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Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ind. Courts - "Indiana Supreme Court got first black, first woman in '95"
During the entire 20th century, the Indiana Supreme Court had, briefly, one woman member. What of the 21st century?
These thoughts were occasioned today by an item in the Louisville Courier Journal celebrating Black History Month:
The first 103 members of the Indiana Supreme Court were white men. Gov. Evan Bayh changed that in 1995 by choosing Myra Selby, a black woman, as a justice. She was not quite 40 years old.At her urging, the court created the Race and Gender Fairness Commission, and she became its chairwoman. Selby said at the time that the judiciary "has a heightened level of responsibility to foster and promote equality."
Selby left the court in late 1999 to join a large Indianapolis law firm, becoming its first African-American partner. She downplayed that role at the time, noting that while it's an achievement to be first, it is "probably the least enviable position."
As for the Indiana Supreme Court, it is once again all male, but its newest member, Justice Robert D. Rucker, is an African American.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 14, 2006 08:31 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts