« Ind. Decisions - Transfer list for week ending Dec. 26, 2008 | Main | Ind. Courts - More on "LaPorte deputy prosecutor shot" »
Monday, December 29, 2008
Courts - Kentucky judge retirements leave racial void on bench
This AP story today in the Lexington Herald-Leader begins:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Kentucky's largest county will be left with no black judges presiding in any of its trial courts after two African-American judges retire in January.Janice Martin, who became the first black female judge in the state in 1992, is one of the retirees. She says it puts Jefferson County, which is 19 percent black, back at "square zero."
"It is very disturbing and disheartening," Martin told The Courier-Journal.
Judge Toni Stringer also is retiring, leaving the county without a black judge among the 40 in district, circuit or family courts.
But as many as seven seats are opening in Jefferson district and circuit courts by the end of next month, and one or more of those appointments could go to an African-American attorney. * * *
The Commission on Racial Fairness is working on a resolution that points out the importance of diversity on the bench.
"It is almost unbelievable that we will not have any African-Americans on the trial bench" in Jefferson County, said Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge Denise Clayton, who oversees the commission. The commission was created to specifically examine racial fairness in Jefferson County courts.
Clayton, the first black woman to become a Kentucky Circuit Court judge, moved to the appeals court last year.
"The bench should reflect the diversity of the community," she said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 29, 2008 02:39 PM
Posted to Courts in general