The Kentucky Supreme Court’s first Black woman justice will be the keynote speaker at the Modernette Civic Club of Hopkinsville’s annual African American Heritage Breakfast on Saturday. Justice Pamela Goodwine, who has served on the commonwealth’s Supreme Court representing the 5th judicial district since 2024, will speak about her life and challenges she’s faced as she ascended to the highest level of the state’s judicial branch.
Goodwine said she intends to highlight her journey and use it as an example of how anyone can work to overcome obstacles in life to achieve their dreams.
Early Loss
A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Goodwine points to her own story of family tragedy at a young age, including health crises and murder, which appeared at times impossible to overcome, but she found ways to move forward.
After graduating high school, her father was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
“I forfeited my scholarship to stay home to take care of him, and he lived six months to the day as his prognosis. And I realized at that point that I was without a college scholarship, and so I had to find a job and a career to put myself through college, and I did that by attending ITT Tech and getting my degree in court stenography,” said Goodwine. “It is that job that brought me to Lexington to work as a court reporter… traveling all 120 counties in Kentucky.”
After settling in Lexington and enrolling at the University of Kentucky as an undergraduate in 1980, Goodwine said she got a call no one wants to receive.
“I had been here about six months when my mother was murdered back in Ohio,” she said. “I had to stop to go back to Ohio to bury my mother, and the tragedy surrounding her death, it wasn't a random act of violence. It was a family member who shot and killed her in what we believe was premeditated, but he pleaded mentally incompetent to stand trial. They never faced a day in court, and were committed to a mental institution for 90 days. He was released shortly after that 90 days, and he killed another family member, only to have the process repeat itself.”
She said the individual never served a jail sentence and died in his sleep while he was committed to a mental institution.
Goodwine said she tried to handle the loss of both parents by age 18 by working and being busy. But that is when her own medical issues began.
“Within a couple of years after my mother's death, I became deathly ill. And after three years of visiting numerous doctors, I was diagnosed with an advanced stage of Crohn's disease, and I did not have health insurance at the time,” she said. “I was told that I needed to have a life saving surgery, and without insurance I was having difficulty getting medical care because of. Ultimately, I was able to secure a grant with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, and ended up having the surgery. Rehabilitation was difficult. It took about 18 months. Now during this process, I had to drop out of school just because I couldn't attend classes, and I also had to go on unpaid medical leave from work, so I had no job, no income at all, and I'm facing this health challenge.”
Rebirth: A new career blossoms
Her job as a court stenographer was also phased out with the use of videotape in state court, so she was forced to find a new position. She found a new role as a legal secretary with a worker compensation judge, and with some encouragement, decided to go back to school and finish her degree.
“I actually walked from downtown Lexington to UK’s campus and met with [the dean of the] Gatton College of Business and asked him to allow me to enroll and that I would promise to get my undergraduate degree if it took the rest of my life,” she said. “In May 1991 I graduated with my undergraduate degree. Now mind you, it had been 11 years since I first enrolled, and so walking across that stage, getting my undergraduate degree was sort of a rebirth, if you will.”
"Now mind you, it had been 11 years since I first enrolled, and so walking across that stage, getting my undergraduate degree was sort of a rebirth, if you will.”
Goodwine graduated law school in 1994 at 34 years old. At the time, she was told that she would likely not be hired because she was older than most of her competition. She originally wanted to be a prosecutor, but with no openings in her Commonwealth’s Attorneys office, she interned at Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs – and was promoted to a full time position at the firm, where she stayed until accepting an appointment to the district court bench in 1999.
Goodwine’s judicial journey is rare: she’s one of only five Kentucky judges – and the first woman – to serve at every level of the state’s judiciary system, from the district, circuit, and appeals courts up to the Supreme Court. She said serving at each level helped prepare her for the next level of the judiciary.
“Each level came with added responsibilities. In addition to that, while I was serving on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, I went back to school…and obtained my Master of Laws degree in judicial studies,” she said. “Now that course taught by many distinguished federal jurists and a member of the United States Supreme Court, I obviously had to write a thesis as part of the curriculum…[it taught] me to handle multiple tasks at once, because I still maintained my full workload at the court of appeals and managed to get that work done as well.”
What does a Supreme Court Justice do?
Goodwine explained what her role looks like on the Commonwealth’s highest bench, which includes reviewing cases, as well as administrative duties.
“We review cases as a matter of right, and those cases involve any criminal matter in which a defendant was sentenced to 20 years or more, up to and including the death penalty. Those cases are assigned to the seven justices randomly. In addition to the criminal cases, we have the discretion to accept cases that were either appealed and the one side or the other was unhappy with what happened at the Court of Appeals… We also have original actions, which are writs of prohibition or writs of mandamus, where someone, a litigant, is seeking to have a judge ordered to do something,” Goodwine said.
“In addition to our court case assignments, the Supreme Court is also tasked with administrative duties. The Supreme Court administers the judicial branch of government, which includes not only the judges, but also the clerks in all 120 counties, the Kentucky Bar Association and we take care of all of those administrative procedures as well.”
Goodwine said being elected to Kentucky’s Supreme Court was a “45-year dream in the making.” Being the court’s first Black woman justice and the first woman to serve at all levels of Kentucky’s judiciary, she hopes her legacy can show others what is possible.
“I’m honored to have forged the path, not just for future lawyers and judges, but also for entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, medical professionals, and countless others. I want my legacy to be one of inspiration, motivation, determination and encouragement. And I want to be known as the trailblazer who inspired, motivated and encouraged everyone to work steadfastly toward achieving their goals.”
Justice Goodwine will be speaking at the Modernette Civic Club’s African American Heritage Breakfast on Saturday at 8 a.m. in the Bruce Convention Center in Hopkinsville.
Tickets for the Modernette breakfast can be purchased from club members or through Eventbrite.
