Elena Kagan (1986): First female Solicitor General of the United States (2009-2010). She later became a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
Pamela Carter: First African American female to serve as an Attorney General in the U.S. and Indiana (1993) Kamala Harris (1989): First Asian American female (and Asian American overall) elected as an Attorney General in the U.S. and California (2011-2017).
Ada Kepley (1881): First woman to graduate with a law degree (1870) and practice in a court of law in the U.S. Charlotte E. Ray (1872): First African American female to earn a law degree in the U.S. Claudia L. Gordon (c. 2000): First deaf African American female to earn a law degree in the U.S.
Janet Reno died at her home in Miami-Dade County, Florida on November 7, 2016, at the age of 78. The cause of her death was complications from Parkinson's disease, which she had battled since 1995.
Despite this controversy, Reno became one of the most respected members of the Clinton administration in its first term, known for launching innovative programs designed to steer non-violent drug offenders away from jail and espousing the rights of criminal defendants.
Early Life and Career. Janet Reno was born in Miami, Florida on July 21, 1938. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Cornell University in 1960, she attended Harvard Law School. Reno graduated in 1963 and returned to her native Florida. After several years in private practice, Reno ran for county prosecutor for Dade County in ...
After attending Cornell University for her undergraduate degree and Harvard Law School in 1960, Janet Reno worked as an attorney in Florida for several years. Her work in Florida as an attorney and as county prosecutor from 1978 to 1993 established Reno's stern and liberal reputation.
Reno became involved in negotiations and when they stalled in April 2000 she ordered a raid on the U.S. relatives’ Miami home that would ultimately return the young refugee back to his father in Cuba. Her controversial intervention enraged the Cuban American community in Miami.
Reno was also in charge during the Justice Department's prosecution of several high-profile cases including the convictions of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols for their deadly bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City; and Ted Kaczynski, who became known as the “Unabomber” for a 17-year domestic terrorist campaign of mailing letter bombs.
Reno was called upon to help resolve the situation. Reno approved the use of tear gas to flush the Branch Davidians from their compound outside of Waco, Texas. Unfortunately, it did not go as planned; a fire erupted and more than 70 Davidians (including Koresh and at least 20 children) died during the event.
As a Rhodes professor, she engaged the Cornell community across several disciplines. Reno participated in a symposium on “Rethinking the Criminalization of Youth” and lectured on the impact of the presidential election on violence against women in the U.S. She joined class discussions in the Department of Government, the Department of Policy Analysis and Management in the College of Human Ecology and in the ILR School. During a panel discussion sponsored by the Center for the Study of Inequality, Reno joined a debate on the assimilation of ethnic minorities, and she participated in a human development forum on children’s policy.
Janet Reno ’60, who went from leading Cornell’s Women’s Student Government Association as a student to becoming the United States’ first female attorney general, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease Nov. 7. She was 78.
In October 1959, her senior year, Reno so ught to end the “gracious living” at Balch and Sage halls’ dining rooms. This included mandatory waitress service, which meant higher dining hall costs for women. Undergraduate women had to sit in silence until they were formally adjourned from dinner.
In her Convocation address, Reno said she was honored to speak. “It was 45 years ago that I arrived, at dawn, by myself at this great institution,” she said. “I saw some of the most beautiful places that will forever be stamped on my mind … I came to a new world.”
Gretchen Ritter ’83, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences and professor of government, said: “Janet Reno was an extraordinary public servant – a person of immense integrity, competence and commitment. As the nation’s first female attorney general, she led the Department of Justice at a difficult time, and was both fair-minded and undaunted in her pursuit of terrorist cases in the 1990s. As a Cornell alumna, Reno was – like many of the women who preceded and followed her at Cornell – a talented striver and social pioneer, determined to make her contributions count in the arena where she could make the greatest difference.”
Gerald Torres, Cornell’s Jane M.G. Foster Professor of Law, served as deputy assistant attorney general under Reno. He was counsel to her on the environment and Native American issues.
Between 2003 and 2005, Loretta Lynch served as a board member at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Later, on 8thNovember, 2014, she was nominated to succeed Attorney Eric Holder. On 26thFebruary, 2015, the U.S. Senate’s Judicial Committee recommended Lynch’s confirmation by 12 against 8 votes; with three Republicans and all Democrats in her favor. Come 23rdApril, the same year, Loretta was confirmed, 56 against 43 votes, by the Senate, making beat records as the second woman, second African-American, and the first Black woman to be confirmed for this position. She was later sworn in on 27thApril, 2015 by the V. President Joe Biden.
