Beyond The Bench: Former Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears On A Life Of Breaking Barriers

Behind the bench in Georgia's Supreme Court, there is an
inscription on the wall. It reads "Fiat justitia ruat caelum". It's
Latin for "Let justice be done, though the heavens may fall." While
Georgia was one of the last states at the time to establish its
high court — in 1846 — there have been many firsts since. That
includes electing the first African-American woman as a Chief
Justice, anywhere in the country, in 2005. The Honorable Leah Ward
Sears broke a number of other precedents in her climb to the
state's highest judicial title, and did not stop there. The
now-retired Chief Justice joined On Second Thought to reflect on
why she pursued a career in the law, the steep climb from lawyer to
judge to the Georgia Supreme Court, and life after stepping down
from the bench.