Court News: The 3Rs and more: Reading, Writing, Deliberating, Judging
Bret Crow | December 5, 2016

Thirty-one years, four courts, and two terms all add up to a distinguished public service career about to come to a close for Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger.
As the only person ever elected to all four levels of the Ohio judiciary, she will hang up her robe on Dec. 31 but not conclude her professional career.

"I'm exploring a few things," she said. "I might teach. Or do some writing. Some community work. Maybe even go back to practicing law. I'm not quite sure. But as I said, I don't think this is the end for me."

Her beginning in the law was unexpected. She grew up in a working-class family in Toledo and was the first in her family to go to college.

"I didn't even think I would ever be a lawyer because my background was in teaching before I became a law student," Justice Lanzinger said.

First elected to the Toledo Municipal Court, she went on to serve in the Lucas County Common Pleas Court and the Sixth District Court of Appeals. With her election in 2004 to the Supreme Court, she is in her second and final term after reaching the mandatory constitutional age limit for judges of 70.