NAWJ Monthly Update October 2013
Written by National Association of Women Judges|October 01, 2013|Monthly Update Archive
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Vice President Biden spoke movingly about the importance of the issue to him, telling us that of all
the issues on which he has worked, prevention of violence against women is the issue on which he feels
the strongest, and the accomplishment in his career of which he is the proudest. He extolled the
enhancements in the respective reauthorizations, mentioning the protections in the latest reauthorization
for members of tribes who live on tribal lands enacted by Congress earlier this year. You will recall that
NAWJ twice issued a position statement in support of the VAWA Reauthorization Act and its tribal jurisdiction
provisions while the bill was pending in the last Congress, and then again in the current Congress. Marie
and I attended the Presidential signing of the 2013 VAWA Reauthorization Act last March. Statements may
be viewed 
District Six established a book drive for the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women.
Pictured among the books at the prison library is Library Supervisor Sergeant Tasheba LaBlanc.
You can participate by purchasing a book for the prison library at amazon.com. Click
The recipient of this year's Justice Joan Dempsey Klein Honoree of the Year award is Louisiana Supreme
Court Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson. The Justice Joan Dempsey Klein Award is given each year
to honor a judge who brings distinction to their office, and promotes the Association's goals as
exemplified by NAWJ's founder Justice Joan Dempsey Klein. The Award will be presented Thursday, October 10
during the Keynote Luncheon of NAWJ's Annual Conference in New Orleans.
The Honorable Bernette Joshua Johnson is the first African-American Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme
Court. Chief Justice Johnson is recognized as a trailblazer and role model, who brings a unique perspective
to the bench that is informed by principles of justice and equality. Chief Justice Johnson was elected to
serve on the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1994, and was re-elected, without opposition, in 2000 and 2010.
As the senior justice on the Court, she was sworn in as Chief Justice on February 1, 2013. As Chief Justice,
she chairs the Louisiana Judicial Council and the Human Resources Committee, and is a member of the Judicial
Budgetary Control Board. Chief Justice Johnson has also served as the court's appointee on the Council of the
Louisiana State Law Institute, and as a member of the Court's Legal Services Task Force and the National
Campaign on Best Practices in the area of Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. Chief Justice Johnson
has worked closely with the Court's Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Committee and the Committee on Bar Admissions.
Chief Justice Johnson's story begins after graduating as valedictorian of Walter L. Cohen High School in New
Orleans and attending Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia on an academic scholarship, where she received a
Bachelor of Arts degree. She received an Honorary Doctorate in Law from Spelman College at commencement services
in April, 2001. She was one of the first African-American women to attend the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at
Louisiana State University, where she received her Juris Doctorate degree in 1969. She was honored by her
law school in 1996, and was inducted into the LSU Law Center's Hall of Fame, where her portrait now hangs.
For much of her life, Chief Justice Johnson has worked as an advocate for social justice, civil rights, and
community organizing. During the 1960's, she worked as a community organizer with the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Legal Defense & Educational Fund. She worked with community
groups in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Louisiana, disseminating
information about recent school desegregation decisions, and encouraging parents to take advantage of newly
desegregated schools. She later used these skills to help organize household workers receive Social Security
benefits and a minimum wage.
To continue reading about Chief Justice Johnson click 
The recipient of this year's Justice Vaino Spencer Leadership Award is California Court of Appeal
Justice Joan K. Irion. The Justice Vaino Spencer Leadership Award recognizes Justice Irion's
outstanding leadership that promotes the vision, core values and mission of NAWJ. She is the
creator and driving force of NAWJ's Informed Voters/Fair Judges Project to educate citizens on the
judicial system and the role of judges in maintaining fair and impartial courts. The Award will be
presented Saturday, October 12 during the Annual Gala Banquet of NAWJ's Annual Conference in New Orleans.
The Honorable Joan K. Irion was appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One, in
September 2003. She was found to be exceptionally well-qualified for the position of Associate Justice
by the California State Bar Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission and was unanimously confirmed at a
public hearing of the Commission on Judicial Appointments. Before appointment to the Court of Appeal,
Justice Irion served as a San Diego County Superior Court Judge.
Justice Irion devotes substantial time to the improvement of the courts, judicial education and community
outreach efforts. She is vice-chair of the Judicial Services Advisory Committee to the California
Judicial Council and is a frequent lecturer at judicial education courses. Justice Irion was also
instrumental in designing and implementing the high school education program for the December 2004
San Diego Special Session of the California Supreme Court.
