User:ValidWikiLuvr/Joan Bernard Armstrong

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Armstrong led the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals as the first black woman Chief Justice after almost twenty years on the court, elected in 1984 and ascending to Chief Justice in 2003. Armstrong was one of six black justices to be elected to the Orleans district court or court of appeal in the 1900s.

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In 1977, Armstrong and two other Orleans Juvenile Court Judges attended the National Council of Juvenile Court Judges and Associates 49th Annual Conference. She was also one of the city councilmen in attendance when New Orleans mayor Ernest N. Morial took the oath of office in 1978. Around this time, Armstrong also moderated a panel at one of Governor Edwin Edwards’ conferences regarding “juvenile justice.” In 1979, at a White House reception held by first lady Rosalyn Carter, Armstrong was honored along with other black women leaders.

In a crucial moment for her career, Armstrong chose to drop out of her Supreme Court race against Revius Ortique Jr. to care for her husband in 1992. Ortique would become the first black judge on the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Chief Justices of each Court of Appeal in Louisiana make up the Judicial Budgetary Control Board, giving Armstrong substantial control over the funding of the judiciary as approved by the legislature.