Cynthia Dinah Kinser (born December 20, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the chief justice of the
Supreme Court of Virginia
The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative ...
. Kinser was elected by the
Virginia General Assembly to her first 12-year term to the Virginia Supreme Court in 1998, after being appointed by Governor
George Allen to fill a 1997 vacancy. Kinser was elected to a second 12-year term during the 2010 session of the General Assembly. She became Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court on February 1, 2011.
She is the first woman to hold the office of Chief Justice on the Court.
Biography
Kinser received a
Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from the
University of Tennessee in 1974, and a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from the
University of Virginia School of Law
The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...
in 1977.
Prior to being appointefd to the Supreme Court by Governor
George Felix Allen
George Felix Allen (born March 8, 1952) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 67th governor of Virginia from 1994 to 1998 and as a United States senator from Virginia from 2001 to 2007.
The son of Nation ...
, Kinser served as law clerk Judge
Glen Morgan Williams
Glen Morgan Williams (February 17, 1920 – November 4, 2012) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
Education and career
Born in Jonesville, Virginia, Williams received a ...
of the
from 1977 to 1978. She then entered lawyer private practice from 1978 to 1979 and served as Commonwealth's Attorney for
Lee County, Virginia from 1980 to 1984.
She returned to private practice from 1984 to 1990. She served as a U.S. magistrate judge of the Western District of Virginia from 1990 to 1997.
On May 2, 1997, Governor
George Allen appointed Kisner to the
Virginia Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative ...
to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice
Roscoe B. Stephenson Jr.
Roscoe Bolar Stephenson Jr. was born at Covington, Virginia on February 22, 1922. He attended the public schools of Alleghany County, Virginia and received both his B.A. (1943) and his J.D. (1947) from Washington and Lee University. After being a ...
She began active service on July 8, 1997. She was elected by the General Assembly to a 12-year term commencing on February 1, 1998.
She became chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court on February 1, 2011,
succeeding Chief Justice
Leroy R. Hassell Sr.
Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. (August 17, 1955 – February 9, 2011), was a justice of the Virginia Supreme Court and the first African-American Chief Justice of that Court, serving two four-year terms from February 1, 2003, to January 31, 2011. ...
Kinser retired from the Supreme Court at the end of 2014.
On May 5, 2015, Kinser began a position as senior counsel with the
Roanoke-based law firm Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore, LLP. At Gentry Locke, Kinser will focus on appeals, criminal matters, and government investigations.
See also
*
List of female state supreme court justices Female state supreme court justices
First female justices
Below is a list of the names of the first woman to sit on the highest court of their respective states in the United States.
The first state with a female justice was Ohio; Florence E. ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinser, Cynthia D.
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American women judges
20th-century American judges
21st-century American women judges
21st-century American judges
Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia
County and city Commonwealth's Attorneys in Virginia
Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia
People from Pennington Gap, Virginia
United States magistrate judges
University of Tennessee alumni
University of Virginia School of Law alumni
Virginia state court judges
Women chief justices of state supreme courts in the United States
Women in Virginia politics