Parson appoints Robin Ransom, first Black woman to serve on Missouri Supreme Court

For the first time in history, a Black woman will serve on the Missouri Supreme Court.

Gov. Mike Parson on Monday announced his appointment of Judge Robin Ransom to the vacancy on the bench left by Laura Denvir Stith, who retired in March.

The appointment elevates Ransom from the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, where she was named by Parson in 2019.

Ransom, 54, a St. Louis native, was prior to that a judge on the St. Louis Circuit Court. In 2018 her peers elected her the court’s first African American woman to be presiding judge, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“It’s not lost on me, the historic nature of this appointment,” she said at a late afternoon press conference with Parson and her family in attendance.

She also previously served as a St. Louis family court commissioner and worked as an attorney in both the public defender’s and prosecuting attorney’s offices in St. Louis County. She holds a law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law.

“I am confident that she will continue to be a fair enforcer of the law,” Parson said.

He made the selection just days after the Appellate Judicial Commission announced its nominees for the seat. The commission interviewed 25 candidates. The other nominees were Springfield court of appeals judge Donald E. Burrell, Jr. and St. Louis Circuit Court judge William M. Corrigan, Jr.

State Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove, a Kansas City Democrat and chair of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, applauded the appointment in a statement but said it was overdue.

“We are pleased to see Black women finally represented on our highest court with the appointment of Judge Robin Ransom,” Bland Manlove. “Although this is a historic day, the fact that it took two centuries to happen highlights the continued need to address inequities in all aspects of Missouri’s judicial system.”

Ransom said her appointment won’t “cure all of the social ills and injustices that are out there,” but reflected on making history. She said she grew up in north St. Louis and her father, a fireman, lived in a segregated engine house.

“I’d also like to say that I have never lived by a label or by any identity that anyone’s tried to put upon me,” she said. “As a lawyer and as a judge, I’ve tried to be compassionate and show kindness and patience to those who have appeared in front of me.”

The decision came as the state faces a high-stakes lawsuit that will likely reach the Supreme Court over its refusal to implement a voter-approved Medicaid expansion plan.

On Monday morning, Parson suggested on KCMO Talk Radio that support for law enforcement was an important factor in his future Supreme Court picks. It followed his criticism of the decision by Mayor Quinton Lucas and the Kansas City Council to pass ordinances giving the city more say in how the state-controlled KCPD spends taxpayer money.

The move could result in a lawsuit against the city by the police commissioners, to whom state law gives “exclusive authority” over the police force.

“We’re going to pick three Supreme Court judges in the next four years,” Parson said on the radio station. “I’m going to make sure they hopefully understand how important law enforcement is to me and this state.”

He declined to elaborate on the comments Monday afternoon.

This story was originally published May 24, 2021 at 6:35 PM.