Advancing Kentucky: Justice Pamela Goodwine dedicates her life to making a difference in her community and the world

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 28, 2025) — When Pamela Goodwine was a teenager growing up in the inner city of Youngstown, Ohio, she had a dream of one day becoming a judge and serving as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

As part of a high school class project, she walked into the Mahoning County Courthouse to interview members of the legal profession and she noticed that no one looked like her. She wanted to make sure that younger generations had the opportunity to see diversity within the legal profession not only among legal secretaries and stenographers but also among lawyers, judges and justices.

“Justice Thurgood Marshall was the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and I told my parents that was something I wanted to do some day and I wanted to be the first to make a difference,” Goodwine said.

On Jan. 6, Justice Pamela Goodwine began her service as a justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court, becoming the first Black woman to achieve this position, the most recent highlight of Goodwine’s 25-year career in Kentucky's judiciary, with service at every level from district court to the Commonwealth’s highest court.

The road leading to the realization of her lifelong dream wasn’t an easy path. The journey was fraught with what seemed like insurmountable obstacles and sudden turns at every crucial moment. Despite the challenges, Goodwine’s story is one of fierce determination, meeting and surpassing challenges, and success. She never lost sight of her goal of making a difference in the world, proving nothing is impossible when you have big dreams and set high goals.

Goodwine was born into foster care and adopted by her foster parents when she was just three months old. Her dad taught her throughout her life that with hard work and determination, she could do and be anything that she wanted to do and be. Her parents emphasized that the one way out of the inner city was education.

Taking her parents’ advice to heart, Goodwine worked hard and became valedictorian of her high school class. She received a full four-year honors scholarship to her choice of any college in the country and she chose Carnegie Mellon University. Unfortunately, during the summer after her high school graduation, her dad was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She forfeited her scholarship to stay home and take care of him since he had forfeited his retirement to take care of her.

Out of the inner city and into the courtroom

“While taking care of my dad, I learned about a court stenography program at ITT Tech. I knew if I could complete that program, it would get me into the courtroom as my first step in the legal profession. My dad died in March 1979 and I completed the program in November 1979,” Goodwine said.

The day she graduated, Goodwine received a phone call about a court reporting firm that was opening in Lexington, and they invited her to interview.

“When I arrived, I was absolutely enamored by the beauty of the Bluegrass and Lexington,” she said. “I thought I had landed my preliminary dream job as a freelance court reporter.”

Goodwine was only 19-years-old when she moved to Lexington from Youngstown to begin her first job in the law profession. She loved Lexington so much that she made Lexington her home. It was here that she chose to make a difference.

She first set foot in the courtroom and the legal profession as a roving reporter throughout the Commonwealth, but her eye was always on the bench. She never lost sight of her goal of becoming a judge and ultimately a justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court.

But about six months into her career, life took another unexpected turn.

“My mother was murdered in Youngstown, and I was now faced with dealing with the criminal justice system from a victim’s standpoint,” Goodwine said. “I didn’t like what I saw or how things were handled there so I thought this was how I could make a difference in pursuing my career here in Lexington.”

When Goodwine realized she was going to stay in Lexington, she enrolled at the University of Kentucky in 1980.

“I discovered UK was a wonderful university and law school with a great reputation, so it was everything I was looking for and needed to pursue my career,” she said.

Shortly after her mother was killed, Goodwine became so gravely ill that she needed to change jobs. The travel associated with being an itinerant court reporter was taking a toll on her health, so she got a job at the Fayette County Courthouse as court reporter for the criminal division. By this time, she was diagnosed with advanced stage Crohn’s disease and hospitalized. She had to drop out of college which further delayed her career path by four years.

“I was told I would likely not survive and if I did survive, I would likely not work again, but I was determined and I maintained I would become a justice on the Supreme Court one day,” Goodwine said.

Goodwine persevered through her illness and extensive rehabilitation and re-enrolled at UK in the Fall of 1987. In 1991 — 11 years after she first started her college career at UK — she graduated from the Gatton College of Business and Economics. She immediately enrolled in UK’s J. David Rosenberg College of Law at the age of 31, alongside much younger students, and graduated in three years with her Juris Doctor degree in 1994.

