Comment Of Sen. Patrick Leahy
On The Passing Of Judge Jane Bolin
January 12, 2007

This week we lost Judge Jane Bolin, the nation’s first African-American female judge, whose career marks a shining example of a person knocking down barriers and leaving a footprint for others to follow. 

Stirred by a strong sense of justice, and a forceful determination to contribute, Judge Bolin overcame the indignity of signs saying “no women should apply” and “no blacks allowed,” and rose to have a career defined by “firsts.”  The first African-American woman to graduate from Yale Law School, the first to join the New York City Bar Association, the first to work in the office of the New York City corporation counsel, and the first to serve on the judicial bench.  Her legacy will live on, not only through her accomplishments on the bench of ending the placement of children in child-care agencies on the basis of ethnic background and ending the assignment of probation officers on the basis of race, but also through the example of her life-long struggle to show “a broad sympathy for human suffering” which will continue to inspire generations to come. 

I salute her life, and hope that our nation will continue its march towards a more representative judiciary.

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