Fellows Programs
The James W. Cooper Fellows serve the goal of the Connecticut Bar Foundation by sponsoring programs and projects that address matters concerning the legal profession, the administration of justice, and the role of law in society. The Fellows also serve this mission through projects that educate the public about the role of the rule of law. Fellows Programs have achieved the following results in recent years:
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Eyewitness identification procedures were changed in Connecticut following a symposium organized by the Bar Foundation.
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Hundreds of Connecticut high school students have participated in an essay contest to develop a better understanding of the role of the rule of law in their daily lives.
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Through the CBF’s Connecticut Innocence Fund, wrongly imprisoned exonerees can now receive bridge loans as they try to pull their lives together after years of unjust incarceration.
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Over one hundred middle-school aged children reduced their absenteeism by over 70% through the work of the Fellows Truancy Intervention Project.
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James Tillman, exonerated after serving 21 years in prison for crimes he did not commit, addressing attendees at the Connecticut Innocence Fund Fundraising Event at the Pond House
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James W. Cooper Fellows Eric Daniels, Nancy Hronek and Janet VanTassel at the Connecticut Innocence Fund Fundraising Event at the Pond House
2023-2024 Essay Contest Awards Ceremony, CT Supreme Court, June 4, 2024
L-R: Attorney Justine Rakich-Kelly, CBF Executive Director Angela Schlingheyde, Runner-up Ioannis Oikonomou,
Statewide Winner Joseph Coppinger, Runner-up Delaney Russell, and Justice Gregory T. D’Auria
(photo credit: Tricia Rose, Tricia Rose Photography)
