Hon. Karen Goodwin (Ret.)

Hon. Karen Goodwin (Ret.) was a newspaper reporter for six years in Arkansas and Connecticut after graduating from Oberlin College in 1976. Her coverage of the courts led her to pursue a legal career. She litigated civil cases at Day Berry and Howard (now Day, Pitney) in Hartford before joining the United States Attorney’s Office in 1991. Judge Goodwin served in both civil and criminal divisions. She was appointed to the Superior Court in 2017 and presided over cases in the four western counties of Massachusetts before retiring in 2024. As an Access to Justice Fellow, Judge Goodwin will partner with the New England Innocence Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing wrongful convictions throughout the six New England states.