Laura Denvir Stith (born October 30, 1953) is a former judge of the

Supreme Court of Missouri The Supreme Court of Missouri (SCOMO) is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constituti ...

. She served from 2001 to 2021. She was elected by her fellow Supreme Court justices to serve a two-year term as Chief Justice, from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2009, becoming the second woman to serve as Missouri's highest-ranking jurist. Stith graduated in 1971 from

John Burroughs School John Burroughs School (JBS) is a private, non-sectarian college-preparatory school with 631 students in grades 7– 12. Its 49-acre () campus is located in Ladue, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Founded in 1923, it is named for U.S. naturali ...

, a private school in metro St. Louis, Missouri. Four years later, she graduated magna cum laude from

Jackson College for Women The School of Arts and Sciences (A&S) is a school of Tufts University, a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It is the largest of the eight schools and colleges that comprise the university. Together with the Sc ...

(now part of

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

), and then from

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

in 1978. Stith served as a law clerk for Chief Justice Robert Seiler of the Missouri Supreme Court and then entered private practice in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. She served on the

Missouri Court of Appeals The Missouri Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the U.S. state, state of Missouri. The court handles most of the appeals from the Missouri Circuit Courts. The court is divided into three geographic districts: Eastern (bas ...

, Western District, from 1994 to 2000. On March 7, 2001, then-Governor

Bob Holden Robert Lee Holden Jr. (born August 24, 1949) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of Missouri from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Missouri state treasurer from 1993 to 2001 an ...

appointed her to the Supreme Court of Missouri, and she was retained by a vote of the people at the November 2002 election. On February 2, 2021, she announced her retirement effective March 8, 2021. Stith is a founding director for Lawyers Encouraging Academic Performance ("LEAP") in Kansas City, where she lives with her attorney husband, Donald Scott, and their three children. Her late father, Richard T. Stith, Jr. (October 31, 1919 – February 10, 2013), an insurance agent and financial planner, served as mayor of

Clayton, Missouri Clayton is a city in and the county seat of St. Louis County, Missouri, and borders the independent city of St. Louis. The population was 17,355 at the 2020 census. Organized in 1877, the city was named after Ralph Clayton, a citizen who donated ...

, a suburb of St. Louis, from 1983 to 1987. He was a decorated Marine pilot during World War II. Her late mother, Ann Carter Stith (November 21, 1920 – November 24, 2005), was a longtime advocate of clean government, prison reform, and educational and family support services for children. Stith's brother Richard T. Stith III is a law professor at

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. It is an independent Lutheran university with five colleges. It enrolls nearly 2,300 students and has a campus. The university is known for its Luthe ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. Her sister

Kate Stith Kate Stith, also known as Kate Stith-Cabranes, is the Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law and the former acting dean of Yale Law School. Her appointment was announced on March 23, 2009, by Yale University President Richard Levin, when former dea ...

is a law professor at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, and the wife of Judge José A. Cabranes of the

Second Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, and it has appellate jurisdic ...

. José Cabranes: Family Her other sister, Rebecca Stith, is an attorney with the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

References

External links

Laura Denvir Stith
on the Missouri Supreme Court Website , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stith, Laura Denvir 1953 births Living people 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Missouri Georgetown University Law Center alumni Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri Missouri Court of Appeals judges Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni Women chief justices of state supreme courts in the United States Women in Missouri politics John Burroughs School alumni