any time he could rule against me he would.”
But this judge gave her inspiration once she realized, “I could be a
better judge than he was. That was the motivation for me running
for a Superior Court judgeship in DeKalb County.”
With help from friends who knew how to run a good campaign,
she was elected in 1984. She eventually applied to be named to the
Georgia Supreme Court. Then-Gov. Zell Miller appointed someone
else — a woman — and conventional wisdom was that two
women would not be appointed to the high court in a row.
But a friend encouraged her to apply again anyway, and Miller did
appoint her. When she got the call, she said, “There was just this
flood of emotion. I was just so grateful to have that opportunity. I
still call him my governor.”
All these women showed the acumen
and grit to succeed. And all say
Stetson has been an important part of
their story.
“
Without an excellent education,
with all the challenges academically
and professionally, where would I
be?” Hunstein said. “They were there
for me and they gave me the foundation
to become a good lawyer, a good
judge and really honor the law.”
Luke, the retired USDA attorney,
established a scholarship because she
received one in her third year at
Stetson Law that was crucial to
helping her finish school. She wanted
to make sure others would have the
same opportunity. The scholarship is
open to women and men.
Kovachevich has given back much to Stetson also, through an
extensive judicial internship program in the federal court.
Quince says that while she did not attend Stetson Law, “The law
school was and is important to me because it was a part of the
legal community that I was also a part of.”
“I don’t necessarily consider myself a pioneer,” she said, but she
strongly believes in the value of women and minorities having
the opportunity to succeed in areas once closed to them.
Therefore, she said in an email interview, “I take pride in the fact
that I was the first African American female to be appointed to
both a district court of appeal and the Florida Supreme Court. It
was also an honor and a privilege to be the first African American
female to head a Florida branch of government when I was the
chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.”
Yes, she said, these “firsts” were important to her. But what she
really hopes is for them to be an inspiration to others.
“I hope that young people will look on these accomplishments as
a chance to say ‘I can do this too and more’.”
That didn’t mean anyone would listen.
Luke said some law firms simply ignored her applications. One
lawyer asked how many children she intended to have. It took her
by surprise. All she managed to blurt out was, “I’m not even
engaged.”
When she realized the federal government was more equitable and
paid men and women the same, she applied. She was hired by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture and worked there for 34 years.
Kovachevich became a sole practitioner, and “I specialized in
anything that walked through the door.” She liked appearing in
court, although she adds, “I never in my wildest dreams ever
aspired to be a jurist.”
But after she was appointed by Florida
Gov. Claude Kirk to serve on the Board
of Regents, friends told her she should
run for office. She set her sights on a
circuit judgeship.
“There was not any support from the
local Bar, even though I was secretary
of the (St. Petersburg) Bar
Association… But here again when a
woman had the audacity to offer
herself for public service, wow, that
wasn’t acceptable.”
But Kovachevich was successful,
winning election as the first female
judge in Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit.
President Ronald Reagan appointed her
as a U.S. district judge in 1982. She is
now a senior judge in Florida’s Middle
District. After more than four decades
on the bench, she feels she has been exactly in the right place.
“I just had the feeling that this was what I was meant to do…
I have a firm religious belief in God and I felt that this is what God
wanted me to do. And I’ve tried to do it to the best of my ability,”
Kovachevich said.
Hunstein, who had managed to make it through law school as a
single parent, began her job search in Georgia. “I couldn’t get a job
searching titles. That’s true.”
But a program in Fulton County allowed attorneys to come to the
Atlanta jail on Mondays and be assigned misdemeanor cases,
which needed to be resolved by the end of the week. “After which
you would be paid $50,” she recalled.
“And that’s slowly how I built my practice.” She handled litigation,
criminal defense, domestic relations and more. “I loved being in
the courtroom,” she said.
She said she was generally treated well by fellow attorneys and by
juries, but sometimes found judges could be surprisingly condescending.
She remembers one in particular.
Eunice Luke
“He was absolutely horrible to me. He called me ‘little lady’ and
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Peggy Quince