Workman to speak at Shepherd commencement

May 04, 2010

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Margaret Workman will address Shepherd University's class of 2010 at the school's May 15 commencement.

Workman also will receive an honorary doctorate from the university.

Workman became the first woman elected to the court in 1988 and the first woman elected to a statewide office. A native West Virginian, Workman received her law degree in 1974 from the West Virginia University College of Law.

Her father was a coal miner whose ancestors were among the first settlers of Boone County. Justice Workman attended Kanawha County public schools and was the first in her family to go to college.

After receiving her law degree, she served as assistant majority counsel to the U.S. Senate Public Works Committee, chaired by Sen. Jennings Randolph of West Virginia. She returned to West Virginia to work as a law clerk to the 13th Judicial Circuit. In 1976, she served as an advance person in the Carter presidential campaign and later worked on the campaign staff of U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller.

In 1981, Workman became the youngest circuit court judge in the state when then-Gov. Rockefeller appointed her to the Kanawha County Circuit Court. She ran successfully for the unexpired term in 1982 and the full term in 1984.

After her election to the Supreme Court in 1988, Workman served as chief justice in 1993 and 1997. In her capacity as chief justice, she fostered a close working relationship between the court system and domestic violence programs, and she visited many shelters to learn how the court system could be more effective in addressing domestic violence.

Workman created the Task Force on Gender Fairness in the Courts and the Task Force on the Future of the Judiciary. She formed the Broadwater Committee, which made reform in the court system's responses to children's issues, and spearheaded the development of rules governing child abuse and neglect cases.

Shepherd's commencement ceremony begins at 1:50 p.m. in the Butcher Center. Admission is by ticket only.

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