Holder White is state high court’s 1st Black woman justice

By JOHN O’CONNOR
AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The first Black woman to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court has been sworn in. Lisa Holder white took the oath Thursday. The 54-year-old Decatur Republican had previously sat on the 4th District State Appellate Court. Holder White replaces the retiring Rita Garman. Garman is 78 and was the state’s longest-serving active judge. Holder White made remarks at the ceremony at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. She noted that she had recently seen one of the original copies of the Emancipation Proclamation. She said that despite her ancestors’ history as slaves, her receiving a spot on the high court indicates that women and people of color need not sell themselves short because “when we prepare ourselves, doors will open.”