The tragic loss of her mother and serious, life-threatening health issues could have easily derailed her plans and discouraged her, but no matter what the circumstances, she says she never gave up on her dream.

“I don’t give up on my dreams when life gets hard,” Goodwine said. “I simply work harder to make my dreams come true.”

Trailblazer

“When I graduated from law school, I thought I was going to be a prosecutor because of my mother’s murder. I wanted to bring criminals to justice, and I wanted that to be my pathway to the bench but there were no openings in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office at the time,” Goodwine said.

In 1994 Goodwine was hired by the law firm Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs and practiced civil litigation, with a cconcentration on labor and employment litigation. She was assigned to the southeastern United States. She was the only African American working in their office at the time and in her position serving on the firm’s personnel committee, she interviewed other Black job candidates across the nation to let them know what opportunities were available to them in large law firms like Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs.

“I loved making a difference while I was in private practice, being able to solve problems and address issues, but I never lost sight of my dream. I was 19 when I came to Kentucky and I tell young people all the time, when you have a goal or you have a dream, keep it in your focus and make sure everything that you do will further that goal. I never wavered. I never wanted to do anything else,” Goodwine said.

In 1999, a vacancy on the Fayette County District Court bench became available and Gov. Paul Patton was going to make an appointment. Goodwine applied and was appointed, becoming the first Black woman to serve on the bench in Fayette County.

Goodwine says that when she became a judge, it was everything she thought it would be. She describes her courtroom as the “people’s court.”

“Over the course of my career, I developed a commitment to approaching each case with dedication to the rule of law. I went on to become Trial Judge of the Year when I was on the Circuit Court bench, and I think it’s because I wanted everyone to feel like they had a voice and that they were heard when they came into my courtroom.”

After serving the remainder of her predecessor’s unexpired term, Goodwine ran her first countywide race and was successful, marking another milestone as she became the first Black woman to be elected to the bench in Fayette County.

“It would take another 20 years before another African American woman was elected to the Fayette County bench, but now there are three, other than me, and 11 women total serving on the bench in Fayette County,” she said. “That’s phenomenal and many have called me a trailblazer and that’s something that I’m proud of.

“The election of a Black woman to the Kentucky Supreme Court is a historic milestone,” Goodwine added. “It highlights the progress we have made while also serving as a reminder that we still have work to do. It underscores the importance of diversity in the judiciary not only to reflect the communities we serve, but also to ensure a variety of perspectives on our highest court. I am also the first woman and only the fifth person in history to serve at all levels of the judiciary in Kentucky.”

Accolades

Before her appointment to the bench, Goodwine chaired the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights and served as a commissioner for the agency. Her career has been marked by numerous accolades, including induction into the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics Alumni Hall of Fame in 2000 and recognition as the Fayette County Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer in 2001. She received the Henry V. Pennington Trial Judge of the Year Award from the Kentucky Justice Association in 2012 and presided over Fayette County Specialty Court from 2011 until her election to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 2018. That same year, she was honored with both the Women Making History Award from the Kentucky Commission on Women and the Carl Brashear Walking by Faith Award from the Carter G. Woodson Academy. In 2020 the Kentucky Gazette named her one of the state’s Notable Women in Politics and Government, and in 2022 she was recognized as Woman of the Year by the Fayette County Bar Association Women Lawyers Association. This year she received the Justice William McAnulty Award from the Kentucky Supreme Court, further cementing her legacy of service and leadership in the legal profession.

What you may not know about Justice Pamela Goodwine

Goodwine has been a certified Jazzercise fitness instructor since 2012. Fitness isn’t her only love. She is a self-described “die-hard sports fan” and says she and her husband both love football, basketball, baseball, tennis and just about any other sport you can name, especially during the playoffs or championships.

Goodwine received her Master of Laws degree from Duke University but says she still bleeds (Kentucky) blue no matter what.

“As long as Duke isn’t playing UK or Louisville, I root for Duke but if Duke and UK are playing, it’s UK all the way. I wear both hats but not at the same time.”