Clancy Smith (Oklahoma judge)

Last updated
Clancy Smith
Born
Carlene Clancy Smith

Hugo, Oklahoma
NationalityU. S.
OccupationTeacher, Attorney, Judge
Years active1994-2017 (Law)
Known forJustice Court of Criminal Appeals (presiding judge 2015-2017)
Notable workWork with Women In Recovery Program for alternative sentencing options.

Carlene Clancy Smith is a retired judge from Oklahoma. [lower-alpha 1] Her last position was as a justice of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA). She was appointed on September 13, 2010 by Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice James E. Edmondson to replace the recently-retired Justice Charles Chapel. She retired on June 17, 2017. She served as the presiding judge of the court for a two-year term starting on January 1, 2015. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Clancy Smith was born and raised in Hugo, Oklahoma, where she graduated from Hugo High School in 1960. She then attended Oklahoma State University, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in English, graduating in 1964. After graduating, she taught English at Memorial High School in Tulsa, and in Jacksonville, Florida. Later, she enrolled at the University of Tulsa College of Law, where she earned the Juris Doctor degree in 1980, then entered a private law practice for fourteen years. [2]

Career

She became a special district judge in the Family Law Division of the Tulsa County District Court from 1994 until 1998. She received the Outstanding Family Law Judge Award from the Family Law Section of the Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA) in 1996. Governor Brad Henry appointed her as district judge for the Fourteenth Judicial District in 2005. She served until 2010 in the Criminal Division of the District Court of Tulsa County and presided over more than 110 felony jury trials. [3]

While serving as District Judge, Smith worked closely with Women In Recovery for alternative sentencing options for women. [4]

On October 17, 2017, Governor Fallin announced that Judge Dana Kuehn would succeed Judge Smith on the OCCA. [5]

Honors and memberships

Personal

Smith is married to Jim Thompson. The couple has two children and four grandchildren. [4]

Notes

  1. Judge Smith rarely uses her first name, preferring to be addressed as Clancy.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma Supreme Court</span> One of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma

The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma.

Tom Colbert is a former Associate Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Court's District 6 seat in 2004, by Governor Brad Henry, becoming the first African-American to serve on the court. On January 4, 2013, he was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and served In that post until January 2015. After completing his two-year term as Chief Justice, he resumed his previous position on the court as Associate Justice representing the 6th Judicial District. On January 19, 2021, Colbert’s retirement was announced by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, effective February 1 of the same year.

William LaFortune is an American politician who served as the 37th Mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma from 2002 to 2006 and is currently a district judge in Tulsa County. He was elected without opposition to a four-year term in 2014. He replaced former Judge Tom Gillert, who did not run for re-election, but retired from politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary</span>

The Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary is one of the two independent courts in the Oklahoma judiciary and has exclusive jurisdiction in adjudicating discipline and hearing cases involving the removal of a judge from office, excluding the Oklahoma Supreme Court, exercising judicial power under the Oklahoma Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Oklahoma</span> Government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma

The government of the U.S. State of Oklahoma, established by the Oklahoma Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the federal government of the United States. The state government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Through a system of separation of powers or "checks and balances," each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judiciary of Oklahoma</span>

The Oklahoma Court System is the judicial system for the U.S. State of Oklahoma. Based in Oklahoma City, the court system is a unified state court system that functions under the Chief Justice of Oklahoma who is its administrator-in-chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals</span> One of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals is one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma and is part of the Oklahoma Court System, the judicial branch of the Oklahoma state government.

John F. Reif is a former justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, serving from 2007 until he retired in 2009. Previously, he had served for 20 years on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals.

Jane P. Wiseman is an American judge. She currently sits on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, the intermediate appellate court of the state of Oklahoma.

Jerry L. Goodman was born April 17, 1939 in Mangum, Oklahoma. He was a judge on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, an intermediate appellate court in the state of Oklahoma, for twenty-five years. Appointed to the court by Governor David Walters on July 26, 1994, Goodman was retained by voters in 1996, 2002, and 2008. On November 4, 2014 voters returned him for a full term ending January 10, 2021, with a favorable vote of 60.4 percent. Judge Goodman was elected chief judge of the court for a one-year term in 2016.

Linda Morrissey is a Tulsa County district judge. During her time as a judge, Morrissey has influenced the addition of the first courtroom in Tulsa County that dealt strictly with child support, as well as the Families in Transition Plan that removes disputing families from the courtroom and gives them an audience with mediators. In 2003, Morrissey was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame for her contributions to the Tulsa County judicial system.

Daniel J. Boudreau, a native of Massachusetts and a graduate of the University of Tulsa College of Law, is an Oklahoma attorney who was a justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court from 1999 to 2004. After retiring from the Supreme Court, he is now in private practice as a specialist in Alternative Dispute Resolution, which he has also taught at the University of Tulsa College of Law.

Robert D. Simms was a justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court from 1972 to 1999. He served as chief justice in 1985 to 1986.

Robert D. Bell was born and raised in Norman, Oklahoma. He earned two law degrees, one in his home state and the second in North Carolina. He then spent 13 years in private practice in his hometown while also serving as a municipal judge in 5 towns and cities of Oklahoma. First appointed a judge in 1994, he was then the youngest sitting judge of any kind in the state. In 2005, he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, a position he still holds to this after winning votes on retention in 2006, 2012 and 2018.

Brian Jack Goree is a Justice on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals. Born in 1964 in Killeen, Texas and raised in Tulsa, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, then earned a J.D. degree at the University of Tulsa College of Law. After spending 23 years in private law practice, he was appointed to the court as Associate Justice. He won his retention election in 2014,

Richard Darby is an American lawyer and the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. On April 5, 2018, Governor Mary Fallin appointed Darby to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Joseph M. Watt.

Don Barnes (1924–2011) was a long-time attorney and judge in Oklahoma. Born in Tulsa, he first became a judge in 1954, when he was elected superior court judge in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. He was given the nickname "The Praying Judge," because he began each court session over which he presided with a prayer. In 1972, Oklahoma Governor David Hall appointed him as an associate justice of the state supreme court. Barnes remained on the court until he retired as chief justice in January 1985.

Dana Lynn Kuehn is an American attorney and judge from Tulsa, Oklahoma who has served on the Supreme Court of Oklahoma since 2021; she was appointed by Governor Kevin Stitt on July 26, 2021. Kuehn had previously been a Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Judge after her appointment by the Governor of Oklahoma Mary Fallin on October 2, 2017. Kuehn is the first woman to serve on both of the state's high courts, the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.

Charles A. Johnson is a former judge of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, serving from 1989 to 2014.

References