List of first women lawyers and judges in Colorado

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in the U.S. State of Colorado . It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Colorado's history

Gale Norton: First female Attorney General for Colorado (1991)

Lawyers

• First females: Mary Sternberg Thomas and Josephine M. Luthe (1891) ^[1]
• First female to practice before the U.S. District Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals: Mary Lathrop (1897) in 1898: ^[2]
• First female (water lawyer): Vena Pointer (1926) ^{[3] [4]}
• First Hispanic American female: Betty Ann Camunez (1972) ^[5]
• First Asian American female (Japanese descent): Mariko Tatsumoto Layton (1977) ^[6]

State judges

• First female: Ida L. Gregory in 1903 ^{[7] [8]}
• First female (district court): Irena Ingham in 1938 ^{[7] [9]}
• First female (Colorado Court of Appeals: Aurel M. Kelly in 1974 ^[10]
• First female (Chief Judge; Colorado Court of Appeals): Aurel M. Kelly in 1988 ^[10]
• First female (Seventeenth Judicial District Court): Dorothy Binder (1956) in 1978 ^[11]
• First female (Colorado Supreme Court): Jean Dubofsky (1967) in 1979 ^[7]
• First African American female: Claudia J. Jordan (1980) in 1994 ^{[12] [13]}
• First Hispanic American female (Fourth Judicial District Court): Theresa M. Cisneros (1983) in 1997 ^[14]
• First female (Chief Justice; Colorado Supreme Court): Mary Mullarkey in 1998 ^[15]
• First openly lesbian female: Mary A. Celeste in 2000 ^[16]
• First Asian American female (Korean descent): Chelsea Malone ^[17]
• First female (Fifth Judicial District): Karen Romeo in 2008 ^[18]
• First openly (Latino American) lesbian female (Colorado Supreme Court): Monica Márquez (1997) in 2010 ^[19]
• First Asian American (female) (Colorado Appellate Court): Neeti Pawar in 2019 ^{[20] [21]}

Federal judges

• First female (U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado): Zita Leeson Weinshienk in 1979: ^[22]
• First Hispanic American female (U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado): Christine Arguello (1980) in 2008 ^{[23] [24]}
• First Asian American (female) (U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado): Regina M. Rodriguez in 2021 ^[25]
• First openly lesbian female (U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado): Charlotte Sweeney in 2022 ^[26]

Attorney General of Colorado

• First female: Gale Norton (1978) from 1991-1999 ^[27]

Deputy Attorney General

• First female: Marty Albright ^[28]
• First Hispanic American (female) to serve as the Chief Deputy Attorney General: Christine Arguello (1980) in 2000 ^{[23] [24]}

Assistant Attorney General

• First female: Clara Ruth Mozzor in 1917 ^{[29] [30]}

Deputy District Attorney

• First female: Dorothy Binder (1956) in 1958 ^[11]

State Public Defender

• First female: Megan Ring in 2018 ^[31]

Political Office

• First openly lesbian female (Colorado House of Representatives): Jennifer Veiga (1988) from 1997-2003 ^[32]

Colorado Bar Association

• First female (president): Kathryn Tamblyn in 1982 ^[28]

