vertefeuille dissented, concluding that the claims were nonjusticiable or that the constitution created no judicially enforceable qualitative right.