Ernesto Scorsone is a notable LGBT advocate, American lawyer, politician and retired judge from Kentucky.
Early life and career
Ernesto Scorsone was born in Palermo, Italy, on February 15, 1952. His family immigrated to the United States in 1960.
Scorsone earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky in 1973 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1976. After a year of public defender work, he began private practice in Lexington in 1977.
Political career
A Democrat, Scorsone was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, 75th District, in 1984 and served for 12 years. In 1996, he was elected to the Kentucky Senate from the 13th District and re-elected without opposition in 2000 and 2004. He was the first openly gay member of the Kentucky General Assembly.
In 1998 Scorsone was the Democratic nominee for the open 6th district seat in the United States House of Representatives, but he lost the general election to Republican Ernie Fletcher by seven points (53%–46%). Fletcher would go on to be elected Governor.
In the legislature, Scorsone advocated for measures to protect the wellbeing of Kentuckians and to ensure equal treatment for all. Among his accomplishments while serving in the General Assembly:
Co-sponsored a bill to curb school bullying and helped secure Senate passage after years of legislative defeat, 2008 Spearheaded efforts to improve the quality of care in nursing homes, 2006 Championed legislation to reduce junk food and promote physical exercise in schools, 2005 Helped pass a tough telemarketing law, 2002 Helped toughen Kentucky's Hate Crime Law, 2000 Sponsored the School Safety Act, the Children's Health Care Act, the Financial Protection of the Elderly Act, the Custodial Rights Act and the New Crime Act, which mandated violent offenders serve 85% of their sentences, 1996 Secured funding in the state budget for a drug court program in Fayette County, 1996 Led advocacy for health care reform, sponsored legislation to guarantee minority representation on school superintendent selection committees, 1994 Was primary sponsor of Living Will legislation and a bill requiring insurance companies to cover screening mammograms, 1990 Chaired a task force that recommended creating Family Courts in Kentucky, 1988. Helped obtain state funding for Kentucky's first Family Court.
In November 2007 he was named to Governor-elect Steve Beshear's transition team.
His leadership on LGBT issues has been extensive and has marked much of his career. He led the legal battle to overturn Kentucky's sodomy statute and a successful legislative fight against a constitutional amendment to reinstate the law. Scorsone successfully worked to amend the state's penal code to include, the first time, a hate crime provision based on sexual orientation and helped organize the campaign for a fairness ordinance in Lexington to protect employment, housing and accommodation. He successfully petitioned and helped draft a gubernatorial executive order in 2003 protecting LGBT state employees from job discrimination.
Kentucky circuit court judge
On August 7, 2008, Governor Steve Beshear appointed Scorsone as Fayette Circuit Court Judge. In November of that year, he was elected to the post without opposition. Among other accomplishments as a circuit judge, he initiated a conciliation conference process to avoid home foreclosures in Fayette County.
In March 2016, the Kentucky Department of Health and Family Service's claim, as argued by Louisville attorney and general counsel to the Kentucky office of Kentucky's governor Matt Bevin, that the clinic was operating in unsanitary conditions and conducting abortions without an ambulance agreement, which both health inspection and an ambulance agreement are both required of all facilities that solely perform abortions. The defense attorney, Mr. Scott White, asserted that the EMW provides other necessary women's care that would classify the clinic as a general health facility, not an abortion clinic, including providing mammograms and other care.