Chief Justice Sears to exit next year

Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, who became the nation’s first African-American woman to preside over a state Supreme Court, says she will leave the court at the end of June 2009.

“I’m interested in exploring another chapter in my life,” Sears, 53, said in a recent interview. “I want to see whatever else is out there.”

Sears will leave the court when her term as chief justice ends on June 30, 2009. Because her term as a justice ends Dec. 31, 2010, her resignation will allow Gov. Sonny Perdue to name her successor and reshape the state’s highest court.

In 2004, Perdue urged Georgia voters to unseat Sears in the non-partisan election. He threw his support behind her opponent, Grant Brantley, but Sears handily won re-election.

When asked about the prospect of Perdue picking her successor, Sears said she had no feelings about it.

“If a justice steps off the bench, the people of this state decided years ago that the governor, whoever that may be, will make the replacement,” she said. “I trust the governor will make a fitting replacement.”

Sears has served on the state Supreme Court since 1992, when Gov. Zell Miller appointed her as the first woman and youngest person ever to serve on the court. Before that, she was an Atlanta traffic court judge and then a Fulton County Superior Court judge.

Sears’ name recently has appeared on legal experts’ short lists as a possible nominee for a U.S. Supreme Court seat, if Sen. Barack Obama becomes the next president.

“I like being thought of, because that means I’m being well thought of,” she said, when asked about the possibility. “But those are bridges that will have to be crossed when we get to them, and those bridges aren’t even built yet.”

Sears said she has not decided what to do next, but listed a number of possibilities.

“I’d be interested in maybe going to a law firm … particularly if that included a law firm with a commitment to pro bono or social justice type of work,” she said. “That would be very appealing to me.”

Her ultimate ambition would be to head a well-regarded liberal arts college, she said. “That would be a joy, because I like working with young people,” she said.

Sears said when she leaves, she hopes her legacy will be educating Georgians on the importance of an independent judiciary.

Sears has described herself as a judicial moderate but her critics say she has long been one of the state Supreme Court’s most liberal members.

She said she is most proud of winning contested statewide elections to the state Supreme Court on three occasions.

“If this state can be the first state in the union to elect an African-American, female chief justice, this state is really something,” she said. “I love Georgia for that. I’m grateful to Georgia for that.”

Sears called her service on the state Supreme Court the most challenging and rewarding of her life.

“But I believe that if we stop challenging ourselves, life can become a rut,” she said.

Sears will leave Atlanta only if presented with an exceptional opportunity elsewhere. “Atlanta is my home, and I love Atlanta,” Sears said.

She noted that she and her husband, Haskell Sears Ward, have two plots waiting for them at Oakland Cemetery. “I’m going to end up here somehow,” she said.