Amalya Lyle Kearse (born June 11, 1937) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a world-class bridge player.
Education and legal career
Kearse was born in Vauxhall, New Jersey. Her parents were physician Myra Lyle Smith Kearse of Lynchburg, Virginia, and postmaster Robert Freeman Kearse; her maternal grandparents were schoolteachers Clara Roberta Alexander Smith and Theodore Parker Smith. She attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. A philosophy major and 1959 graduate of Wellesley College with a Bachelor of Arts degree, she was the only black woman in her law school class at the University of Michigan Law School. She was an editor of the law review and graduated with a Juris Doctor cum laude in 1962. She entered private practice in New York City and rose to become a partner in the respected Wall Street firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed. She was an adjunct lecturer at New York University Law School from 1968 to 1969.
Federal judicial service
Kearse was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on May 3, 1979, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 19, 1979, and received her commission on June 21, 1979. At the time, she was the first woman and only the second black person (after Thurgood Marshall) on the court. She assumed senior status on June 11, 2002.
Kearse was the author of the 1984 decision McCray v. Abrams, a case in which she developed a test that made it much harder for jurors to be struck because of their race. The Supreme Court would develop a test similar to Kearse's in Batson v. Kentucky.
Supreme Court shortlist
In 1981, Kearse became the first African-American woman to be shortlisted for an appointment as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; President Ronald Reagan eventually nominated Sandra Day O'Connor for the position instead.
Consideration for United States attorney general
In 1993, Kearse was considered by President Bill Clinton for appointment as United States Attorney General; the job eventually went to Janet Reno.
Bridge career
Kearse is also known as a world-class bridge player. In 1986, playing with longtime partner Jacqui Mitchell, she won the World Women Pairs Championship, which earned her the title of World Bridge Federation World Life Master. She is also a seven-time U.S. national champion of the game.
Honors
ACBL Hall of Fame, Blackwood Award 2004
Awards
Charles H. Goren Award (Personality of the Year) 1980
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
Runners-up
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 notable 2nd places: IOC Grand Prix Women's Teams (1) 2002
Publications
See also
Bill Clinton Supreme Court candidates
T. Parker Smith her grandfather a pioneer in African American post secondary education. List of African-American federal judges List of African-American jurists List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States List of United States federal judges by longevity of service