On this day, 21 st May 1959, a great African-American woman politician, full of charisma and leadership capabilities, Loretta Lynch, was born. Loretta Lynch , on 27 th April, 2015, entered the American historical records as the first black woman to be appointed as the U.S. Attorney General, under President Barack Obama’s administration. She was, however, serving as the 83 rd U.S. Attorney General, preceded by Attorney Eric Holder, and finally succeeded by Jeff Sessions (incumbent) of the ongoing President Trump’s administration, on 9 th February, 2017.
She was later sworn in on 27thApril, 2015 by the V. President Joe Biden. During her service at the Eastern District of New York as the U.S. Attorney, Lynch supervised the investigations on the senior FIFA officials from the early stages.
On this day, 21stMay 1959, a great African-American woman politician, full of charisma and leadership capabilities, Loretta Lynch, was born.
Because of her commitment to fighting injustice, her eloquence, and capabilities for leadership and governance , President-Elect Joseph R. Biden chose Harris as his running mate. This pick made Harris the fourth woman on a major party's national ticket and the second African American on a presidential ticket.
While in the Senate, Harris served on two powerful committees: the Intelligence Committee and the Judiciary Committee. As the committees dealt with important issues—such as the investigation into Russian influence and meddling in the 2016 election and judicial appointments to the Supreme Court—Harris became known as a sharp, aggressive questioner who could unnerve opposing witnesses.
Kamala Harris has spent her life breaking glass ceilings. Born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California, Harris is the daughter of immigrants. Her father was born in Jamaica and her mother was born in India. After her parents divorced, Harris and her younger sister Maya were raised by their mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a single parent.
She then received her law degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco and began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. In 2003, Harris was elected as the District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco.
October 20, 1964 -. On January 20, 2021, Kamala D. Harris became the first woman, the first African American woman, the first Indian-American, the first person of Asian-American descent, and the first graduate of an HBCU to be sworn in as the Vice President of the United States of America. As she said in her election acceptance speech, she “may be ...
In 2019, Harris launched her campaign for President of the United States. While she did not win the Democratic primary, she proved that she was capable of taking on an even larger leadership role in the United States. Because of her commitment to fighting injustice, her eloquence, and capabilities for leadership and governance, President-Elect Joseph R. Biden chose Harris as his running mate. This pick made Harris the fourth woman on a major party's national ticket and the second African American on a presidential ticket.
As a lawyer, Harris immediately began breaking glass ceilings. In 2010, Harris was elected as the first African American and first woman to serve as California's Attorney General. While Attorney General, she married lawyer Doug Emhoff and became stepmother to his two children.
Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, CA on October 20, 1964. By the time she attended kindergarten, Harris was being bused to school as part of a desegregation program. Throughout her childhood, children in her neighborhood were permitted from playing with her and her sister because they were Black.
Loretta Lynch was born on May 21, 1959, in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1981, Lynch earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and American literature from Harvard College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1984.
Barbara Jordan was born in Houston, Texas on February 21, 1936. Due to segregation, Jordan could not attend The University of Texas at Austin, and instead chose Texas Southern University, a historically-black institution. After majoring in political science, Jordan attended Boston University School of law in 1956 and graduated in 1959.
Motley was elected to the New York State Senate in 1964, making her the first African-American woman to sit in the State Senate.
After graduating from Columbia, Motley became the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s (LDF) first female attorney. Motley went on to become Associate Counsel to the LDF, making her a lead attorney in many significant civil rights cases.
In 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Lynch for the position of U.S. Attorney General, succeeding Eric Holder, making her the first African-American woman and second African-American (after Holder) to hold this office.
Charlotte E. Ray was born in New York City on January 13, 1850. After graduating from college in 1869, Ray became a teacher at Howard University, where she would later register in the Law Department. In fear that she would not be admitted due to her gender, Ray registered as C.E. Ray. Charlotte Ray graduated from the Howard University School ...
• Ada Kepley (1881): First woman to graduate with a law degree (1870) and practice in a court of law in the U.S.
• Charlotte E. Ray (1872): First African American female to earn a law degree in the U.S.
• Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin: First Native American (Chippewa) female to earn a law degree in the U.S. (1914)
• List of first women lawyers and judges in Alabama
• List of first women lawyers and judges in Alaska
• List of first women lawyers and judges in Arizona
• List of first women lawyers and judges in Arkansas
• List of first women lawyers and judges in Washington D.C. (Federal District)
• List of first women lawyers and judges in the Territories of the U.S.
• Timeline of women lawyers in the United States
• Women in law
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of African American jurists [United States]
• List of Asian American jurists [United States]
• List of first women lawyers and judges by nationality [International]