City Council Awards Sixth Circuit Judge Bernice Donald the Spirit of Detroit Award

Pictured from left to right: Hon. Cynthia Diane Stephens (Michigan Court of Appeals ,First District), Briaunna Buckner, Esq. (Law Clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit), Hon. Bernice B. Donald (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit), Councilmember Fred Durhal III (Detroit City Council, 7th District), Alison Nelson, Esq. (Director DEI Strategies … Continued

City Council Awards Sixth Circuit Judge Bernice Donald the Spirit of Detroit Award

Pictured from left to right: Hon. Cynthia Diane Stephens (Michigan Court of Appeals ,First District), Briaunna Buckner, Esq. (Law Clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit), Hon. Bernice B. Donald (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit), Councilmember Fred Durhal III (Detroit City Council, 7th District), Alison Nelson, Esq. (Director DEI Strategies & Program Planning, Ford Motor Company)

Photo Courtesy of Councilmember Fred Durhal III

Earlier this month, Judge Bernice B. Donald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit visited the City of Detroit and was a recipient of a Testimonial Resolution and Spirit of Detroit Award from the Detroit City Council.

The Council presented the Testimonial Resolution and Spirit of Detroit Award to honor her lifelong judicial career, her achievement of being the First African American of many judicial appointments throughout the U.S., and her tireless work and advocacy for justice.

“Judge Donald has mentored several Detroit lawyers,” said Council member Fred Durhal II in a statement to the Michigan Chronicle. “She has spoken at law schools in Michigan, trained Detroit lawyers through the American Bar Association, and has worked collaboratively with many Detroit Judges on empowering young lawyers, increasing diversity, and decreasing implicit bias in the courts.”

In 2010, Judge Bernice B. Donald was nominated to the United States Court of appeals for the Sixth Circuit by President Barack Obama and renominated in 2011. In U.S. Senate final vote of 96-2, Judge Donald’s historic appointment was confirmed as the first female African American elected to serve as a judge on the Sixth Circuit.

Judge Donald has led the way for other firsts in her long, varied career. In 1982, she was elected to serve as the first female African American judge in the state of Tennessee. Six years later, she made history again after becoming the nation’s first female African American to be appointed as a bankruptcy judge.

Councilmember Fred Durhal III and the Detroit City Council decided to honor Judge Bernice Donald as she has taken senior status on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit since 20. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit covers Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. Her collective service on three different federal benches, span close to four decades, and many of the collective decisions she has made had directly impacted Detroiters.

Judge Donald has received over 100 awards for her professional, civic, and community activities for over four decades serving the bench. Among other accolades, she was awarded the American Bar Association (ABA) and the National Bar Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and in induction into the ABA’s “Hall of Feminism.”

She has lectured and trained judges around the world as an internationally recognized legal scholar, including leading a People-to-People delegation to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. Her engagement in international programs included trips tp Rome, Mexico, Turkey, Brazil, Morocco, Uganda, Kenya, and others.

Judge Donald is a graduate of the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphrey’s School of Law. She earned her master’s degree in Judicial Studies from Duke University and an honorary Doctorate in Law from Suffolk University.