HM&B Remembers Judge Marcia G. Cooke

HM&B remembers Marcia G. Cooke, Florida’s first Black female federal judge. A graduate of Georgetown University and Wayne State University’s College of Law, Cooke began her career defending indigent clients as a Legal Aid attorney and then as a public defender. She spent 15 years as an attorney and later a US magistrate judge in Michigan before moving to Miami in 1992. Here she served in several roles – as director of professional development in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Executive Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District, chief inspector general for the Executive Office of former Governor Jeb Bush and assistant attorney for Miami-Dade County. Cooke was nominated to the federal bench and confirmed by the US Senate in May of 2004. Judge Cooke is renowned for presiding over many high-profile cases. But we remember her best as a friend of our adopted Brownsville Middle School where she graciously “presided” over mock trials in our Law Academy Lab and showed herself as an inspiring example of Black excellence. We will miss her presence in the judicial system and personally as an esteemed colleague. Rest In Peace, Judge Cooke.