Victoria Kolakowski
| Victoria Kolakowski | |
| Current Court Information: | |
| Superior Court of Alameda County, California | |
| Title: | Judge |
| Service: | |
| Active: | 1/4/2011 - present |
| Candidate: | |
| Candidate for: | Superior Court of Alameda County, California |
| State: | California |
| Election information: | |
| Primary date: | June 8, 2010 |
| Primary vote: | 45.12%  |
| Election date: | November 2, 2010 |
| Election vote: | 50.2% |
Contents |
Victoria Kolakowski was elected as judge of the Alameda County Superior Court in 2010. Kolakowski was sworn in on January 4, 2011. [1] She is the first transgendered trial judge in the country. [2]
Education
Judge Kolakowski graduated from Louisiana State University law school. [3]
Professional career
Kolakowski served as an attorney for 21 years after passing the bar in Louisiana. The Louisiana State Bar Association initially refused Kolakowski the opportunity to take the bar exam, saying that she was not of sound mind, due to her self-identification as a transsexual. She had to appeal the decision to the Louisiana Supreme Court before she was permitted to take the exam. [4] Kolakowski spent the four years prior to her judicial election as an administrative law judge with the California Public Utilities Commission. [3]
Awards and associations
- Recipient of the Equality and Justice Award from Equality California, 2011 [5]
- Named Outstanding Woman of Berkeley by the Berkeley Commission on the Status of Women, 1995
- Named Woman of the Year by the East Bay Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club, 1994 [6]
Personal
Judge Kolakowski is married to Cynthia Laird, a news editor at the Bay Area Reporter. [3] She underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1991. [4]
2010 election
- Main article: California Superior Court judicial elections, 2010 (A-R)
Kolakowski won 45.12% of the vote in the primary. [7] In the general election she faced John Creighton and won with 50.2% of the vote. Kolakowski ran on a campaign of bringing greater diversity to the courts. [2]
External links
- Official Campaign website
- eVoter, Candidate Profile: Victoria S. Kolakowski
- Judge Kolakowski's Twitter feed
References
- ↑ The Bay Citizen "Nation's First Openly Transgender Trial Judge Sworn In", January 5, 2011
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Oakland Tribune "Kolakowski wins race for Alameda County Superior Court judge", November 3, 2010
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Oakland North "Victoria Kolakowski sworn in as first openly transgender US trial judge", January 5, 2011
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 NY Daily News "California elects nation's first openly transgender judge, Victoria Kolakowski", November 17, 2010
- ↑ Equality California, "EQCA San Francisco Awards a Huge Success", February 14, 2011
- ↑ AOL News:Surge Desk "Victoria Kolakowski: 5 Facts About America's First Transgender Superior Court Judge", January 5, 2011
- ↑ Alameda County Election Results, Superior Court Judge, Office 9
