World News | First black woman named top Connecticut public defender

HARTFORD, Conn., July 3 (AP) The first black woman has been named Connecticut’s chief public defender.

TaShun Bowden-Lewis, who officially began her job on Friday overseeing the Public Defender Service, said she hopes to give minority clients 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 are standing by their side. We stand by them,” she told The Hartford Gazette.

Bowden-Lewis was appointed by the Public Defenders Service in late May. The department represents clients in more than 100,000 criminal, child protection, criminal defense and family support cases each year.

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Bowdoin-Lewis said she understood the importance of being the first black woman to hold the position, noting that “representation matters” given the racial makeup of the department’s clients.

Bowden-Lewis grew up in Norwalk and earned a law degree from Quinnipiac University. Before joining the Connecticut Public Defender Service, she began her career as a temporary assistant paralegal in New Haven.

Bowden-Lewis has served in the New Haven and Waterbury courts, most recently as Director of the Waterbury Judicial District Public Defender’s Office.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)