Judge Bernice B. Donald, Life Fellow and past ABF Board President, was honored by the City of Memphis with a portion of Front Street between Poplar Avenue and Beale Street being designated as “Judge Bernice Bouie Donald Street.” Honorary signs will be installed along the route to pay tribute to her trailblazing career.
Judge Donald has a life full of firsts, as she was the: first African American female judge in the history of Tennessee (1982); first female bankruptcy judge in Tennessee (1988); first African American female bankruptcy judge in the history of the United States; first African American female federal judge in Tennessee (1995); first African American female judge to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals (2011); and the first African American female officer of the 400,000 member American Bar Association.
Judge Donald most recently served as a Senior Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and retired from that position on January 20, 2023. She also served as a staff attorney of the Employment Law & Economic Development Unit, Memphis Area Legal Services and as an assistant public defender in the Shelby County Public Defender’s Office, Tennessee from 1980 to 1982.
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