Amalya Lyle Kearse

Amalya Kearse
Amalya Kearse
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; June 11, 2002
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
	In office; June 21, 1979 – June 11, 2002
Appointed by	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	Reena Raggi
Personal details
Born	Amalya Lyle Kearse; June 11, 1937; Vauxhall, New Jersey, U.S.
Political party	Republican[1]
Education	Wellesley College (BA); University of Michigan (JD)

Amalya Lyle Kearse (born June 11, 1937)[2] 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4]

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.[2] She assumed senior status on June 11, 2002.[4]

In 1993, Kearse was considered by President Bill Clinton for appointment as United States Attorney General; the job eventually went to Janet Reno.

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.

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

— (1990). Bridge Convention Complete (Revised and Expanded ed.). Louisville, KY: Devyn Press, Inc. p. 1121. ISBN 0-910791-76-7.

"A LOOK AT POSSIBLE SUPREME COURT CANDIDATES : Amalya L. Kearse". Los Angeles Times. June 29, 1991.
Goldstein, Tom. "Amalya Lyle Kearse; Woman in the News", The New York Times, June 25, 1979.
Moses, Sibyl E. African American Women Writers in New Jersey, 1836-2000: A Biographical Dictionary and Bibliographic Guide. Rutgers University Press, 2003. p99
Amalya Lyle Kearse at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
"Induction by Year". Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
"Kearse, Amalya" Archived 2016-03-19 at the Wayback Machine. Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-21.

Legal offices
New seat	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 1979–2002	Succeeded by Reena Raggi

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