List of first women lawyers and judges in Colorado

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in 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 obtain a law degree or become a political figure.

Firsts in state history
Gale Norton: First female Attorney General for Colorado (1991)

Lawyers
  • Mary Sternberg Thomas and Josephine M. Luthe (1891):[1] First female lawyers in Colorado
  • Mary Lathrop (1897):[2] First female lawyer to practice before the U.S. District Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals (1898)
  • Vena Pointer (1926):[3][4] First female water lawyer in Colorado
  • Betty Ann Camunez (1972):[5] First Hispanic female lawyer in Colorado
  • Mariko Tatsumoto Layton (1977):[6] First Asian American female (who is of Japanese descent) lawyer in Colorado
Judges
  • Ida L. Gregory:[7][8] First female judge in Colorado (1903)
  • Claudia Jordan (1980):[9][10] First African American female judge in Colorado (1994)
  • Mary A. Celeste:[11] First openly LGBT female judge in Colorado (2000)
  • Chelsea Malone:[12] First Asian American female (as well as Korean American) judge in Colorado
District Court
  • Irena Ingham:[7] First female appointed as a district court judge in Colorado (1938)[13]
  • Dorothy Binder (1956):[14] First female to serve as a Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial District of Colorado (1978)
  • Theresa M. Cisneros (1983):[15] First Hispanic American female appointed as a Judge of the Fourth Judicial District in Colorado (1997)
  • Karen Romeo:[16] First female appointed as a Judge of the Fifth Judicial District in Colorado (2008)
Appellate Court
  • Aurel M. Kelly:[17] First female appointed as a Judge of the Colorado Court of Appeals (1974) and serve as its Chief Judge (1998)
  • Neeti Pawar:[18][19] First Asian American (female) to serve as an appellate court judge in Colorado (2019)
Supreme Court
  • Jean Dubofsky (1967):[7] First female appointed as a Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court (1979)
  • Mary Mullarkey:[20] First female justice to serve as the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court (1998)
  • Monica Márquez (1997):[21] First openly LGBT female (and Latino American female) appointed as a Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court (2010)
District Court
  • Christine Arguello (1980):[22] First Hispanic American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (2008)

Attorney General
  • Gale Norton (1978):[23] First female Attorney General of Colorado (1991-1999)

Deputy Attorney General
  • Marty Albright:[24] First female to serve as the Chief Deputy Attorney General for Colorado

Assistant Attorney General
  • Clara Ruth Mozzar:[25][26] First female Assistant Attorney General of Colorado (c. 1917)

Deputy District Attorney
  • Dorothy Binder (1956):[14] First female to serve as a Deputy District Attorney in Colorado (1958)

State Public Defender
  • Megan Ring:[27] First female to become the Colorado State Public Defender (2018)

Political Office
  • Jennifer Veiga (1988):[28] First openly LGBT female (a lawyer) to serve as a Member of the Colorado House of Representatives (1997-2003)

Bar Association
  • Kathryn Tamblyn:[24] First female to serve as the President of the Colorado Bar Association (1982)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Adams County
  • Dorothy Binder (1956):[14] First female district court judge in Adams and Bloomfield Counties, Colorado (1978)

Arapahoe County
  • Cheryl Rowles-Stokes (1995):[29] 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).

Broomfield County
  • Dorothy Binder (1956):[14] First female district court judge in Adams and Broomfield Counties, Colorado (1978)

Boulder County
  • Marsha Baer Yeager:[30] First female District Attorney and judge in Boulder County, Colorado

Clear Creek County
  • Karen Romeo:[16] First female district court judge in Clear Creek, Eagle, Lake and Summit Counties, Colorado (2008)

Denver, City and County of
  • Mary Lathrop (1897):[2] First female lawyer in Denver, Colorado [Denver County, Colorado]
  • Mary A. Pate:[31] First female police judge in Denver, Colorado (1910)
  • Zita Weinshienk:[32] First female judge in Denver County, Colorado
  • Claudia Jordan (1980):[9][10] First African American female judge appointed to the Denver County Court bench and the first in Colorado (1994).
  • Mary A. Celeste:[11] 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:[33] First female District Attorney for Denver, Colorado (2018) [Denver County, Colorado]

