Mary Carolyn Morgan is a judge of the

San Francisco County Superior Court The Superior Court of California of the County of San Francisco is the Superior Courts of California, state superior court with jurisdiction over the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco. History Courthouse functions were incorporate ...

and former judge of the San Francisco Municipal Court. She was the first openly

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

judge appointed in the United States.Jim Schroeder, ''Twenty-five years of courtroom trauma'' ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'' (August 23, 1994).

Early life and education

Morgan received a B.A. from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

in 1967 and a J.D. from

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

in 1972.State’s First Lesbian Judge to Return to Bench Following Davis Appointment
''Metropolitan News-Enterprise'' (April 4, 2003).

Career

From 1981 to 1993, Morgan served on the San Francisco Municipal Court. On April 3, 2003,

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 until he was recalled and removed from office in 2003. He is the second state governor ...

appointed Morgan to the

Personal

At the time of her appointment to the San Francisco County Superior Court, Morgan's partner was Roberta Achtenberg, who served as Assistant Secretary of the

Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and u ...

during the

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the Conservatism in the United States, conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the ...

, who had referred to Achtenberg as "that damn lesbian", had held up Achtenberg's nomination and was particularly outraged at discovering that Achtenberg and Morgan had kissed during a gay pride parade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Mary C. Living people Smith College alumni New York University School of Law alumni LGBTQ appointed officials in the United States LGBTQ judges American LGBTQ lawyers American women judges California state court judges People from the San Francisco Bay Area Law in the San Francisco Bay Area Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people

Early life and education

Career

Personal

See also

References