Lyn Stuart (born c. 1955) is an American jurist and the first Republican woman Chief Justice of Alabama and the second woman to hold the office. She was first appointed by Alabama Governor

Kay Ivey Kay Ellen Ivey (born October 15, 1944) is an American politician serving as the 54th and incumbent governor of Alabama since 2017. Originally a conservative Southern Democrat, Ivey became a member of the Republican Party in 2002. She was the 38th ...

as "acting" Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Alabama The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is hous ...

on May 6, 2016, when her predecessor,

Roy Moore Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer, and jurist who served as the 27th and 31st chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2017, each time being removed fr ...

, was suspended from office. At the time of her initial appointment, she had been an associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court since 2001, which was the longest tenure for any Republican in the Court's history. She had been thrice elected as an associate justice in 2000, 2006, and 2012. In September 2016, Moore's suspension was made permanent, and he resigned in April 2017. Upon Moore's actual resignation she was named by Governor Ivey as chief justice on April 26, 2017, without the "acting" title. She sought election to a full six-year term in the Republican Primary on June 5, 2018. However, she lost the Republican nomination for Chief Justice by a relatively narrow 18,826 votes out of more than 514,000 cast. This translated to a percentage 52%-48% loss to Associate Justice Tom Parker.Alabama Secretary of State, election results, June 5, 2018

Background

Born in Atmore, Alabama, she earned her

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 year ...

degree in sociology and education from Auburn University in 1977 and her Juris Doctor degree from the

University of Alabama School of Law The University of Alabama School of Law, (formerly known as the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at The University of Alabama) located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is a nationally ranked top-tier law school and the only public law school in the st ...

in 1980. She served as secretary of the Student Bar Association, was a member of the John A. Campbell Moot Court Board, and received the Dean's Service Award at graduation. She served as an Alabama Assistant Attorney General under

Charles Graddick Charles Allen Graddick Sr. (born December 10, 1944 in Mobile), was the 42nd Attorney General of Alabama from 1979–1987. He later served as a Judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court of the U.S. state of Alabama. Background Graddick graduat ...

. In 1988 and 1994 she was elected as a District Court Judge in Baldwin County, Alabama. In January 1997, she was appointed as a Circuit Judge by Governor

Fob James Forrest Hood "Fob" James Jr. (born September 15, 1934) is an American civil engineer, entrepreneur, football player, and politician. He served as the 48th governor of Alabama, first as a Democrat, 1979–1983, and secondly as a Republican, 199 ...

and re-elected without opposition in 1998. She resigned as a Circuit Judge upon her election to the Alabama Supreme Court. Stuart and her husband, George, have two sons and a daughter.

References

External links

* 1955 births 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges Alabama Republicans Methodists from Alabama Auburn University alumni Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama Date of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Atmore, Alabama Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama University of Alabama alumni Women chief justices of state supreme courts in the United States 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges {{Alabama-politician-stub