Leah Ward Sears

Leah Ward Sears
File:Sears2.jpg
Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office June 28 2005
Appointed by	Zell Miller
Preceded by	Norman S. Fletcher
Succeeded by	Carol W. Hunstein
Personal details
Spouse	Haskell Ward
Alma mater	Cornell University Emory University School of Law

Leah Ward Sears (born June 13, 1955) is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. state of Georgia. She is also Chair of the Judicial Council of Georgia, the 200 million dollar agency in charge of the state judicial system. When sworn in on June 28, 2005, Sears became the first African-American female Chief Justice in the United States. When she was first appointed as justice in 1992 by then Governor Zell Miller, she became the first woman and youngest person to sit on the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Early life and education

The daughter of U.S. Army Colonel Thomas E. Sears and Onnye Jean Sears, Justice Sears was born in Heidelberg, Germany, but the family eventually settled in Savannah, Georgia, where Leah attended and graduated high school.

Chief Justice Sears received her B.S. from Cornell University in 1976, her J.D. from Emory University School of Law in 1980 and an LL.M from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1995. At Cornell, she was a member of the Quill and Dagger society. Chief Justice Sears is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. She holds honorary degrees from Morehouse College, Clark-Atlanta University, LaGrange College and Piedmont College.

Professional career

After graduating law school, Sears was an attorney from 1980 until 1985 with the Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird. For many years she was also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law. \

Judicial career

Sears was appointed by then-Mayor Andrew Young to the City of Atlanta Traffic Court in 1985. She then became a Superior Court judge in 1988 (the first African-American woman to hold that position in the state). She became a state Supreme Court justice in 1992.

Although historically a non-partisan election, the Georgia Republican Party and Georgia Christian Coalition targeted Sears for defeat in 2004. Based in large part on her highly regarded record, she defeated her challenger with 62% of the vote.

Sears announced in October 2008 that she will resign from the state Supreme Court at the end of June 2009 when her term as Chief Justice ends.

Notable decisions

• Troy Davis case

Personal

Sears currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband Haskell Ward, former Deputy Mayor of New York City under Mayor Ed Koch. She is the mother of Addison Sears-Collins and Brennan Sears-Collins.

Possible nomination to the US Supreme Court

According to SCOTUS Blog, should there be a vacancy in the US Supreme Court during Barack Obama's presidency, she is considered a potential nominee to become a Supreme Court Justice.

Career History, Organization Memberships and Awards

Career History

• Alston & Bird Attorneys at Law, Atlanta, GA, lawyer, 1980-1985
• City Court of Atlanta, traffic court judge, 1985-1987
• Fulton Superior Court, Atlanta, judge, 1988-1992
• State Supreme Court of Georgia, justice, 1992--Presnt
• Founder of Battered Women's Project of Columbus, GA

Organization Membership

• National Association of Women's Judges
• Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys(founding president)
• Chair, Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism
• Chair, Supreme Court Commission on Civil Justice
• Chair, Supreme Court's Commission on Marriage, Children and Families
• Georgia Tech Advisory Board
• Links, Incorporated

Awards

• NAACP award for community service
• 2006 Trumpet Award-Law
• 2008 Honoree--Second Annual Wayne A. McCoy Memorial Historymaker's Program
• 2007-2009 Rosalynn Carter Fellow in Public Policy
• Leadership Atlanta
• 2006 Best Dressed Atlantans (by Atlanta Magazine)

See also

• Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates
• Troy Davis case

External links

• Supreme Court of Georgia official profile
• The HistoryMakers profile
• Georgia Trend magazine feature