Justice Irion received her undergraduate degree, with high honors, from the University of California,
Davis in 1974. Two years later, she earned her masters degree in the field of public administration,
with highest honors, from San Diego State University. In 1979, she received her law degree from the
University of California, Davis, School of Law. From 1978-1979, she served as Managing Editor for its Law Review.
After graduating from law school, Justice Irion entered private practice as a civil litigator, where
she would remain for more than twenty years until her appointment to the Superior Court of San Diego
County. She specialized in representing clients before taxing agencies and litigating tax matters in
the trial and appellate courts. She also gained substantial experience in litigating general business,
insurance and employment disputes. She was a shareholder in the law firm of Heller Ehrman White and
McAuliffe from 1988, and its managing shareholder in the San Diego office from 1998 until her judicial appointment.
To continue reading about Justice Irion click 
The recipient of this year's Florence K. Murray Award is Tulane University's Newcomb College Endowed
Chair Professor Sally Kenney. The Florence K. Murray Award was instituted by its namesake to recognize
someone other than a judge who has influenced women to pursue legal careers, opened doors for women
attorneys, or advance opportunities for women within the legal profession. The Award will be presented
Saturday, October 12 during the Annual Gala Banquet of NAWJ's Annual Conference in New Orleans.
A native of Iowa, Professor Kenney earned her a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Iowa,
a B.A. and M.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Magdalene College, Oxford, and an M.A. and
Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University. From 1989-1995, she held a joint appointment in Political
Science, Women's Studies, and Law at the University of Iowa. She served on the faculty at the University
of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs from 1995-2009 where she also directed the
Center on Women and Public Policy. She joined Tulane University in 2010 as the first Newcomb College
Endowed Chair, the executive director of the Newcomb College Institute, and a Professor of Political Science.
Her research interests include gender and judging, judicial selection, feminist social movements, women
and electoral politics, the European Court of Justice, exclusionary employment policies, and pregnancy
discrimination. Her latest book is Gender and Justice: Why Women in the Judiciary Really Matter (2013).
She teaches Women Leading Change, the third-year course for Newcomb Scholars, as well as service learning
courses on the politics of rape and domestic violence.
She has produced more than twenty-five teaching case studies on women and public policy and intends to
continue such work. She is currently studying women state supreme court justices, and advocating for
more women jurists. Her next research project involves working with women in prison; tackling the gender
issues arising from mass incarceration; seeking clemency for battered women; and developing service
learning courses with incarcerated women.
The recipient of this year's Mattie Belle Davis Award is California Superior Court (San Diego County)
Judge Tamila Ebrahimi Ipema. Judge Ipema chaired the first Color of Justice and MentorJet program for
the National Association of Women Judges in San Diego in 2011. The third Annual Color of Justice Program
is scheduled to be held in San Diego on October 24, 2013, and will continue each year.
Judge Ipema is the co-chair for the NAWJ's 2014 Annual Conference also taking place in San Diego,
in October of 2014.
The Hon. Tamila Ebrahimi Ipema was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. She received her Bachelor's
degree in English Literature from Damavand College in Tehran in 1978. In August 1978, Judge Ipema
came to the U.S. in pursuit of higher education. She received a Master's degree in Humanities and
English in 1985, and her J.D. in 1988 from the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Judge Ipema
received her LL.M. degree in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University School of Law in 1994.
Judge Ipema worked as an immigration defense attorney before accepting a position with the U.S.
Department of Justice as Assistant District Counsel for the Immigration and Naturalization Service,
serving as a trial attorney in Los Angeles, Arlington, and Baltimore for a period of five years.
From 2000 to 2005, Judge Ipema served as a judicial research attorney, and also as a supervising
research attorney for the Los Angeles Superior Court.
In 2005, the Judges of the Los Angeles Superior Court appointed her to the position of Los Angeles
Superior Court Commissioner. She presided over small claims, traffic, misdemeanor, unlawful detainer,
and family law matters in Los Angeles County. In 2008, the Judges of the San Diego Superior Court
appointed Judge Ipema to the position of San Diego Superior Court Commissioner. There, she presided
over small claims, unlawful detainer, traffic, and misdemeanor matters.
In 2009, Judge Ipema was appointed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the position of
Judge of the San Diego Superior Court, and from 2009 to 2011, she presided over family law in the
Vista Courthouse. Since 2012, she has been presiding over criminal trials in Vista and Chula Vista Courthouses.
