Jump to content

Vaino Spencer

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Magic links bot (talk | contribs) at 01:10, 4 July 2017 (Replace magic links with templates per local RfC and MediaWiki RfC). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Vaino Spencer
Division One California Court of Appeal
Personal details
Born(1920-07-22)July 22, 1920
Los Angeles, California
DiedOctober 25, 2016(2016-10-25) (aged 96)
Los Angeles, California
SpouseLorenzo V. Spencer
EducationPolytechnic High School
Alma materLos Angeles City College, Southwestern Law School
Professionlawyer
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

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

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 Division One California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District. She retired in 2007 as "one of the longest-serving judges in California history."[8]

Personal life and legacy

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

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

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

References

  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, NAWJ Award Descriptions.
  12. ^ Vaino Spencer, Trailblazing Lawyer, Judge, Appeals Court PJ, Dies at 96
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vaino_Spencer&oldid=788878750"