Vaino Spencer

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Vaino Spencer
Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division One
In office
August 19, 1980 – August 31, 2007
Appointed byGovernor Jerry Brown
Personal details
Born(1920-07-22)July 22, 1920
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedOctober 25, 2016(2016-10-25) (aged 96)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
SpouseLorenzo V. Spencer
EducationPolytechnic High School
Alma materLos Angeles City College
Southwestern Law School
ProfessionLawyer, judge
Known forFirst African-American woman appointed to a judgeship in California

Vaino Hassan Spencer (July 22, 1920 – October 25, 2016) was an American judge, the first African-American woman appointed to a judgeship in California.[1] She co-founded the Black Women Lawyers Association in 1975,[2] and the National Association of Women Judges in 1979.[3]

Early life and education[edit]

Vaino Hassan was born in 1920, in Los Angeles. As a teenager, she appeared as a dancer in a Laurel and Hardy movie, Bonnie Scotland (1935), along with her father, Abdul Hassan.[4]

She graduated from Polytechnic High School in 1938, attended Los Angeles City College as an undergraduate, and earned a law degree from Southwestern Law School in 1952.[5] She was the third African-American woman admitted to the California bar.[6] Before her law degree, she held a real estate license, and worked in that business.[7]

Career[edit]

Vaino Hassan Spencer practiced as a lawyer in Los Angeles. In 1961 she was appointed as a municipal court judge in Los Angeles, the first black woman in California appointed to a judgeship. In 1976, she became a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge, and in 1980 she was named a Presiding Judge of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division One. She retired in 2007 as "one of the longest-serving judges in California history."[8]

Personal life and legacy[edit]

Vaino Hassan married real estate agent Lorenzo V. Spencer.[9] They divorced in 1967.[10]

The National Association of Women Judges annually presents the Justice Vaino Spencer Leadership Award for outstanding leadership.[11]

Spencer died on October 25, 2016, at her home in Los Angeles.[12][13]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "L. A. Gets First Negro Woman Judge in State" Pasadena Independent (October 9, 1961): 2. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  2. ^ Beth Ann Krier, "Double Minority: Black Women Lawyers Organize" Los Angeles Times (November 23, 1975): E1.
  3. ^ Shae Collins, "Black History Abounds in L.A." Our Weekly Los Angeles (February 20, 2013).
  4. ^ Amina Hassan, Loren Miller, Civil Rights Attorney and Journalist (University of Oklahoma Press 2015): 266, note 153. ISBN 9780806152677
  5. ^ "Pioneering Alumna Vaino Spencer Retires from the Bench" Southwestern Law School, news release (October 17, 2007).
  6. ^ Yussuf Simmonds, "African American Women Appeal Court Justices" Los Angeles Sentinel (March 29, 2012).
  7. ^ Jessie Carnie Smith, ed., Notable Black American Women Volume 2 (VNR AG 1996): 612. ISBN 9780810391772
  8. ^ "Vaino Spencer to Retired as Presiding Justice" Metropolitan News-Enterprise (August 27, 2007).
  9. ^ "Woman Rules" Jet Magazine (October 26, 1961): 15.
  10. ^ Beverly Beyette, "Q&A: Justice Vaino Spencer on her Career" Los Angeles Times (October 29, 1980): 10.
  11. ^ National Association of Women Judges, Awards Description.
  12. ^ Vaino Spencer, Trailblazing Lawyer, Judge, Appeals Court PJ, Dies at 96 Metropolitan News. October 27, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  13. ^ "California's first female black judge dies at 96". Houston Chronicle. Associated Press. October 31, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2017.

External links[edit]

  • Biography. California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division One.
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