Karen Goodrow

Bio

Judge Goodrow (Ret.) graduated from Southern Connecticut State University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She earned her Juris Doctor in 1983 from Western New England University School of Law. In 2013, she was appointed as a Judge of the Superior Court for the State of Connecticut. While serving as a judge, she was the Vice Chair of the Education Committee for the Connecticut Judicial Branch, and a member of the Ethics Committee and Judicial Review Council. Judge Goodrow presided over criminal, family and civil matters. During her tenure, she served as an Administrative Judge and Presiding Judge for the Judicial Branch. Judge Goodrow retired from the bench in February 2026.

Prior to her appointment as a judge, Goodrow was the founding Director of the Connecticut Innocence Project.  She supervised the investigation of post-conviction claims of innocence. She served previously as the Public Defender for the Tolland Judicial District, and as a trial attorney in the public defender offices in the Hartford, New Haven, and Middletown courts. She was a member of the Capital Defense and Trial Services Unit, defending individuals facing the death penalty. She also served in the Public Defender Habeas Unit.  In addition to her work as a public defender, Goodrow served as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the City of New Haven. Her work as an Assistant Corporation Counsel focused on defending the police in civil rights cases, representing the City’s Fire Department, and other litigation involving the City of New Haven.  Prior to her work at the City of New Haven, she worked as a litigator in private practice, with a focus on representing plaintiffs in civil rights cases and representing defendants in criminal cases.

Judge Goodrow teaches courses at Yale that mirror her legal experience. Her courses include Freedom of Speech and the First Amendment, Death Penalty and Wrongful Convictions, and Policing in America. She previously taught courses at the University of Connecticut School of Law, Quinnipiac University School of Law, Fairfield University and the University of Hartford. She has on numerous occasions presented on legal and ethical issues, and participated on panels for legal, academic, community and civic organizations. 

Contact

• 31 Hillhouse Avenue, EP&E
• karen.goodrow@yale.edu

Education

• J.D., Western New England University School of Law