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Sunday, December 11, 2011

Ind. Courts - "Justice Shepard has been one of Indiana's best and brightess"

From the Evansville Courier & Press today, an editorial tribute to Justice Shepard. It begins:

When Randy Shepard first appeared on the public scene in Evansville, it was in politics, not the law, and it was in politics that he appeared to have the most promise. He was one of the bright young stars who joined the upstart -- and successful -- mayoral campaign of Russ Lloyd Sr., and later, he became the administrative assistant to the popular Republican mayor.

At that time, Shepard, a Harrison High School graduate who went on to Princeton and Yale Law, was clearly one of Evansville's best and brightest. He was smart and intellectually curious in a manner way beyond his years. It wasn't for lack of trying that he didn't rise up in the political ranks. Twice he sought a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives, but lost, and when Lloyd decided not to seek a third term, he ran for mayor, only to lose again. He finally gained election success in 1980 when he took his talents to the judiciary, winning a six-year term as a Vanderburgh County Superior Court judge in a nonpartisan election. And as they say, the rest is history.

Shepard moved up quickly. Just a few years later, Gov. Robert D. Orr, a friend of Shepard, appointed him to a vacancy on the Indiana Supreme Court, and two years after that, the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission made him the chief justice of the state high court at the age of 38. It is a position he still holds, but one that he will voluntarily give up in March when he retires from the court.

Shepard, now 64, has had a truly remarkable career. He rose rapidly in the court, even though he came in with only limited experience. * * *

[A]s Shepard prepares to retire, we come to recognize that he was not only one of Evansville's finest products, but that he was truly one of Indiana's best and brightest.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 11, 2011 04:28 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts