Gabrielle Kirk McDonald facts for kids

Gabrielle Anne Kirk McDonald (born April 12, 1942) is an American lawyer and judge. She is known for her important work in both American and international law.

Until 2013, she served as an American arbitrator at the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague. This special court helps resolve disagreements between Iran and the United States.

Before that, she was a federal judge in Texas. She also served as a judge and later the president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). She was the first woman to lead this international court.

As a judge at the ICTY, she oversaw the trial of Duško Tadić. This was the first international war crimes trial since the Nuremberg Trials after World War II.

Early Life and Education

Growing Up in New York

Gabrielle McDonald was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on April 12, 1942. Her parents were Frances Retta Kirk and James G. Kirk Jr.

Her mother, Frances, had dreams of acting and writing. Her father worked for the Northern Pacific Railway. Her parents divorced when Gabrielle was young.

Frances Kirk then moved to New York with her two children. They lived in East Harlem, where Frances worked as a secretary. When Gabrielle was eight, they moved to Riverdale.

Standing Up to Prejudice

McDonald has shared stories about her mother's strong stance against prejudice. Her mother, who was fair-skinned, once faced a landlord who wanted to evict her. This was because he found out her children were African-American. Frances Kirk refused to leave.

McDonald learned from these experiences that it's important to speak up against unfairness. She realized that "you just don't sit back quietly . . . you say something."

High School and College Years

The family later moved to Teaneck, New Jersey. McDonald graduated from Teaneck High School in 1959. She was athletic and played field hockey. Her yearbook described her as one of the "nicest" and "most liked girls" in her class.

She attended Boston University from 1959 to 1961 and Hunter College from 1961 to 1963.

Becoming a Civil Rights Lawyer

In 1963, McDonald decided to become a civil rights lawyer. She enrolled at Howard University School of Law. During her time there, she earned a scholarship from the Ford Foundation.

She was also the Notes Editor for the Howard Law Journal. She graduated first in her class with a law degree. At that time, there were only 142 African-American women lawyers in the entire country.

Career Highlights

Fighting for Civil Rights

After law school, McDonald joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in New York. This organization works to protect civil rights.

For three years, she traveled to Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. She helped people with issues like school desegregation, equal employment, housing, and voting rights. She worked on some of the first cases that used Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law made discrimination illegal.

In 1967, she led a successful case against a large company. This company had a system that discriminated against workers. It was a big win under the new Civil Rights Act.

Private Law Practice

In 1969, she started a law practice in Houston, Texas, with her then-husband, Mark T. McDonald. They became known for taking on discrimination cases against big companies and unions.

In 1976, they won a major case for 400 Black workers. The workers received $1.2 million in back wages. A lawyer who often opposed her said she was "the best in the South." She was one of the few African-American lawyers who regularly appeared in federal courts in Texas in the early 1970s.

Teaching Law

In 1970, McDonald also began teaching law. She taught at Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. She taught courses like Federal Civil Procedure and Employment Discrimination Law.

She also lectured at the University of Texas School of Law and was a professor at St. Mary's University School of Law. After leaving the federal court, she returned to teaching. She taught Civil Procedure and other courses at St. Mary's and Thurgood Marshall School of Law.

Serving as a Federal Judge

On May 11, 1979, at age 37, Gabrielle McDonald became a judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. President Jimmy Carter nominated her for this position.

She was the first African-American person appointed to a federal court in Texas. She was also only the third African-American woman to become a federal judge in the United States. She served until August 1988.

During her time as a judge, she handled several important cases. In one case, a group tried to remove her because of her race. She refused, saying that her race would not stop her from being fair. She told the defendant, "You are not entitled to a judge of your choosing but one who will be fair. And I will do that."

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

In 1993, the United Nations decided to create a court to prosecute war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. This court was called the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

McDonald was chosen as one of the first eleven judges for the ICTY. She was the only American judge and one of only two women. She received the most votes from the United Nations General Assembly.

Setting Up the Tribunal

In late 1993, McDonald and her fellow judges began writing the rules for the Tribunal. These rules guided how trials would be conducted. In February 1994, the judges adopted these rules.

She first served as the main judge in Trial Chamber II. In this role, she led the historic trial of Duško Tadić. This was the first war crimes trial since the Nuremberg Trials after World War II.

The Tadić Trial

The Tadić case was the first trial for the ICTY. This meant the judges were creating new legal ground. McDonald said this allowed them to "use the law creatively." They had to decide many new issues, such as how to protect victims while ensuring a fair trial for the accused. They also set special rules for evidence from victims of serious harm.

The Tadić trial lasted almost a year. In May 1997, Tadić was found guilty of committing crimes against humanity and violating the laws or customs of war. The findings in this case were very important. They helped prove the policy of "ethnic cleansing" and set a precedent for future prosecutions.

Commentators noted that McDonald skillfully balanced her concern for victims with fairness to the defendants. She also oversaw other important cases and hearings at the Tribunal.

Leading the Tribunal

On May 20, 1997, McDonald was re-elected for a second term. On November 19, 1997, her fellow judges elected her as the president of the ICTY.

As president, she set several goals. She worked to get more courtrooms and more judges for the Tribunal. She also helped change the rules to make trials more efficient. She started a group to find ways to shorten trial lengths. She also promoted an "Outreach Programme" to explain the Tribunal's work to people in the former Yugoslavia.

The ICTY's Appeals Chamber also served as the Appeals Chamber for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). As president, she led the appeals for both courts.

When President McDonald left the Tribunal in 1999, she had guided it through a key period. She helped it become a fully working international criminal court. Her colleague, Antonio Cassese, described her as "straightforward, direct, intelligent and hard-working."

Iran-United States Claims Tribunal

In 2001, McDonald was asked to serve on another important court: the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. She was one of three American arbitrators.

This Tribunal, also in The Hague, was set up in 1981. It handles claims from American citizens seeking payment for property taken by the Iranian government. It also deals with claims between the two governments. McDonald was the only woman among the nine arbitrators.

Awards and Honors

Gabrielle McDonald has received many awards for her work. These include:

• The National Bar Association's Equal Justice and Ronald Brown International Law Awards.
• The American Society of International Law's Goler T. Butcher Award for Human Rights.
• The American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession's Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award.
• The Open Society Institute's first Women Groundbreakers in International Justice Award (2007).
• The 2008 Dorothy Height Lifetime Achievement Award.

She has also received honorary Doctor of Law degrees from several universities. These include Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Notre Dame, Howard University, Stetson College of Law, and Amherst College. In 1999, she received the Leadership Award from the Central Eastern European Law Initiative at the United States Supreme Court.

See also

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists
• List of first women lawyers and judges in Texas