How women persisted in Shelby County’s judiciary ranks

Since 1978, there have been more than 65 female judicial officers in the federal, state, county, municipal and administrative courts in Shelby County. The path carved out by the early women is now well trodden.

“When there are nine.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously said when asked by a reporter when she thought there would be enough women on the United States Supreme Court.

Despite the progress that has been made since the ratification of the Suffrage Amendment in 1920, women make up only 27.6% of the federal judiciary. These numbers are even smaller at the state court level.

Perhaps an exception—an outlier to this statistic—are the women judges of Shelby County, Tennessee.

Nevertheless, we persisted

Shelby County has a history of women occupying the bench at every court level. However, it was not until 1978, more than half a century since the Suffrage Amendment was ratified, that a woman was elected to the bench in Shelby County.

Nancy B. Sorak made history when she was elected judge in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1978. Her success inspired other women in Shelby County to seek out judicial appointments.

In 1980, Gov. Lamar Alexander appointed Julia Smith Gibbons to the Circuit Court in Shelby County. Looking back at her career,

Gibbons recently noted that a “woman candidate was an anomaly in 1981.”

During the same time, I was elected to General Sessions Criminal Court, becoming the first African American woman judge in Tennessee’s history, and breaking barriers for women of color.

In 1988, I became the first African American woman in the history of the United States to become a bankruptcy judge. Both Judge Gibbons and I continued to rise in our respective judicial careers.

In 1983, President Reagan appointed Gibbons to the U.S. District Court, Western District in Tennessee, making her the first woman federal judge in Tennessee.

At the state court level, Janice Holder was elected to the Circuit Court in 1990. Six years later, Gov. Don Sundquist appointed Holder to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Holder became the first woman in Tennessee’s history to serve as chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. During her term on the court, she made “access to justice” a priority in the state.

In Memphis, Earnestine Hunt Dorse was elected judge of Memphis City Court, on December 10, 1990, becoming the second African American woman judge in the state and the first to serve in City Court. This was the same court where Nancy Sorak broke the gender barrier not long ago.

The next two decades were marked by elections of more women to judgeships in Memphis.

Notably, Carolyn Wade Blackett became the first woman to serve on Criminal Court; Rita Stotts became the first African American woman to serve on the Circuit Court; Karen Webster became the first woman to serve on Probate Court; and Camille Mcmullen became the first woman in Shelby County to serve on an intermediate Appellate Court.

Reflections on the early campaign

On an occasion during my 1982 campaign, I presented myself as a judicial candidate to a media outlet.

A young white woman gave a shocked look and exclaimed, “You don’t look like a judge.” I responded, “What is a judge supposed to look like?” and without hesitation, she said, “I don’t know, but you don’t look like one.” This comment reflected the absence of gender and racial diversity in the Tennessee judiciary.

When I recount that story, I am clear that there was no malice in the statement, it was simply an affirmation of the then current reality—except for Ann Pugh, Nancy Sorak and Julia Gibbons, all the judges in Shelby County were men, and all the women were white.

I did not fit the profile.

In the 40 plus years since Sorak’s campaign, women in Shelby County have entered the judiciary at almost every level of court by appointment and election—a trend that will surely continue. They have made diversity a lived reality by their presence and their work.

These judges are focusing on issues to improve the fair administration of justice, to increase access to justice, to reduce implicit bias, to increase the pipeline through mentoring, legal educations, and to address lawyer wellbeing, in addition to many others.

With critical mass in the judiciary, no women will be told “you don’t look like a judge!” Women in Shelby County have certainly helped to reshape traditional notions and stereotypes.

In presenting Nancy Sorak with a 2002 Woman of Achievement Award, the presenter observed, “Sometimes with an unseen hand, but always with an unbending commitment to equity and opportunity, Nancy helped pave the way for women in law and politics in Memphis and Shelby County. [Her] vision opened pathways for other women and boosted the dreams and ambitions of many leaders in our community today.”

Since 1978, there have been more than 65 judicial officers who are women in the federal, state, county, municipal and administrative courts in Shelby County. The path carved out by the early women is now well trodden.

Despite these numbers, women nationally continue to make up a disproportionately small percentage of the judiciary. Women make up 51% of the population, and 50% of law students for two decades.

Certainly today’s numbers at every level of the judiciary represent important progress, but we must continue to pursue gender diversity.

Diversity fosters great confidence in the judiciary.

PROVIDED Women of the Shelby County judiciary. The county has a history of women occupying the bench at every court level.

Sorak