Marlene Patricia Malahoo Forte is a Jamaican politician. She currently serves as Jamaica's Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs and was the Attorney General of Jamaica from 7 March 2016 to 10 January 2022. She served as a Senator for the Jamaica Labour Party from 2009 to 2016, and served as State Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade from 2009 to 2012. Prior to entering politics, she served as a Resident Magistrate. Forte received her early education at the

Manning's School Manning's School in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica, which started offering classes in 1738, is the oldest continuous operating high school in Jamaica. The school's motto is rendered in latin "''Vita sine litteris mors est "'' its engl ...

Savanna-la-Mar Savanna-la-Mar (commonly known as Sav-la-Mar, or simply Sav) is the chief town and capital of Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica. A coastal town, it contains an 18th-century fort constructed for colonial defence against pirates in the Caribbean. H ...

, Westmoreland. She studied at the University of the West Indies,

Norman Manley Law School The Norman Manley Law School is a law school in Jamaica. Building and location The Norman Manley Law School is located on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, yet it is a distinct and separate institution. Its building, design ...

and King's College London (LLM, 1999), obtained a master's degree in public administration from the

Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, and has lectured in criminal practice and procedure at the

. Forte was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

as MP for Saint James West Central in March 2016 after the Jamaica Labour Party won the 2016 general election on February 25 by one seat. In June 2016, Forte criticized the

U.S. Embassy The United States has the second most Diplomatic mission, diplomatic missions of any country in the world List of diplomatic missions of China, after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as obse ...

in Jamaica for flying a

rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. The LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is the most recogniz ...

following the

Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a ...

. Forte said it was "disrespectful of Jamaica's laws". Forte's comments were in turn criticized by others.

References

Living people Government ministers of Jamaica Members of the Senate of Jamaica Jamaica Labour Party politicians Jamaican Queen's Counsel Harvard Kennedy School alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) University of the West Indies academics University of the West Indies alumni Alumni of King's College London Jamaican women judges Attorneys General of Jamaica Women government ministers of Jamaica 21st-century Jamaican women politicians 21st-century Jamaican politicians Female justice ministers Members of the 13th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 14th Parliament of Jamaica {{Jamaica-politician-stub