Soror first AA female TN General Sessions judge

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This was mentioned on our IHQ website.
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http://www.tennessean.com/government...nt_ID=41915202

Juvenile Court referee named judge
By ANNE PAINE
Staff Writer

She will be first African-American woman in spot

Andrei Ellen Lee will be the first African-American woman to take the post of General Sessions judge here.

Lee, senior referee for Metro Juvenile Court, was chosen by the Metro Council last night in a close 22-17 vote to fill out the remaining term of the previous judge.

''I promise I'm going to be fair and just,'' Lee said.

The first and only other African-American to serve as a General Sessions judge was Adolpho A. Birch, now a Tennessee Supreme Court justice.

Lee won out over Dianne Turner, an attorney in private practice, after an earlier vote failed to provide a winner.

Two candidates, Lynda F. Jones and Rosemary Ducklo Sexton, had withdrawn from the race before last night's election, leaving six candidates. Daniel B. Eisenstein, who had received the highest rating of any candidate from Nashville Bar Association members, took three votes in the first round. Neither Lee nor Turner had the 20 votes needed that round to win, with Lee gaining 19 and Turner 18.

Councilman David Briley, who nominated Lee, said her experience in Juvenile Court and previously as a public defender were among the assets that made her right for the job.

Lee's supporters in the packed audience included state House Speaker Pro Tem Lois DeBerry of Memphis and state Rep. Tommie F. Brown of Chattanooga.

In addition to a variety of civil, criminal and other cases, the General Sessions Court, Division II, handles the county's mental health docket. Judge Mark Fishburn, who originated the Mental Health Court in 2000, had vacated the seat to become a Criminal Court judge.

Lee said she would be running in the February Democratic primary for the seat, which will be filled for a full term in a general election in August.