Andrew T. Judson

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Andrew T. Judson (November 29, 1784 – March 17, 1853) was a Connecticut lawyer, politician, and federal judge. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Connecticut from March 1835 to July 1836, then was appointed by President Andrew Jackson as a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, a role he held from July 1836 until his death in 1853. He also served in the Connecticut House of Representatives and the Connecticut Senate, and worked as Windham County’s attorney.

Judson led the Toleration Party, which pushed for a separation of church and state in Connecticut. He was an officer of the American Colonization Society, which supported moving some African Americans to Africa. He opposed efforts to educate Black people in Connecticut and played a major role in anti-Black education measures, including actions tied to the Prudence Crandall case in Canterbury, where a school for Black girls faced strong opposition and eventually closed. He supported returning Black people to Africa as a solution to racial issues.

Despite his white supremacist views, Judson is best known for a surprising ruling in the Amistad case: in 1840 he ordered the enslaved Africans aboard the ship La Amistad to be freed and returned to Africa. The decision was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Judson was born in Eastford, Connecticut, and died in Canterbury, Connecticut, where he is buried in Hyde Cemetery.