 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(November 2022) |
Dorothy Comstock Riley (December 6, 1924 – October 23, 2004) was a lawyer and judge from the U.S. state of Michigan, serving on the Michigan Supreme Court and the first woman to serve on the Michigan Court of Appeals. She was the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the Supreme Court of any state. [1]
Riley was born in Detroit, where she attended public schools, graduating from Northwestern High School. She attended Wayne State University, where she earned a B.A. in 1946. She received an LL.B. degree from Wayne State University Law School in 1949. Female lawyers were not common at the time and reportedly, when she interviewed at several law firms after graduation, the qualification they were most interested in was her typing ability. Instead of working at such firms, she began her own practice in the Detroit area.
In 1972, Riley became a Wayne County Circuit Judge and in 1976, she became the first woman to serve on the Michigan Court of Appeals. She ran for the Supreme Court in 1982 and lost. On December 9, 1982, Republican governor William Milliken nevertheless appointed Riley to the Court to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Blair Moody Jr. on November 26. This appointment became the subject of a bitter partisan controversy. Not only had Riley been rejected by the voters, but Milliken was also leaving office in less than a month, and newly elected Democratic governor James Blanchard argued he should be allowed to make the appointment to replace Moody rather than Milliken.
In February 1983, the other Supreme Court Justices voted 4-2 to remove Riley from the court. Blanchard replaced her with U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Boyle. However, Riley won election to the Supreme Court in 1984 and was re-elected in 1992. She served as chief justice from 1987 to 1991. She retired from the Court on September 1, 1997 due to the onset of Parkinson's disease.
Riley had been a partner in the law firm of Riley and Roumell and was also the founder and Honorary Chair of the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society. In 1991 she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, and the State Bar of Michigan presented Riley with its Distinguished Public Servant Award in 2000.
Riley married Wallace D. Riley, a former president of the American Bar Association in 1967. They had one son, Peter Comstock Riley.
She died in Grosse Pointe Farms, aged 79.
William Grawn Milliken was an American businessman and politician who served as the 44th governor of Michigan from 1969 to 1983. A member of the Republican Party, he assumed the governorship following the resignation of George Romney and went on to win three terms in 1970, 1974, and 1978, becoming the longest-serving governor in Michigan history. During this period he dealt with dramatic changes to the state economy, due to industrial restructuring and challenges to the auto industry, resulting in loss of jobs and population from Detroit, the state's largest city. He also oversaw the PBB crisis and adopted a policy of environmental protection and conservation.
Maura Denise Corrigan is the former director of the Michigan Department of Human Services. She was also a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, serving from 1998 to 2011 and as chief justice from 2001 to 2004.
Deborah Louise Cook is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, based in Akron, Ohio. She served as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 1995 to 2003.
The number of women in the United States judiciary has increased as more women have entered law school, but women still face significant barriers in pursuing legal careers.
Wayne State University Law School is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), online master of studies in law, and minors in law degree programs.
Frank Joseph Kelley was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 50th Attorney General of the U.S. state of Michigan. His 37-year term of office, from 1961 to 1999, made him both the youngest and oldest attorney general in the state's history, and led to his nickname as the "Eternal General". He won ten consecutive terms of office. He was the longest serving state attorney general in United States history, until Tom Miller of Iowa surpassed his longevity record in 2019—although Kelley still holds the record for longest continuous tenure as an attorney general. In 37 years of service as Michigan's chief law enforcement officer, he worked in concert with five Michigan governors.
The State Bar of Michigan is the governing body for lawyers in the State of Michigan. Membership is mandatory for attorneys who practice law in Michigan. The organization's mission is to aid in promoting improvements in the administration of justice and advancements in jurisprudence, improving relations between the legal profession and the public, and promoting the interests of the legal profession in Michigan.
Ann Claire Williams is a retired United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She is currently of counsel at Jones Day.
Darleen Ortega is an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. A native of California, she has served on the Oregon Court of Appeals since 2003. She is the first woman of Hispanic heritage and the first woman of color to serve on that court.
Elizabeth Ann Weaver was a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1995 to 2010 and served as chief justice from 1999 to 2001.
The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law is the law school of the University of Detroit Mercy and is located in Downtown Detroit, Michigan across from the Renaissance Center. Founded in 1912, Detroit Mercy Law is a private Roman Catholic law school and has been ABA-accredited since 1933. The Law School has an annual enrollment of 612 students including 223 Nonresident Aliens, and currently has 67 faculty members.
Brian K. Zahra is a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. He was appointed to fill a vacancy by Governor Rick Snyder in 2011. Zahra won his bid for reelection in 2022 to retain his seat for eight more years, per the Michigan Constitution.
Elizabeth L. Gleicher is an American lawyer and jurist. She became a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals, 2nd district in 2007.
Georgina "Gina" Martinez Benavides is a justice at the Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals based in Corpus Christi and Edinburg. She was first elected in 2006, and re-elected in 2012. She is a member of the Democratic Party and resides in McAllen, Texas.
Benjamin Franklin Graves was a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1868 to 1883.
Women in law describes the role played by women in the legal profession and related occupations, which includes lawyers, paralegals, prosecutors, judges, legal scholars, law professors and law school deans.
Elizabeth Ann "Beth" Tripp Clement is an American lawyer who serves as the chief justice of Michigan since 2022. She has served as an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court since 2017, after being appointed by Governor Rick Snyder.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
