The Next Wave

• Author: Cheryl V. Jackson
• Pages: 9-10

Opening

Statements

EDITED BY LIANE JACKSON

LIANE.JACKSON@AMERICANBAR.ORG

PHOTO BY REGINALD DUNCAN/CRANIUM LLC

APRIL 2019 ABA JOURNAL || 9

The Next Wave

JUSTICE SYSTEM HELMED BY BLACK

WOMEN SERVES COMMUNITY

THERE EXISTS, in a suburb outside Atlanta,

a criminal jus tice system almost entirely

helmed by black women. In South Fulton,

Georgia, a t own of 100,000 incorporated in

2017 , Ti a ny Carter Sellers was appointed

chief judge , followed by t he hirings of solici-

tor LaDawn Jones , public defender Viveca

Famber-Powell , cour t administrator Lakesiya

Cofi eld , chief court clerk Ramona Howard ,

court clerks Ti any Kinslow and Kerry

Stephens, and interim police Chief Sheila

Rogers. (South Fulton recently hired a blac k

male police chief.)

Having black women account for the

entirety of the municipal cou rt sta wasn’t

intentional, says Judge Sellers, a tria l attor-

ney who was appointed by the mayor and

approved by the city council to a four-yea r

term.

“It happened very organically b ecause we

all were hired in a di  erent manner,” she says.

“Regardless of our rac e and gender, we all

“THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS

TO REINTEGRATE

PEOPLE BACK INTO OUR

COMMUNITY. WE WANT

PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS.”

—TIFFANY CARTER SELLER S