Dolores County

Eagle County
  • Karen Romeo:[16] First female district court judge in Clear Creek, Eagle, Lake and Summit Counties, Colorado (2008)

El Paso County
  • Irena Ella Sweet Ingham McGarry (c. 1920s):[35] Reputed to be the first female lawyer in El Paso County, Colorado

Garfield County
  • Marie Shelton Holloway:[36][37] First female judge in Garfield County, Colorado (1948–1964)

Gunnison County
  • Ashley Burgemeister:[38] First female judge in Gunnison County, Colorado

Lake County
  • Karen Romeo:[16] First female district court judge in Clear Creek, Eagle, Lake and Summit Counties, Colorado (2008)

Larimer County
  • Christine A. Carney:[39] First female judge in Larimer County, Colorado (1998)

Mesa County

Montezuma County

Pitkin County
  • Mary Johnson:[41] First female judge in Pitkin County, Colorado (c. 1960s)

Pueblo County
  • Cynthia Mitchell:[42] First female Pueblo County Attorney, Colorado (2017)

Summit County
  • Karen Romeo:[16] First female district court judge in Clear Creek, Eagle, Lake and Summit Counties, Colorado (2008)

See also

Other topics of interest

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. "Law School Alumni To Be Honored At Awards Banquet". CU Boulder Today. 2001-04-29. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  10. "Mayor honors former Judge Claudia Jordan". The Denver Post. 2014-09-28. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  11. 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.
  12. Malone, Chelsea (February 2018). "My Journey to the Bench From South Korea to the Crow Reservation to Denver County Court" (PDF). Colorado Lawyer.
  13. Upon Ingham's appointment to the Fourth Judicial District in Colorado
  14. "Dorothy Binder: 1923 - 2017". Legacy.com. 2017.
  15. "Colorado Judicial Branch - Bio". www.courts.state.co.us. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  16. All |. "Karen Romeo named new 5th Judicial District Judge". www.vaildaily.com. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
  17. Colorado Lawyer. Colorado Bar Association. 2001.
  18. "Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Colorado - Home". www.apaba-colorado.org. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  19. Politics, Colorado. "Polis appoints two to Colorado Court of Appeals". Colorado Politics. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  20. "Mary Mullarkey". Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  21. "Colo Gov OKs Lesbian Latina Supreme Court Justice". 2010-09-09. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  22. "Hispanic Heritage: Accomplished judge helps students become lawyers". KUSA. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  23. "Norton resigns from Interior". The Denver Post. 2006-03-10. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  24. Colorado Lawyer. Colorado Bar Association. 2003.
  25. Purely Personal. Fourth Estate Publishing Company. 1917.
  26. 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.
  27. "Boulder public defender Megan Ring taking over state office". www.dailycamera.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  28. "Sen. Veiga to leave legislature for Australia". The Denver Post. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  29. "Cheryl Rowles-Stokes appointed to Colorado's Arapahoe County Court".
  30. Californian, The Bakersfield. "East High to honor its 2018 Hall of Fame inductees Saturday". The Bakersfield Californian. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  31. "Denver Will Have Woman on the Bench". The Salt Lake Tribune. 1910-02-06. p. 26. ISSN 0746-3502. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  32. "Zita Weinshienk". Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  33. "Wittenberg grad Denver's first female district attorney". springfieldnewssun. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  34. Monday, Tobie Baker Journal Staff Writer; July 20; Thursday, 2015 3:29 AM Updated; July 23; Pm, 2015 9:00. "Legal pioneer Grace Storey Merlo dies at 90". The Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-25.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  35. Colorado Lawyer. Colorado Bar Association. 2001.
  36. "CITY OF GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO HISTORICALLY LANDMARKED & SIGNIFICANT PLACES". Glenwood Springs Historic Preservation Commission. 2015.
  37. "Lawrence M. Holloway". Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  38. Leary, Kerry (January 16, 2017). "Ashley Burgemeister is Gunnison County's first female judge". KUSA.
  39. "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.
  40. "Commissioners - Commission on Higher Education". highered.colorado.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  41. "Fernandez-Ely chosen as new county judge". www.aspentimes.com. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
  42. "Cynthia Mitchell chosen as first female Pueblo County Attorney | Pueblo County, Colorado". county.pueblo.org. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
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