Honoring Judge Ramona Garrett '80
Last week, I had the pleasure of being Judge Ramona Garrett's guest at a dinner celebrating her career and honoring her with the first Annual Legal Trailblazers Award of the Solano County Bar Association.
Judge Garrett, UC Davis School of Law Class of 1980, is no less than inspiring and a groundbreaking figure. The first woman and the first African American judge in Solano County, Garrett attended segregated schools in Arkansas and was a first-generation college student. As a freshman at Santa Clara University, she had a newborn and lived through a very busy, and challenging life, as a college student and new mother. As an assistant district attorney in the Solano County District Attorney's office, Judge Garrett had a capital murder trial of a disabled Vietnam veteran who killed a Fairfield police officer, the first in the city's history. Tensions ran high in the community but Garrett and justice prevailed. Appointed as a judge in 1992, Judge Garrett served as a judge with distinction until 2015.
The dinner was filled with Judge Garrett's family, friends, colleagues, and local attorneys. It truly was a celebration. I had the honor of saying a few words about how Judge Garrett has blazed trails and overcome challenges. I mentioned one extraordinary characteristic of Judge Garrett that I find difficult to adequately describe. She holds herself with a quiet dignity that is no less than inspiring; it makes me wish I could be like her. I have only seen it in a couple of other people, but I think you would agree that they were extraordinary as well. Congressman John Lewis, who spoke at our commencement a few years back, and California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso had that quality. They make you feel that you are near a truly special person.
Judge Garrett offered a wonderful speech and specifically thanked UC Davis School of Law, expressing her love for the community that helped begin her career in the law.
It was a wonderful evening. I had the honor of sitting with Judge Garrett, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court Martin Jenkins (who attended Santa Clara with Judge Garrett) and Governor Newsom's Judicial Appointments Secretary Luis Cespedes. It was a celebratory evening that reminded me once again of the power of what our King Hall community strives for.