Amalya Kearse facts for kids

Amalya Lyle Kearse, born on June 11, 1937, is a very important judge in the United States. She serves as a senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Besides her legal career, she is also known as a fantastic bridge player!

Early Life and Education

Amalya Kearse was born in Vauxhall, New Jersey. Her mother, Dr. Myra Lyle Smith Kearse, was a doctor, and her father, Robert Freeman Kearse, was a postmaster. Her grandparents were schoolteachers.

She went to Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. After high school, she studied philosophy at Wellesley College and graduated in 1959.

Later, she attended the University of Michigan Law School. She was the only Black woman in her law school class. She worked on the law review, which is a student-run legal journal, and earned her law degree in 1962.

After law school, she started working as a lawyer in New York City. She became a partner at a well-known law firm called Hughes Hubbard & Reed. She also taught law at New York University Law School for a short time.

Becoming a Federal Judge

Joining the Court of Appeals

President Jimmy Carter chose Amalya Kearse to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on May 3, 1979. The United States Senate approved her nomination on June 19, 1979. She officially became a judge on June 21, 1979.

At that time, she was the first woman and only the second Black person to serve on that court. The first Black person was Thurgood Marshall. Judge Kearse became a senior judge on June 11, 2002. This means she still hears cases but with a reduced workload.

Important Legal Decisions

In 1984, Judge Kearse wrote an important decision in a case called McCray v. Abrams. In this case, she created a new way to make it harder for lawyers to remove potential jurors just because of their race. The Supreme Court later developed a similar rule in a famous case called Batson v. Kentucky.

Consideration for Higher Roles

In 1981, Amalya Kearse was considered for a very high position: a judge on the Supreme Court of the United States. She was the first African-American woman to be thought of for this role. However, President Ronald Reagan chose Judge Sandra Day O'Connor instead.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton also considered Judge Kearse for the job of United States Attorney General. This is the chief lawyer for the U.S. government. The job eventually went to Janet Reno.

Bridge Playing Career

Besides her impressive legal career, Amalya Kearse is also famous for being a world-class bridge player. Bridge is a card game played by four people in two partnerships.

World Champion

In 1986, playing with her longtime partner Jacqui Mitchell, she won the World Women Pairs Championship. This big win earned her the title of World Bridge Federation World Life Master. She has also won seven national championships in the U.S. with the American Contract Bridge League.

Awards and Honors

• In 2004, she was honored with the Blackwood Award and inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame.
• In 1980, she received the Charles H. Goren Award, which is given to the "Personality of the Year" in bridge.

Major Wins

• World Women's Pairs (1): 1986
• North American Bridge Championships (6):
  • Women's Board-a-Match Teams (1): 1990
  • Women's Knockout Teams (1): 1987
  • Women's Swiss Teams (1): 1991
  • Life Master Women's Pairs (1): 1972
  • Women's Pairs (2): 1971, 2004
• United States Bridge Championships (1):
  • Women's Team Trials (1): 1992

Notable Second Places

• North American Bridge Championships (3):
  • Mixed Board-a-Match Teams (1): 1996
  • Women's Knockout Teams (1): 1991
  • Women's Swiss Teams (1): 2001
• United States Bridge Championships (3):
  • Women's Team Trials (3): 1988, 1995, 2004
• Other:
  • IOC Grand Prix Women's Teams (1): 2002

See also

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists
• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States