Georgia Supreme Court Names New Justice

ATLANTA — Judge Verda Colvin will be the newest justice on the Georgia Supreme Court.

Gov. Brian Kemp announced Colvin’s appointment Tuesday afternoon, naming her to replace Chief Justice Harold D. Melton, who will resign this month after 16 years with the Supreme Court.

"With Justice Colvin on the bench, Georgia's highest court is gaining an immensely talented and principled judge who will help guide it in the years to come," Kemp said in a statement.

Colvin comes to the Supreme Court from the Georgia Court of Appeals where she served just over a year.

Prior to that, she served for six years as the first African American woman Superior Court judge in the Macon Judicial Circuit, an appointment she received from former Gov. Nathan Deal.

Colvin’s legal career included prosecuting federal criminal cases as assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Georgia, serving as assistant district attorney in Clayton County, and assistant general counsel for Clark Atlanta University.

She is a graduate of Daniel McLaughlin Therrell High School in Atlanta who earned her bachelor’s degree in Government and Religion from Sweet Briar College in Virginia. Colvin went on to earn a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law.