Current, former Tennessee Supreme Court justices to commemorate century of women’s suffrage
On February 10, former and current Tennessee Supreme Court justices will lead a conversation on current issues in the state
Cate Zenzen |
The Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice and Society, housed in the College of Leadership & Public Service is hosting a conversation with the Women of the Tennessee Supreme Court on February 10. The event will feature a discussion on law, the court, and the lives of these women as they navigated both.
In honor of 100 years of women’s suffrage in Tennessee, event speakers are all women who have made significant contributions to their community and to the field of law. The conversation will be moderated by Joycelyn Stevenson, one of Nashville’s most influential attorneys and the first African-American executive director of the Tennessee Bar Association.
The event will feature a discussion on law, the court and the lives of these women as they navigated both. A student forum will take place from 3-4:30 p.m. in the Ezell Center chapel. The event is free and open to the public. At 6 p.m. the Women of the Tennessee Supreme Court will be featured at a dinner event focused on community and centered around a discussion of social, political or legal matters impacting the United States today. Proceeds from the event will go toward the Fred D. Gray Scholarship, a scholarship that benefits up to four Lipscomb University students who major in Law, Justice and Society. Gray Scholars will present at the dinner to explain how the scholarship has aided in the pursuit of their dreams. Tickets for the dinner are $150. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.
Cornelia A. Clark
Speakers include;
Justice Cornelia A. Clark was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in September 2005 and was elected to full eight-year terms in 2006 and 2014. She served as chief justice from 2010-2012, becoming the second woman in Tennessee history to serve in that role.
Sharon G. Lee
Justice Sharon Lee was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2008 and retained by voters in 2010 and 2014. She served as Chief Justice from 2014 to 2016, and was the first woman to serve on the Eastern Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals in 2004.
Holly Kirby
Justice Holly Kirby was the first woman to sit on the Tennessee Court of Appeals when appointed in 1995, before serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court. She was also the first female partner of Memphis law firm Burch, Porter & Johnson in 1990.
Former Justice Janice Holder served as the first female chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, and led the Court through its innovative Access to Justice initiative. Her work is honored through the Janice M. Holder Award, conferred annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to expanding access to justice in Tennessee.
Penny White
Former Justice Penny White is now the Elvin E. Overton Distinguished Professor of Law and director of the Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution at the University of Tennessee College of Law. White was the first female Circuit Judge in the First Judicial District, the second woman to serve on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and the Tennessee Supreme Court, and has served as a judge at every level of the court system in Tennessee.
Housed in Lipscomb University’s College of Leadership & Public Service, the Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice & Society is based on the idea that legal change is one of the surest means to effect social change. Here, students consider America’s legal system from a multidisciplinary perspective to get a fuller understanding of its mechanisms, practice and consequences. The institute is home to an undergraduate major that focuses on socio-legal issues in order to encourage critical thinking, good writing and a passion for justice. The program prepares students for law school, public policy or governmental work, and work with nonprofits. Students, faculty and mentors examine how law and society work together and how justice is built in the midst of that. In addition to the academic work of LJS, the institute has hosted conversations involving immigration, human trafficking, Christian/Muslim/Jewish relations and health care for low-income families. As part of the institute’s involvement in the legal community, LJS partners with the Tennessee Bar Association to host a summer Law Camp for high school students interested in a career in the legal field.
Lipscomb University’s Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice & Society is committed to convening conversations about issues that are significant to our community. Over the past three years, Lipscomb’s College of Leadership & Public Service has convened community discussions on transit, offered free legal clinics and a law camp for local high school students and educated graduate and undergraduate students to serve the needs of our diverse, growing community. Additionally, the college led city-wide conversations about equity and race in support of a mayoral initiative, and continues to lead key entities in the city and state through difficult cultural and organizational issues.