‘I’ve always been Robin’: Ransom first Black woman to serve on Missouri Supreme Court

For Gov. Mike Parson, there was “no need to linger” when he received a slate of panelists to fill the first vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court during his tenure, created by the March retirement of Judge Laura Denvir Stith.

On May 24, at a press conference a mere three days after the Appellate Judicial Commission submitted a panel to Parson on the preceding Friday afternoon, the governor announced that he had selected Robin Ransom as the next Missouri Supreme Court judge.

“I am confident that she will continue to be a fair enforcer of the law, faithfully interpret the law as written and reasonably consider decisions made at the trial and appellate level,” he said.

As the first African American woman to serve on the high court, Ransom’s appointment is historic. She is only the third African American and fifth woman to join the court.

At the press conference, Ransom said she was “very honored, appreciative and humbled” by the appointment, and that its historic nature is not lost on her.

“As the daughter of a fireman who worked and lived in a segregated engine house when he worked for the fire department, this is a very happy day for my mom, myself and my entire family,” she said, adding that she was sorry her father did not live to see the day.

“While I may be the first African American woman to be part of this court, I’d also like to say that I’ve never lived by a label or any identity that anybody’s tried to put upon me,” she said. “When I look in the mirror, I’ve always been Robin, and I’ve always lived my life to be kind to everyone and to be the best person that I can be.”

Ransom, 53, comes to the Missouri Supreme Court from the Court of Appeals Eastern District. In January 2019, Parson elevated her to the intermediate appellate court from the St. Louis Circuit Court, where she was serving as the circuit’s first African American woman presiding judge.

Prior to becoming a circuit judge, she practiced in the St. Louis County Public Defender’s Office, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and in the St. Louis County Family Court. She was appointed family court commissioner for the St. Louis Circuit Court in 2002. She was appointed as circuit judge for the same circuit in 2008 by Gov. Matt Blunt.

“Judge Ransom brings years of experience to our bench, with a distinguished career in litigation, family courts and the trial bench before her appellate service,” Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice George W. Draper III said in a statement. “She also is a trailblazer, becoming the first woman of color ever to serve on our state’s high court. She is passionate about the law, and we welcome the energy, enthusiasm and experience she brings to our bench.”

At the press conference, Ransom said that as a lawyer and judge, she strived to show compassion, kindness and patience to those in front of her and to honor her oath to protect the constitution, and “to strictly construe it and to follow the laws as written.”

Also on the panel submitted to the governor were Bill Corrigan, 62, a former Armstrong Teasdale attorney and Missouri Bar president whom Parson appointed last year as a St. Louis County circuit judge, and Don E. Burrell Jr., 60, a long-time judge on the Court of Appeals Southern District. They were among 25 candidates the commission interviewed between May 19 and 21.

Parson praised the Appellate Judicial Commission for submitting a strong panel.

“There was no slam dunk in this thing at all,” he said. “This was a tough decision with really good candidates.”

He said his office had already thoroughly vetted Ransom when he elevated her to the Eastern District. Once he had heard she’d made the panel, “there was no need to linger” before announcing the pick, he said. He had up to 60 days to name Stith’s successor.

Panel praised

Both critics and defenders of the Nonpartisan Court Plan were buoyed by the panel and Parson’s handling of the appointment.

Prior to Ransom’s appointment, the last three panels submitted to Republican governors each had only one nominee with some kind of GOP credentials, which has prompted criticism of the plan.

In contrast, all three judges submitted to Parson were appointed to lower courts by Republican governors. The two runners-up had strong Republican credentials: In 2010, Corrigan ran as a Republican for St. Louis County executive, while Burrell was first elected to the bench as a Republican in Greene County.

Republican political consultant James Harris of the J. Harris Company in Jefferson City, a critic of the plan, congratulated the commission in a tweet “for sending [Parson] a reasonable panel for the Missouri Supreme Court.”

James R. Layton of Tueth Keeney in St. Louis, a former state solicitor general who practices before the high court, noted that Parson diverged from his two Republican predecessors, who were openly critical of the plan.

“The fact that Gov. Parson has made this and Court of Appeals decisions without making those attacks suggests that he recognizes that the plan has real value,” Layton said.

Former Missouri Supreme Court Judge Edward D. “Chip” Robertson Jr. of Bartimus Frickleton Robertson Rader said he was grateful that Parson didn’t put down the plan.

He said the plan is designed to appreciate the fact that elections have consequences.

“You hope the commissioners [see] that the purpose of the plan is to get the best judges available in the context of the current opening,” he said. “I think this commission has shown some substantial sensitivity to what I think the constitution intended the commission to be doing.”

Judicial record

In her time on Eastern District, Ransom has authored 28 opinions. In each of the cases, there was a unanimous vote, which is not uncommon for the immediate appeals courts.

In October 2019, Ransom sat as a special judge on the Missouri Supreme Court in the case of Gentry v. Orkin LLC, an employment law case which settled prior to the court issuing a decision. During oral arguments, she took an active role in questioning the parties.

During her interview with the commission, Ransom described a more conservative approach to interpreting the law.

While acknowledging that the Missouri Supreme Court may occasionally make decisions that uproot longstanding laws, she said she sees the mission of the court more as adhering to the law as it is written.

Layton said it’s too soon to glean from Ransom’s record how her judicial philosophy will steer her decision-making as a Supreme Court judge.

“We will find out,” he said.

Layton said he also thinks Ransom’s background as a trial judge will make a difference on the court. He said for the first time since the early 1990s, the majority of the judges on the court have had extensive trial judge experience.

“That will make the court a bit more sensitive to what has happened or needs to happen in trials, the practicality of what happens in trials, the demands that its decisions place on circuit judges and associate circuit judges, those kinds of things,” he said.

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