Alumni Spotlight: Justice Vaino Hassan Spencer

Justice Vaino Hassan Spencer earned her AA degree from LACC in 1949 and graduated from Southwestern University School of Law in 1952. In 1980, she was the first African American woman appointed to a judgeship in California and became a fierce champion of more opportunities for women and people of color in the workforce. Spencer was a trailblazer at a time when women and people of color made few inroads at the highest levels of the legal profession in California and the nation. She was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1961 and served as a Superior Court judge and on the Court of Appeals before retiring in 2007. She co-founded a major women’s law organization still in existence today: National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ). On October 25,  2016, Spencer died in her home in Los  Angeles.

Credit to LA Times