Robin Ransom (formerly Robin Ransom Vannoy; born July 21, 1967) is an American lawyer who serves as a 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 was appointed to the court in 2021 by Governor

Mike Parson Michael Lynn Parson (born September 17, 1955) is an American politician and former law enforcement officer who served as the 57th List of governors of Missouri, governor of Missouri, from 2018 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party (United S ...

, and is the first African-American woman to hold the position. Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court, Ransom 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 ...

for the Eastern District from 2019 to 2021 and served on the St. Louis Circuit Court from 2008 to 2019.

Early life and education

Robin Ransom was born on July 21, 1967, in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. Her father was a firefighter and social worker. She graduated from

Rosati-Kain High School Rosati-Kain Academy (Formerly Rosati-Kain High School) is an all-girls Catholic high school in St. Louis, Missouri. Rosati-Kain is accredited as a college preparatory school by the North Central Association, the Missouri Department of Education, ...

and

Rutgers University–New Brunswick Rutgers University–New Brunswick is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. It is located in New Brunswick and Piscataway. It is the oldest campu ...

Douglass Residential College Douglass Residential College is a non-degree-granting program established in 2007 and open to Rutgers undergraduates at any of the degree-granting schools of Rutgers University-New Brunswick. It replaced the liberal arts degree-granting Douglas ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

in 1988, and graduated from the

University of Missouri School of Law The University of Missouri School of Law (Mizzou Law or MU Law) is the law school of the University of Missouri. It is located on the university's main campus in Columbia, forty minutes from the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. The s ...

with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1991.

Career

Ransom began her legal career as a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

in St. Louis County in 1992. She became a

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

in St. Louis County in 1995 and in 2002 was appointed as a juvenile

family court Family courts were originally created to be a Court of Equity convened to decide matters and make orders in relation to family law, including custody of children, and could disregard certain legal requirements as long as the petitioner/plaintif ...

commissioner in St. Louis. Also in 2002, she was appointed as an

associate justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

by 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 ...

. She was appointed to the St. Louis Circuit Court on September 11, 2008, by Governor

Matt Blunt Matthew Roy Blunt (born November 20, 1970) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former naval officer who served as the List of governors of Missouri, 54th governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. He previously served ten years in the United St ...

. Ransom's peers on the court unanimously elected her to serve as presiding judge in 2018, succeeding Michael Mullen; she was the first African-American woman to hold this position. In 2019, she was appointed by Governor

to serve on the

for the Eastern District. Parson appointed her to the

on May 24, 2021; Ransom is the first African-American woman to serve on the court's bench. She was one of 25 applicants for the position, and was selected from a field of three candidates put forward by a nonpartisan commission, as per the

Missouri Plan The Missouri Plan (originally the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan, also known as the merit plan, or some variation) is a method for the selection of judges. It originated in Missouri in 1940 and has been adopted by many states of the United State ...

. After receiving the list of three candidates, Parson decided on Ransom within one day, though he had up to 60 days to finalize a decision.

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

Ashley Bland Manlove Ashley Jade Bland Manlove (born April 28, 1986) is a Democratic former member of the Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicam ...

, the chair of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, said the group was pleased by Ransom's appointment but thought "the fact that it took two centuries to happen highlights the continued need to address inequities in all aspects of Missouri's judicial system". Former Missouri Chief Justice Michael A. Wolff praised Ransom’s selection.

Personal life

Ransom

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

competitively, having bowled since the age of 11; in March 2021, she bowled a perfect 300. She tutors children for a local church's literacy program. She is a member of the Juvenile Officer Performance Standards Work Group and the Missouri State Foster Care and Adoption Board, as well as a mentor of the nonprofit The Literacy Project.

References

External links

Robin Ransom
on the Missouri Supreme Court website *
Robin Ransom
at Your Missouri Judges {{DEFAULTSORT:Ransom, Robin 1967 births Living people 20th-century African-American women 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges African-American judges American prosecutors Circuit court judges in the United States Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri Lawyers from St. Louis Missouri Court of Appeals judges Municipal judges in the United States Public defenders Rutgers University alumni University of Missouri School of Law alumni 20th-century African-American lawyers

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links