The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Fourth District Appellate Justice Lisa Holder White to fill the seat of Justice Rita Garman, who announced on Monday that she would retire.
Holder White, whose term will be effective July 8 through December 2, 2024, will be the first Black woman to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court.
“Being appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court is the honor of a lifetime,” Holder White stated in a press announcement.
“I am humbled by the confidence Justice Rita B. Garman and the entire Court have placed in me. My service to the judiciary for the past 21 years has helped prepare me for this historic moment. I look forward to the privilege of resolving matters my fellow citizens bring before the Court.”
Holder White, a Republican from Sangamon County, began her career as a Macon County assistant state’s attorney before going into private practice while also serving as an assistant public defender for Macon County.
In 2001, Holder White was sworn in as an associate judge in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, the first Black judge in the circuit.
In 2008, she became a circuit judge, having been appointed to the position by the Illinois Supreme Court to fill a retirement vacancy, and in 2010, was elected to the position.
Holder White was sworn in on Jan.14, 2013, as the first Black justice on the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District.
In 2014, she was elected to the Fourth District.
She had previously served on and chaired the Illinois Supreme Court Judicial Conference Committee on Education, which is charged with planning and providing continuing judicial education for Illinois judges.
She teaches at the bi-annual Education Conference, which all Illinois state court judges are required to attend, and previously served as an instructor for “New Judge School.”
In April 2013, Holder White was named "Woman of the Year" at the 2013 Women of Excellence Awards, hosted by the Decatur YMCA and United Way of Decatur and Mid-Illinois.
She has also been the recipient of a Lewis University Alumni Achievement Award, the Joe Slaw Civil Rights Award from the Decatur branch of the NAACP, the Illinois Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award, the University of Illinois College of Law Black Law Students Association's James Seaberry Award for Excellence, and the Illinois Judges Association Harold Sullivan Award.
Holder White is a member of the Decatur Bar Association, the Illinois Judges Association, the Central Illinois Women’s Bar Association, and the University of Illinois College of Law Leadership Project.
She previously served on the boards of the Decatur Public Schools Foundation, the Mid-Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Community Foundation of Macon County, and Millikin University.
She earned her bachelor of arts degree, magna cum laude, from Lewis University, and her juris doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law.
ISBA evaluation
Holder White was not subject to the Illinois State Bar Association’s evaluations released this week, as she would not have stood for retention.
In 2014, the last election year in which her record was reviewed by the ISBA evaluators found her opinions well-reasoned, and they described her as well prepared and hard working.
They found she participated regularly in her community, engaged her profession as teacher and mentor, and was respected by peers and the community.
They scored her at 93.1 percent for meeting requirements of the job, far above the 65 percent score necessary to find a candidate highly qualified.
They scored her above 93 percent in every category, from a low of 93.1 for legal ability to a high of 99 percent for health.
The only other appellate court candidate, Michael Burke of the Second District, scored 89.9 percent on meeting requirements of office.
Burke now holds a seat on the Supreme Court by appointment and will run for a full term this November.
Among 60 circuit court candidates in 2014, ten scored higher than Holder White and 50 scored lower.
She left a mark on St. Clair County in 2016, concurring in a decision that circuit judges could choose between standing for retention and running for election.
The decision cleared former chief judge John Baricevic, late circuit judge Robert LeChien, and current circuit judge Robert Haida to run for their own vacancies.
Haida and LeChien won, and Baricevic lost.