"Bishop Street To The Bench"
Book signing
Retired Judge Maurice Mosley
Kaiyden's Coffee Shop
New Haven
To hear Judge Maurice Mosley tell it, every major city in Connecticut has a Bishop Street like the one in Waterbury. In Hartford, it’s Albany Avenue. It’s Stratford Avenue in Bridgeport. And in New Haven, it’s Dixwell Avenue.
“I grew up in the back alley of Bishop Street,” the retired New Haven Superior Court judge, 80, told a spirited group of 50 crowded into and spilling out of Kaiyden’s Coffee Shop near Wooster Square Park on a recent Saturday. “And to get from that back alley to being a judge, just two words: but God.”
The occasion was a book signing of Mosley’s recently released “Bishop Street to the Bench: An Improbable Journey” Midway through the event, there were no more books. All 50 were sold.
That didn’t seem to faze the former basketball standout — Mosley won an athletic scholarship to South Carolina State University in 1964 — who, from time to time, leapt up to address the crowd, before inviting longtime friends to say a word.
“Is this what you do at a book signing?” the father of one and grandfather of two asked at one point with an expression of mischievous delight. “Well, I’m going to do this anyway.”
Mosley was improvising, the same way, as he writes, he “turned his courtroom into a classroom” as a New Haven Superior Court judge handling juvenile matters and delinquencies; the same way in 1992 he co-founded, with his brother, Waterbury’s Granville Academy, an afterschool program to give kids the raw skills they need for careers in finance, engineering, and health care, among other fields; and the same reason he decided, as he put it, “to become a bestselling author.”
“This is about inspiring young people,” said the insatiable reader, as one friend attested, nodding at another well-wisher coming through the door. “I tell young folks that the system is rigged. You’ve got all sorts of obstacles. You’ve got to achieve in spite of. And if I did it, they can too.”
“This is a motivational book, and it’s one our community needs, particularly our Black males,” said Larry Conaway, former principal of Riverside Education Academy and former New Haven Board of Education member, about Mosley’s book. The book traces Mosley’s life from a young boy on Bishop Street to South Carolina State University and UConn School of Law graduate to five-term Waterbury state representative to Granville Academy founder to law partner to judge.
Neil Richardson, who served as Mosley’s marshal, recounted the judge assigning a one-page report on an article or a book related to the offense; in one case, someone caught smoking marijuana was charged with writing an essay on how it negatively impacts the brain. “They would have to show it to their teacher for corrections, and that’s collaborative learning,” Richardson said amid the aroma of roasting coffee in the well-lit space. “Judge Mosley always read them and commended them for their hard work.”
“Coming out of Waterbury, young man of color, he was understanding and empathetic of struggles, but there was tough love too,” said retired New Haven Probate Judge Clifton Graves. “They came back and said thank you for that, because it helped them turn their lives around. And that’s the biggest compliment. You ruled against me but you were always fair.”
Jerry Poole who was, as Mosley put it, “born on the same block, the same back alley,” called the judge “a lifelong friend.” It was the Granville program that fortified their bond. “We both wanted to do work to help young people and I’m so appreciative that he brought me on board,” he said.
At a nearby table, James Craig, who was the judge’s investigator, was pointing out his name in the preface of Mosley’s book. “He told me, ‘when you retire, I want you to come and work with me,’” he said. “So I’ve been working for him for 14 years now as a mentor at Granville Academy, and I think we’ve been able to change some lives.”
Beside Craig was Ron Benson, former president of the Firebirds Society, who challengedthe hiring and promotion practices of the New Haven Fire Department in the late 1990s and early aughts. “The judge didn’t just talk about it, he did it,” he said, as Mosley discussed the “success sequence,” a three-step life formula to help young adults in America avoid poverty and enter the middle class. “We’re talking about a legend right there.”
Just then, Sandra Sosnoff Baird, a family support magistrate who served with Mosley — he retired in 2021 after eight years on the bench — pushed through the door. “He’s the best,” she said. “Just kind, knowledgeable, accessible, and a friend.”
Kaiyden Cafe co-owner Chidi Onukwugha, emerging from the back counter, asked to speak. “We’ve been open five years this month,” he announced to the group. “We’ve had big events like the Cherry Blossom Festival here, and this is the best day by far.”
“Amen to that,” said Mosley, as legendary Wilbur Cross basketball coach Bob Saulsbury entered the cafe. “A lot of us here are from the inner city and we are achieving ‘in spite of.’ It’s up to us to show the next generation they can too.”
