46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

HONORING PETRA JIMENEZ MAES AS THE NATION'S FIRST HISPANIC WOMAN CHIEF JUSTICE OF A STATE SUPREME COURT.

WHEREAS, Petra Jimenez Maes was sworn in as chief justice of the New Mexico supreme court on January 10, 2003, becoming the nation's first Hispanic woman to serve as a state supreme court chief justice; and

WHEREAS, she worked her way through college and law school and was one of the first two Hispanic women to graduate from the university of New Mexico school of law in 1973; and

WHEREAS, after working in private practice until 1975, she went on to work for northern New Mexico legal services and was appointed to the first judicial district court in 1981; and

WHEREAS, as a single parent who raised her four children after her husband's death in 1983, she holds children's issues particularly important and, as a state district judge in Santa Fe, she established a family court; and

WHEREAS, she is the third woman to serve on the state supreme court and the second female chief justice;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that congratulations be extended to Petra Jimenez Maes, an outstanding New Mexican; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to Chief Justice Maes.