Lenore L. Prather

Lenore Loving Prather (September 17, 1931 – April 11, 2020) was the Supreme Court of Mississippi’s first female justice and chief justice.[1][2] Prather began her law career as an attorney and city court judge throughout the 1960s. After working as a Chancery judge in the 1970s, she became a Supreme Court judge for Mississippi in 1982. Prather was later promoted to Chief Justice in 1998 and held this position until 2001.

Early life and education

Prather was born on September 17, 1931, in West Point, Mississippi, to Bryon Herald Loving, Esq. and Hattie Morris.[3] She completed her post-secondary education at the Mississippi University for Women and graduated from the University of Mississippi Law School in 1955.[4][5]

Career

Upon earning her Juris Doctor, Prather joined her father’s law practice. She then worked as an attorney with her husband Robert Brooks Prather, Esq. (whom she married in 1957) before her appointment as a Municipal Court Judge of West Point, Mississippi, in 1965. In 1971, Prather became the first female in the state to be appointed as a Chancery Judge (14th Chancery District). She was later appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi by Governor William F. Winter, taking office on July 15, 1982.[6][7] Prather was the first female to fulfill such a role, and she later achieved another historical feat by becoming the first female Chief Justice in 1998. She served in the aforementioned position during the duration of her time on the bench.[5][8] In November 2000, Prather was defeated in her reelection campaign by Charles Easley, and she left office on January 5, 2001.[9]

Awards and honors

Prather was named to the University of Mississippi Alumni Hall of Fame in 1986[10] and the University of Mississippi School of Law in 2012.[11] A portrait of her was included in the Supreme Court of Mississippi in 2011.[12]

Further reading

Wall, Diane E. (September 2000). "A Woman of Many Firsts: The Honorable Lenore Prather". Southeastern Political Review. 28 (3): 531–550. doi:10.1111/j.1747-1346.2000.tb00118.x.

See also

References
  1. Ranney, Joseph A. (2019-04-23). A Legal History of Mississippi: Race, Class, and the Struggle for Opportunity. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781496822598.
  2. Busbee, Westley F. Jr. (2014-10-28). Mississippi: A History. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118755921.
  3. Pieschel, Bridget (2009). Golden Days: Reminiscences of Alumnae, Mississippi State College for Women. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781604739596.
  4. Walton, Becca (2017). "Prather, Lenore". In Ownby, Ted; Wilson, Charles Reagan; Abadie, Ann J.; Lindsey, Odie; Thomas, James G. (eds.). Mississippi Encyclopedia. p. 1031.
  5. "Collins Speaker Series: Lenore Prather » Mississippi State University Libraries". lib.msstate.edu. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
  6. "Lenore Prather takes court seat". Clarion-Ledger. 1982-07-16.
  7. Leslie Southwick, Mississippi Supreme Court Elections: A Historical Perspective 1916-1996, 18 Miss. C. L. Rev. 115 (1997-1998).
  8. Krane, Dale; Shaffer, Stephen D. (1992). Mississippi Government and Politics: Modernizers Versus Traditionalists. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803277588.
  9. "Easley sworn in as new justice". Clarion-Ledger. 2001-01-06.
  10. "Past Recipients of Alumni Hall of Fame Distinguished Alumni Awards". University of Mississippi Alumni Association. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  11. "Alumni Hall of Fame". University of Mississippi School of Law. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  12. "Portraits of four former Supreme Court justices to be unveiled Sept. 1". State of Mississippi Judiciary. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
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