Myra Consetta Selby (born July 1, 1955) is an

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

attorney in private practice and is a former nominee to be a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of Il ...

. Her nomination was denied a hearing by the Republican-majority Senate and subsequently expired on January 3, 2017. She served as an associate justice of the

Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana ...

from 1995 to 1999.

Biography

Selby was born on July 1, 1955, in

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metropol ...

. She received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1977 from

Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo College, also known as Kalamazoo, K College, KC or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, Kalamazoo is the oldest private college in ...

. She received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1980 from the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a Public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of C ...

. From 1980 to 1983, she practiced at the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, office of the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

Seyfarth Shaw Seyfarth Shaw LLP ( ) is an international AmLaw 100 law firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in Chicago in 1945 by Henry Seyfarth, Lee Shaw, and Owen Fairweather, Seyfarth Shaw originally focused on the area of Labour law, labor and ...

. In 1983, she joined the

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, law firm of Ice Miller Donadio & Ryan (now Ice Miller), as an associate in the health care group from 1983 to 1988 and the first African-American partner from 1988 to 1993. From 1993 to 1994, she served as the Director of Health Care Policy for the State of Indiana under

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Evan Bayh Birch Evans Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011 and the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. Bayh w ...

. As Director of Health Care Policy, she was responsible for policy development and the execution of state health care programs. In 1995, she was appointed to the

, where she served as both the first African American and first woman appointed to the highest state court in Indiana. During her time on the court, she authored more than 100 majority opinions, including landmark decisions regarding tort law reform and medical malpractice claims. In 1999, she retired from the bench and returned to private practice as a partner at Ice Miller. Upon her departure from the bench in 1999, the Indiana Supreme Court asked her to chair the newly formed Commission on Race and Gender Fairness. She continues to chair the commission, where she leads the commission's efforts to study and make recommendations on increasing gender and racial fairness in the legal system. Her private practice is primarily commercial litigation with an emphasis in health care.

Expired nomination to court of appeals

On January 12, 2016,

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

nominated Selby to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, to the seat vacated by Judge

John Daniel Tinder John Daniel Tinder (born 1950) is a retired United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Background Born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1950, Tinder attended Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indiana ...

, who took

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on February 18, 2015. The Republican-majority Senate refused to hold a hearing on her nomination, which then expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the

114th Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from Ja ...

. This seat was filled by

Amy Coney Barrett Amy Vivian Coney Barrett (born January 28, 1972) is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fifth woman to serve on the court, she was nominated by President Donald Trump and has served since October 27, 2020. S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selby, Myra Consetta Living people 1955 births African-American judges American women lawyers Indiana lawyers Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court Kalamazoo College alumni Politicians from Bay City, Michigan University of Michigan Law School alumni Lawyers from Washington, D.C. 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American lawyers 20th-century African-American women 20th-century American women judges 20th-century American judges

Biography

Expired nomination to court of appeals

See also

References