Cynthia Kinser
Cynthia Kinser was the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Justice Kinser was appointed by Republican Governor George Allen in 1997. She was re-elected by the Virginia General Assembly for another 12-year term on January 26, 2010.[1]
On August 31, 2010, Kinser was elected to a four-year term as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, effective February 2010.[2] She became the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia.[3] She retired from the bench in 2014.[4]
Education
Kinser received her undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee and in 1976 and her J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School.[5]
Career
After graduating from law school, Kinser clerked for Glen M. Williams. She spent a year in private practice, then was elected to serve as a commonwealth attorney for Lee County. After one term, she entered private practice again. In 1990, Kinser was appointed a U.S. magistrate judge. She served in this capacity until her appointment to the Supreme Court of Virginia in 1997.[5]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Kinser received a campaign finance score of 0.94, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.11 that justices received in Virginia.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[6]
See also
External links
- Virginia's Judicial System, "About the Supreme Court of Virginia"
- Virginia Lawyers Weekly, "What kind of justice will Cynthia Kinser be?" June 30, 1997
Footnotes
- ↑ Virginia's Judicial System, "Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia," accessed August 12, 2014
- ↑ The Washington Post, "New Va. Supreme Court chief justice," August 31, 2010
- ↑ Governor's Press Release, "Governor McDonnell Congratulates Justice Kinser on Her Investiture as First Female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia," February 16, 2011
- ↑ PilotOnline.com, "Chief justice of Virginia's Supreme Court retiring," June 13, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Virginia Lawyers Weekly, "What kind of justice will Cynthia Kinser be?" June 30, 1997
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
Federal courts:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Virginia • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Virginia
State courts:
Virginia Supreme Court • Virginia Court of Appeals • Virginia Circuit Courts • Virginia District Courts • Virginia Magistrates
State resources:
Courts in Virginia • Virginia judicial elections • Judicial selection in Virginia
