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Karla Gray
Karla M. Gray was the chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court. She was the eighteenth person to serve as the court's chief justice and the first woman to be elected to the position. She retired from the court at the end of 2008, having said earlier in the year, "I have not been able to persuade myself that I can serve another full, eight-year term with the same energy and dedication I have poured into being chief justice from the moment I took office."[1]
Gray was succeeded on the court by Mike McGrath.[2]
Karla Gray died of cancer on Sunday, February 19, 2017.[3]
Education
Gray attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, from 1965 to 1970, receiving a B.A. and an M.A., the latter in African history. She worked as a clerk-matron in the Mountain View (California) Police Department prior to attending the University of California at Hastings College of the Law. Gray received her J.D. in 1976 and moved to Butte, Montana, to serve as a law clerk for Senior United States District Court Judge W.D. Murray until 1977.
Career
Gray practiced law in Butte in a number of different capacities, including in-house corporate legal staff and a solo practice. She also lobbied at the Montana Legislature during the 1980s for various entities including the Montana Power Company and the Montana Trial Lawyers Association.[4]
Governor Stan Stephens appointed Gray to the Montana Supreme Court in 1991, following the resignation of Diane Barz. Barz had been the first woman to serve on the court; however, Gray was the first woman elected to the supreme court and later its first female chief justice. Gray won election as an associate justice in 1992 and again in 1998. She subsequently became the first woman to be elected chief justice in 2000, defeating fellow sitting Justice Terry Trieweiler by 8,800 votes out of approximately 387,000 cast.[5]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ AG Will Seek Chief Justice Spot
- ↑ Mt Standard.com,"First female chief justice of Montana Supreme Court retires," December 30, 2008
- ↑ Great Falls Tribune, "Flags ordered at half-staff in honor of Karla Gray," February 20, 2017
- ↑ Montana Courts website, Chief Justice Gray
- ↑ Great Falls Tribune, "First woman to lead Montana's high court champions merit system over elections for justices," 2006
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Montana • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Montana
State courts:
Montana Supreme Court • Montana District Courts • Montana Courts of Limited Jurisdiction • Montana Water Court • Montana Workers' Compensation Court
State resources:
Courts in Montana • Montana judicial elections • Judicial selection in Montana
