Horton has argued 108 cases before the state's highest court, which planned its bicentennial celebration on Friday. He is also the author of "The History of the Connecticut Supreme Court," and a member of the Connecticut Supreme Court Historical Society.
"There are some dynamic, energetic, incredibly intellectual voices on the court. And you see that in the language of their decisions," Horton said.
Connecticut was one of the first states in the country to view education as a fundamental right. A similar stance is held by only 14 other states.
Martin Margulies, a retired Quinnipiac law professor, said the supreme court drew attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s "because it was taking a lot of cutting edge work on state constitutional claims, deciding many cases on state constitutional grounds."
He said legal observers paid attention because the court was upholding several claims based on state constitutional grounds that the federal constitution would not have supported.
The state's constitution gives broader free speech rights to speakers on government property than the First Amendment, Margulies said.
In its rulings on criminal procedures, the high court has used the federal constitution as a floor - not a ceiling - on individual rights.
Under the U.S. Constitution, police can seize evidence under an invalid warrant issued by a magistrate, if they have a good-faith belief in its validity. But there is no "good-faith" exception under the Connecticut constitution. If a warrant should not have been issued in the first place, the evidence seized is inadmissible.
"During the mid-1990s when Chief Justice Ellen Peters, Justice David Borden and Robert Berdon were on the bench, this was one of the most exciting and one of the most watched state supreme courts in the country," Margulies said.
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Information from: Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com