Firsts in local history

• Dorothy Binder (1956): ^[11] First female district court judge in Adams and Bloomfield Counties, Colorado (1978)
• Kim Shropshire: ^[33] First Asian American female to serve as a Judge of the 6th Judicial District (San Juan, La Plata, and Archuleta Counties, Colorado) (2022)
• Cheryl Rowles-Stokes (1995): ^[34] First African American Chief Deputy District Attorney in the 18th Judicial District Office of the District Attorney (2001-2012) and first African American female judge in Arapahoe County (2012).
• Marsha Baer Yeager: ^[35] First female District Attorney and judge in Boulder County, Colorado
• Lolita Buckner Innis: ^[36] First African American (female) to serve as the Dean of the University of Colorado Law School (2021)
• Deni Eiring: ^[33] First female to serve as a Judge of the Cheyenne County Court in the 15th Judicial District (2022)
• Karen Romeo: ^[18] First female district court judge in Clear Creek, Eagle, Lake and Summit Counties, Colorado (2008)
• Mary Lathrop (1897): ^[2] First female lawyer in Denver, Colorado [ Denver County, Colorado]
• Mary A. Pate: ^[37] First female police judge in Denver, Colorado (1910)
• Zita Weinshienk: ^[38] First female judge in Denver County, Colorado
• Claudia Jordan (1980): ^{[12] [13]} First African American female judge appointed to the Denver County Court bench and the first in Colorado (1994).
• Mary A. Celeste: ^[16] First openly LGBT female judge appointed to the Denver County Court, Colorado (2000). She was also the first female (and openly LGBT female) to serve as the Presiding Judge of the Denver County Court (2008).
• Beth McCann: ^[39] First female District Attorney for Denver, Colorado (2018) [Denver County, Colorado]
• Nicole M. Rodarte: ^[40] First woman of color (who is of Latino descent) to serve as Presiding Judge of the Denver County Court (2022)
• Grace Storey Merlo: ^[41] First female to serve on the Twenty-Second Judicial Branch (1987) [ Dolores and Montezuma Counties, Colorado]
• Irena Ella Sweet Ingham McGarry (c. 1920s): ^[42] Reputed to be the first female lawyer in El Paso County, Colorado
• Marie Shelton Holloway: ^{[43] [44]} First female judge in Garfield County, Colorado (1948–1964)
• Ashley Burgemeister: ^[45] First female judge in Gunnison County, Colorado
• Christine A. Carney: ^[46] First female judge in Larimer County, Colorado (1998)
• Mary Beth Buescher: ^[47] First female lawyer in Grand Junction, Colorado [ Mesa County, Colorado]
• Mary Johnson: ^[48] First female judge in Pitkin County, Colorado (c. 1960s)
• Carrie Clyde Holly: ^[49] First woman attorney in Pueblo County
• Cynthia Mitchell: ^[50] First female Pueblo County Attorney, Colorado (2017)

See also

• Law portal
• Geography portal
• History portal
• United States portal
• Colorado portal

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• Timeline of women lawyers in the United States
• Women in law
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Colorado
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• Bibliography of Colorado
• Geography of Colorado
• History of Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles
• List of Colorado-related lists
• Outline of Colorado

