Gov. Mike Parson has appointed the first Black woman to serve as a Missouri Supreme Court judge.

The Republican governor on Monday named Missouri Eastern District Appeals Court Judge Robin Ransom to the high court. She’s replacing Judge Laura Denvir Stith, who retired in March.

Ransom will join Chief Justice George Draper as the second Black judge currently serving on the Supreme Court. She doesn’t need Senate confirmation. Former Republican Gov. Matt Blunt first appointed Ransom to serve as a St. Louis County circuit judge in 2008.

Parson appointed her in 2019 to serve as an appeals court judge.

“Appointing a judge to the Supreme Court of Missouri is an important duty that I do not take lightly. I am proud and honored to name Judge Robin Ransom as the newest member of the state’s highest court,” Governor Parson said. “Judge Ransom will add valuable experience, perspective, and balance to the court. I have high confidence that she will continue to be a fair enforcer of the law, faithfully interpret the law as written, and reasonably consider decisions made at the trial and appellate level in her own evaluation.”

“The Supreme Court of Missouri serves an essential role in maintaining our system of justice, upholding the law, and protecting both the Missouri and the United States Constitutions, and I greatly appreciate the work of the judicial commission in submitting such a strong panel of qualified candidates,” Governor Parson continued.

Judge Ransom was appointed to serve on the Eastern District Court of Appeals by Governor Parson in 2019. Before serving on the appellate bench, Judge Ransom was appointed as a Circuit Judge for the City of St. Louis by Governor Matt Blunt in 2008. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Ransom served for six years as a Family Court Commissioner in the City of St. Louis. She also previously served in the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as well as the St. Louis County Public Defender’s Office.

Judge Ransom holds a law degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law and an undergraduate degree in political science and sociology from Douglass Residential College-Rutgers University.

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