Catherine D. Kimball
Catherine D. "Kitty" Kimball | |
|---|---|
| Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court | |
| In office January 12, 2009 – February 1, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Pascal F. Calogero, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Bernette Joshua Johnson |
| Member of the Louisiana Supreme Court (Place Five) | |
| In office January 1, 1993 – February 1, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Luther F. Cole |
| Succeeded by | Jefferson D. Hughes III |
| Judge of the 18th Judicial District in Louisiana | |
| In office 1983–1991 | |
| Preceded by | Dan Kimball |
| Succeeded by | James J. Best |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Catherine Dick February 7, 1945 Alexandria, Rapides Parish Louisiana, U.S. |
| Political party | Democrat Independent |
| Spouse | Clyde Kimball |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence(s) | Ventress, Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Louisiana State University Louisiana State University Law Center (J.D.) |
| Occupation | Judge; Attorney |
Catherine D. Kimball, known as Kitty Kimball (born February 7, 1945), is the retired Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.[1][2]
Early life
Catherine Dick was the only daughter of five children born to Jane C. (née Kelley) and William H. Dick in Alexandria, Louisiana on February 7, 1945. She graduated in 1963 from Bolton High School in Alexandria.[1] In 1966, Kimball graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.[citation needed] In 1970, she received her Juris Doctor from the Louisiana State University Law Center, also in Baton Rouge.[1]
Personal life
Her husband, Clyde Kimball, also an LSU graduate, is a former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and a former deputy secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The couple first lived in New Roads, where in the 1970s she practiced law and was an assistant prosecutor.[3]
The couple now reside in Ventress in Pointe Coupee Parish. They have three children.[1] They are Roman Catholic.[3]
On January 10, 2010, Justice Kimball had a stroke and underwent post-stroke rehabilitation therapy at the Neuromedical Rehabilitation Hospital in Baton Rouge until her release five weeks later.[4]
Career
She began her judicial career in her native Alexandria, Louisiana, as a law clerk to Judge Nauman Scott of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Formerly a Democrat, Kimball was listed in 2015 as a registered Independent voter by the office of Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler.[5]
In 1992, Kimball carried all twelve parishes in the Louisiana Supreme Court Fifth District, including St. Landry and East Baton Rouge, to become her state's first female Supreme Court justice. She was an associate justice from 1993 to 2009, when she was elevated to Chief Justice, a position she held until her retirement in 2013. In 1983, she succeeded her husband's uncle, Dan Kimball, to become the first woman elected to the 18th Judicial District Court for Iberville, Pointe Coupee, and West Baton Rouge parishes.[6][7][8]
Retirement
Kimball retired from the court on February 1, 2013. Her successor is Bernette Joshua Johnson, an African-American Democrat from New Orleans. Under the Louisiana Constitution, the longest-serving associate justice succeeds to the position of chief justice if a vacancy occurs in the higher position prior to the next election. Johnson's service dates to 1994 when she was elected to a circuit judgeship but then appointed to the Supreme Court under a federal consent decree which temporarily increased the number of justices from seven to eight. The number two in seniority, Jeffrey P. Victory of Shreveport, a white Democrat-turned-Republican, had maintained that he was the rightful successor to Kimball because he was elected to the Supreme Court in 1994 while he was already a circuit court judge. Victory did not begin his current all-elected service on the state Supreme Court until January 1995. After a legal challenge, the federal courts ruled Johnson the successor to Kimball.[9] Victory retired from the court on December 31, 2014.
Legacy
In 2011, Justice Kimball was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Chief Justice Catherine D. Kimball". Louisiana Supreme Court. Archived from the original on 2010-06-19. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ "Kimball to take oath as 1st female chief justice" - 2 The Advocate
- ^ a b "Catherine 'Kitty' Kimball to be sworn in today as Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court". The New Orleans Times-Picayune. January 12, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
- ^ "Louisiana Supreme Court chief justice released from hospital", AP in New Orleans Times-Picayune, February 23, 2010.
- ^ "Catherine Kimball, February 1945". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved May 26, 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ John James Jewell (December 2012). ""We Call Her "Kitty Ann"" (PDF). Louisiana State Bar Journal. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
- ^ "Kimball to be sworn in to state Supreme Court" - News Library
- ^ "Judge becomes 4th candidate for Cole's Supreme Court seat" - The Advocate
- ^ "Race tinges debate over next La. chief justice". Alexandria Daily Town Talk. Retrieved June 24, 2012.[permanent dead link]
External links
- 1945 births
- Living people
- 20th-century women judges
- 21st-century women judges
- American women judges
- Bolton High School (Louisiana) alumni
- Catholics from Louisiana
- Chief Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court
- Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court
- Louisiana Democrats
- Louisiana Independents
- Louisiana lawyers
- Louisiana state court judges
- Louisiana State University alumni
- Louisiana State University Law Center alumni
- People from New Roads, Louisiana
- Politicians from Alexandria, Louisiana
- Women chief justices of state supreme courts in the United States