References

1. Epstein, Vivian (1997-11-01). History of Colorado's Women for Young People. Vivian Sheldon Epstein. ISBN   9781891424007.
2. Epstein, Vivian (November 1997). History of Colorado's Women for Young People. Vivian Sheldon Epstein. ISBN   9781891424007.
3. Woodka, Chris. "Lady of the law left a lasting legacy". Pueblo Chieftain.
4. Colorado Water: Newsletter of the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute. Colorado Water Resources Research Institute. 2012.
5. "A Celebration of New Mexico's First Women Lawyers" (PDF). Presented by the New Mexico Women's Bar Association in Cooperation with the State Bar of New Mexico. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
6. "Second Acts". Alumni Association. 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
7. Mullarkey, Mary J. (October 2012). "A Brief History of Women of the Colorado Supreme Court" (PDF). The Colorado Lawyer. 41: 27.
8. Semple, James Alexander (1914). Representative women of Colorado: a pictorial collection of the women of Colorado who have attained prominence in the social, political, professional, pioneer and club life of the State. The Alexander Art Publishing Co.
9. Upon Ingham's appointment to the Fourth Judicial District in Colorado
10. Colorado Lawyer. Colorado Bar Association. 2001.
11. "Dorothy Binder: 1923 - 2017". Legacy.com. 2017.
12. "Law School Alumni To Be Honored At Awards Banquet". CU Boulder Today. 2001-04-29. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
13. "Mayor honors former Judge Claudia Jordan". The Denver Post. 2014-09-28. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
14. "Colorado Judicial Branch - Bio". www.courts.state.co.us. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
15. "Mary Mullarkey". Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
16. Salg, Alexa Roberts; Chase-McRorie, Sarah (Winter 2010–2011). "Judge Mary Celeste Receives the 2011 Mary Lathrop Award" (PDF). The Advocate: Colorado Women's Bar Association.
17. Malone, Chelsea (February 2018). "My Journey to the Bench From South Korea to the Crow Reservation to Denver County Court" (PDF). Colorado Lawyer.
18. "Karen Romeo named new 5th Judicial District Judge". www.vaildaily.com. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
19. "Colo Gov OKs Lesbian Latina Supreme Court Justice". 2010-09-09. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
20. "Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Colorado - Home". www.apaba-colorado.org. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
21. "Polis appoints two to Colorado Court of Appeals". Colorado Politics. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
22. Brovsky-Eaker, Jess. "The First Woman on the Federal Bench in Colorado". Law Week Colorado. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
23. "Hispanic Heritage: Accomplished judge helps students become lawyers". KUSA. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
24. "4 Questions For 4 Latina Criminal Justice Trailblazers: Judge Christine Arguello". Oxygen Official Site. 2021-09-16. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
25. Luning, Ernest. "Senate confirms Regina Rodriguez to federal bench in Colorado". Colorado Politics. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
26. KARLIK, MICHAEL. "U.S. Senate confirms Charlotte Sweeney as Colorado's first openly gay federal judge". Colorado Politics. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
27. "Norton resigns from Interior". The Denver Post. 2006-03-10. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
28. Colorado Lawyer. Colorado Bar Association. 2003.
29. Purely Personal. Fourth Estate Publishing Company. 1917.
30. Dorland, William Alexander Newman (1917). The sum of feminine achievement: a critical and analytical study of woman's contribution to the intellectual progress of the world. Stratford.
31. "Boulder public defender Megan Ring taking over state office". www.dailycamera.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
32. "Sen. Veiga to leave legislature for Australia". The Denver Post. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
33. "2022 JDO Annual Legislative Report" (PDF). OFFICE OF THE STATE COURT ADMINISTRATOR.
34. "Cheryl Rowles-Stokes appointed to Colorado's Arapahoe County Court".
35. "East High to honor its 2018 Hall of Fame inductees Saturday". The Bakersfield Californian. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
36. Warner, Ryan. "Sept. 20, 2021: First Black Dean Of CU Law School; Meow Wolf's Co-Founder". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
37. "Denver Will Have Woman on the Bench". The Salt Lake Tribune. 1910-02-06. p. 26. ISSN   0746-3502 . Retrieved 2019-02-27.
38. "Zita Weinshienk". Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
39. "Wittenberg grad Denver's first female district attorney". springfieldnewssun. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
40. "Mayor Hancock Appoints Judge Nicole Rodarte as Presiding Judge". www.denvergov.org. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
41. Baker, Tobie (July 20, 2015). "Legal pioneer Grace Storey Merlo dies at 90". The Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
42. Colorado Lawyer. Colorado Bar Association. 2001.
43. "City of Glenwood Springs, Colorado – Historically Landmarked & Significant Places". Glenwood Springs Historic Preservation Commission. 2015.
44. "Lawrence M. Holloway" . Retrieved 2018-01-17.
45. Leary, Kerry (January 16, 2017). "Ashley Burgemeister is Gunnison County's first female judge". KUSA.
46. "2011 Judicial Excellence Award Recipients— Judge O. John Kuenhold, Judge C. Jean Stewart, Judge Christine A. Carney and Magistrate Stephanie L. Rubinstein". Colorado Judicial Institute. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
47. "Commissioners - Commission on Higher Education". highered.colorado.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
48. "Fernandez-Ely chosen as new county judge". www.aspentimes.com. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
49. "Aspen Daily Times, December 25, 1896".
50. "Cynthia Mitchell chosen as first female Pueblo County Attorney | Pueblo County, Colorado". county.pueblo.org. Retrieved 2018-12-27.

External links

• State of Colorado
  • Attorney General for Colorado
  • Supreme Court of the State of Colorado

38°59′50″N105°32′52″W / 38.9972°N 105.5478°W / 38.9972; -105.5478 (State of Colorado)