FRANKFORT, Ky. — The future is female for Kentucky’s highest state court.
Four of the seven justices on Kentucky's Supreme Court will be women come Jan. 2025. It’s the first time in state history the Court will have more women than men. There will also be a female chief justice for the first time.
Fellow justices elected Debra Hembree Lambert as the seventh chief justice of Kentucky’s Supreme Court.
“I don’t think that the associate justices took my gender into their decision-making at all, but I am proud to have made that little historical note," Lambert said.
Lambert has served on the State Supreme Court since 2018 and will now serve a four-year term as chief justice.
“We are the state court of last resort, if you will, and that puts a lot of pressure on us to make sure our review has been thorough and people have received justice," Lambert said.
This Court will also be one of the most diverse. With the election of Pamela Goodwine, women will outnumber men for the first time on the court. Goodwine is also the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
“It was just 20 years ago we had our first female Supreme Court justice in Kentucky, so to move in just the period of 20 years to where we are now, I think it’s definite forward progress," said Guion Johnstone, University of Kentucky College of Law professor.
Johnstone said she hopes it's the beginning of other underrepresented groups on the Court gaining more representation.
“All of this representation really matters for women, whether it be a young girl in kindergarten or young female associate working in her first year at a law firm," Johnstone said. "Seeing other women succeed and rise to the highest levels of our profession is really inspiring."
Lambert said with her new title, Kentuckians can expect swift but just service. The court does not have a backlog of cases, and Lambert said she hopes to keep it that way.
“We know how important it is to not only be just and fair but to be timely," she said. "Time waiting on a decision from a judge is a very intense time for most individuals."
Lambert takes over for Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter, who is retiring. He was elected to that post in 2023. VanMeter is from the fifth appellate district, which Goodwine will now represent.