Pathbreaker chief justice is honored

By Jennifer Brett

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, March 05, 2009

SB is hard-pressed to recall an honoree more gracious than Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, saluted Saturday night at the eighth annual Weltner Freedom of Information Banquet. The event was hosted by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation at the Commerce Club.

A host of dignitaries, including former Mayor Andrew Young, feted Sears during a special video tribute. Foundation president and AJC vice president Hyde Post and keynote speaker Lisa Borders, president of the Atlanta City Council, noted highlights of Sears’ extraordinary career.

The first female judge on the Fulton County Superior Court and Georgia’s first black female Superior Court judge, she became the first woman on Georgia’s Supreme Court, and in 2005 was sworn in as the nation’s first black female chief justice of a state’s highest court.

“She has left indelible fingerprints on the law,” said Borders. She and Sears became friends years ago through their children’s nursery school.

“You have been a shining example of public service, commitment and dedication to the citizens of Atlanta and the state of Georgia.”

Sears, honored for her dedication to open government and accessibility to the public, focused the majority of her remarks on the man for whom the award is named, the late Chief Justice Charles Weltner.

Sears’ first year serving on the Supreme Court was Weltner’s last, and she recalled his kindness as well as his wisdom.

“You have to call us by our first names,” Weltner told his new young colleague, who was too deferential to call the others anything but “Judge.” “My name is Charlie.”

In closing Sears stressed her trademark allegiance to transparency and disclosure.

“Active democracy demands free access and free speech, even when that speech and access is inconvenient,” she said. “I am proud that the people of Georgia gave me the opportunity to strike a blow or two for open government and the First Amendment.”