Judge Ipema was Seminar Leader at B.E. Witkin Judicial College (a 2-week program) from 2007 through
2011, and a seminar leader at the New Judge Orientation (1-week program) in 2011. She also designed
courses as a member of the Studio video working group for the California Judicial Education, serving
as co-faculty for a video course in 2011 entitled "Welcome to Family Law," an educational program for
Judges new to family law. Since 2009, she has taught several courses per year on Judicial
Conduct/Demeanor/Fairness/Self-Monitoring for Bias/ADA to temporary judges in San Diego. In addition,
Judge Ipema trained temporary judges in Los Angeles on the above subjects as well as other topics,
including small claims and civil non-jury trials from 2006 to 2008. From 2008 to 2011, she was an
instructor at the Judicial Research Attorney Institute.
Judge Ipema was a Judicial Master at Fiorenzo V. Lopardo Inns of Court, Chapter 303 in Vista in 2009
and 2010. She was also appointed by the Chief Justice of California Supreme Court, Chief Justice Tani
Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, to the Judicial Council's Access and Fairness Advisory Committee. She is a member
of the Racial and Ethnic Fairness Advisory Subcommittee, as well as the Collaborative Courts subcommittee.
She is a member of the Education Committee at the San Diego Superior Court.
This year, NAWJ will recognize Rhode Island Superior Court Justice Patricia Ann Hurst with the Norma
Wickler Excellence in Service Award. The Award will be presented Thursday, October 10 during the
Keynote Luncheon of NAWJ's Annual Conference in New Orleans.
The Honorable Patricia Ann Hurst has been a member of the National Association of Women Judges and
the International Association of Women Judges since 2003. She served as Deputy District Director for
District One for three years before joining the NAWJ Board of Directors and Executive Committee as
Treasurer. Justice Hurst served as NAWJ's Treasurer for two terms, during 2008-09 and 2009-10.
She regularly serves on one or more NAWJ committees each year and has served on the Education,
Membership Outreach and Retention, International Outreach, Women in Prison, and By-Laws committees.
She regularly serves on the Audit and Compliance and the Finance committees and is currently Chair
of the Audit and Compliance Committee. Together with the Audit Committee, Justice Hurst oversees
the annual audit process and preparation of NAWJ's annual federal tax return. She regularly reports
to the leadership on both matters to ensure that NAWJ remains in compliance with recognized standards
of good governance for non-profit corporations and with state and federal regulatory requirements.
Justice Hurst also has been influential in developing significant NAWJ policies, ranging from document
retention to contract authority and investment policies.
Justice Hurst has over thirty-five years of legal training and experience, twenty-three of them as
a trial court judge presiding over civil and criminal jury trials in the State of Rhode Island Superior Court.
After graduating with a degree in political science with a concentration in the economics of
emerging nations, and after law school at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts,
Justice Hurst began her legal career in general trial practice. Her trial practice included federal
and state multi-party and complex litigation; civil rights litigation on behalf of unlawfully
detained children; family law; advocacy on behalf of domestic violence victims; and civil trials. Since
taking the bench in 1990 as an Associate Justice of the State of Rhode Island Superior Court, Justice
Hurst's assignments have included presiding over complex civil discovery proceedings and civil trials
including gender based employment discrimination, civil rights cases, and cases involving highly
technical scientific evidence.
Throughout her legal career, Justice Hurst has been active in legal education. She taught criminal law,
evidence and civil procedure at what is now Roger Williams University Law School located in Bristol,
Rhode Island. She frequently speaks at local and national educational programs for judges, attorneys,
expert witnesses, and students (secondary, college, and law school) on topics that include trial
practice and procedure, evidence, ethics, family law including the rights of young adults and children,
sexual harassment, and discrimination. She also is an author and editor of Massachusetts Continuing
Legal Education Inc.'s award winning publication, "Rhode Island Discovery Practice," a publication that
in 2011 won the top "best publication" award from the Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA),
an international association serving the CLE profession worldwide through leadership, education, and
development. Justice Hurst also is co-author and editor of another soon to be published Mandatory
Continuing Legal Education practice series. She also co-authored Rhode Island's first model civil
jury instructions which was first copyrighted and published in 1998 and is now in its second edition.
She also has served on the Editorial Board for the Rhode Island Bar Association.
Justice Hurst is married with two adult step children.
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