Women of the Year: Chief Justice Debra Todd always knew she would practice law

Debra Todd is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote.

Debra Todd has always known she would practice law.

As the daughter of a Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp. steelworker and a homemaker, the Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, native was a first-generation college student whose parents insisted she pursue higher education.

“There was never any question in their minds that I would go on to have a career,” Todd said.

At 12 years old, she worked as a file clerk for a husband-and-wife law firm owned by her neighbors.

“When I stepped into that law office, I just fell in love with the law,” Todd said. “I thought, ‘this is it.’”

In 2022, decades after that foundational summer, Todd made history as the first woman to become chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in the court’s 300-year history, following the death of Chief Justice Max Baer. She was formally installed in January 2023.

Before becoming the court’s top-ranking jurist, Todd, a Democrat, was elected to the high court in 2007. She’s a University of Pittsburgh Law School graduate who worked as a lawyer for 18 years before joining the state Superior Court in 1999, including five years as a litigator for U.S. Steel.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What is your proudest moment?

A: My proudest professional moment is certainly becoming the first female chief justice in Pennsylvania for a court that is over 300 years old. It was truly the pinnacle for me.

From a personal standpoint, adopting our daughter was the high point of my life. Our daughter was in an orphanage in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and we adopted her when she was three years old. Raising my daughter and having that experience fortified the faith in God I already had. I think it’s just a miracle to meet a child so perfect for you on the other side of the world.

Q: Who is your most influential mentor?

A: I have had a lot of legal mentors, but my primary mentors were my parents. They never had the opportunity to have an education, and for a steelworker to recognize that his three daughters had talent … both of our parents encouraged our academic and creative abilities … there was just never any question that we were going to succeed, because they told us we were.

Q: How have you overcome adversity?

A: I’m an optimist, so I don’t identify very much adversity that I’ve faced. Certainly, I came through the legal profession during a time when it was not all that common for women to be lawyers. Now, over half of our law schools are women and there have been so many trailblazers. I never felt discouraged. I guess if in the early days of my career someone looked at me differently because I was a young woman, I just decided I would prove them wrong.

Q: What have been the most challenging aspects of your career?

A: Becoming a judge in Pennsylvania is a challenge because judges are elected, so I went from private practice to the political world. You have to navigate the political system when you're not a politician, you’re a lawyer. You don’t have experience campaigning. We got on the road, rented a white minivan, put signs on the side of it and just went off campaigning. Somehow, it all worked out!

Q: What are the most rewarding aspects of your career?

A: Former Chief Justice Max Baer, who passed away in September 2022, used to say this is the greatest job in the world, because where else do you get to go to work every day and just do the right thing? That is a truly rewarding part of being a judge. Obviously, my guide is the Constitution and the laws of Pennsylvania, but I bring my conscience and background with me, too, and I truly try every day to do the right thing.

Q: Do you have any mantras?

A: I pray a lot. I try to keep myself pumped up, because there are discouraging days or days where things don't go your way. You have to tell yourself it’s not about you, it’s about the people you’re serving. You just put one foot in front of the other and do the best you can.

Q: What legacy do you hope to leave?

A: What I’d like to be remembered for other than court opinions are the initiatives we’ve taken to help people. I’m extremely proud of our Veterans Court program, and we expand it every year. We also have an Elder Justice program that I was fortunate to be at the helm of when we started. In 2010, we formed an Elder Law Task Force and a year and a half later we put out a report with 130 recommendations on how to improve older Pennsylvanians’ lives. We’re helping a lot of older Pennsylvanians that were not getting this kind of help before.

I’ve always had a special interest in protecting children, too. Children are our most vulnerable citizens and they’re at the mercy of adults. Child abuse is still rampant, particularly child sexual abuse is still an issue that’s just not talked about as much as it should be. I try to increase awareness of the problem. One op-ed I wrote a few years ago was called “Calling All Mothers” trying to get moms to pay attention to who they are leaving their children with.

A recurrent scenario I’ve seen in my years on the bench is a young mother working two jobs trying to support her family. She leaves her child in the care of a boyfriend ― most of the cases I’ve seen are a live-in boyfriend ― who is supposed to be taking care of the children, and then years later we find out, tragically, that he’s been sexually abusing the child. It happens to little boys and little girls. My “Calling All Mothers” message is designed to tell mothers who obviously love their children to be more prudent and never leave their child with someone they don’t trust completely and have reason to trust. The message goes out to anyone involved in a child's life to just speak up. That’s an issue I care deeply about.

I’m also working with two other history-making women on this issue. In 2023, three women became heads of branches of government in Pennsylvania. I was elevated to chief justice, state Sen. Kim Ward was elevated to Senate president pro tempore and Joanna McClinton was elevated to speaker of the Pennsylvania House. So, the three of us had two branches of government. In March, we’re going to do public ads, speeches and a small speaking tour to try to educate the public about child abuse and how to prevent it.

Q: What advice would you give your younger self?

A: Don't worry so much.

Q: What is your definition of courage?

A: Standing tall and making the right decision even when the public is against you, or the legislative/executive branch is against you. You cannot, as a judge, make decisions based on public opinion or popularity. It's standing up for what you know is right.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Women of the Year: Chief Justice Debra Todd first female lead jurist for PA