Leah Sears | |
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27th Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court | |
In office June 28, 2005 – June 30, 2009 | |
Appointed by | Zell Miller |
Preceded by | Norman Fletcher |
Succeeded by | Carol Hunstein |
Associate Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court | |
In office July 21, 1992 – June 28, 2005 | |
Appointed by | Zell Miller |
Succeeded by | David Nahmias |
Personal details | |
Born | Leah Jeanette Sears June 13, 1955 Heidelberg, West Germany |
Spouse(s) | Love Collins (divorced 1994) Haskell Ward |
Education | Cornell University (BA) Emory University (JD) University of Virginia (LLM) |
Leah Ward Sears (née Leah Jeanette Sears;[1] born June 13, 1955) is an American jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Sears was the first African-American female chief justice of a state supreme court in the United States.[2] When she was first appointed as justice in 1992 by Governor Zell Miller, she became the first woman and youngest person to sit on Georgia's Supreme Court.