Hartford -- Residents of the Rose City sometimes feel their part of the state is overlooked by lawmakers in Hartford, but that was not the case on Monday.

Two judicial nominees with ties to Norwich appeared at confirmation hearings before the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee. 

"Many days in this building, I hear the center of the universe is in another area of Connecticut, but today in the Judiciary Committee, the City of Norwich is represented very well," said state Rep. Emmett D. Riley, D-Norwich.

Superior Court Judge Nina F. Elgo, whom Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has nominated for elevation to the state Appellate Court, grew up in Norwich and in 2015 was honored with a Native Daughter Award by the Norwich Rotary and Women's City Club. She now lives in West Hartford.

Ernest Green Jr., one of 13 people Malloy nominated earlier this month to become Superior Court judges, grew up in Ohio, but currently resides in Norwich. 

"It seems to be Norwich Day and that's a good thing," said State Rep. Doug Dubitsky, R-Chaplin. "I represent part of Norwich, and the more judges from Norwich, the better."

The committee was expected to vote on the nominees Monday evening. They would then move on for confirmation by both houses of the legislature.

Elgo, the daughter of Norwich residents Nilda and Loreto Elgo, is poised to become a member of the first Appellate Court in state history represented by a majority of female judges. She attended John B. Stanton Elementary School, Kelly Junior High School, Teachers' Memorial School and graduated from Norwich Free Academy in 1980. She has said her school years in Norwich paved the way for her career.

Elgo graduated from Connecticut College with a degree in government studies and worked as a paralegal in Boston before attending Georgetown University Law Center, where she graduated in 1990. She worked as an assistant attorney general representing the state Department of Children and Families until 2004, when, at age 41, Gov. John G. Rowland nominated her to be a Superior Court judge.

Judiciary Committee members seemed more interested in Green's family background Monday than his place of residence. He mentioned during his three-minute introductory speech that his father, Ernest Green Sr., was a running back for the Cleveland Browns in the 1960s, his mother was a stay-at-home mom, and the parents both always expressed the importance of education.

The committee members sprinkled questions about the father's football career and their own football preferences in with their queries about Green's ability to impose lengthy prison sentences, given his background as a public defender, and his services on the Commission on Racial & Ethnic Disparity in the Criminal Justice System.

If it was the first test of his judicial demeanor, Green appears to have passed. He respectfully answered a question about his father's more famous teammate, the legendary Jim Brown, noting Green Sr. had blocked for Brown. He smiled when state Sen. Ed Gomes, D-Bridgeport, explained he's a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. He seemed appropriately sympathetic when another lawmaker lamented that the Browns had beat his favorite team, the Baltimore Colts, for the NFL championship in 1964.

Green has been with the state's Division of Public Defender Services since 2003 and has been a senior assistant public defender since 2014. He currently is assigned to the Geographic Area 11 courthouse in Danielson. He is a graduate of Brown University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in American civilization, the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a Master of Science and Ph.D. in human sexuality education, and the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor degree.

Green told the committee members he would act with equanimity on the bench and spoke of his lifelong dedication to learning.

"Appointment to the bench is the beginning of a new phase of learning for me, not an end," he said.

k.florin@theday.com