The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE MARY MULLARKEY
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HON. DIANA DeGETTE
of colorado
in the house of representatives
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Ms. DeGETTE. Madam Speaker, I rise today, along with Congressman Ed Perlmutter, Congressman Jason Crow, and Congressman Joe Neguse, to recognize the life and achievements of former Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court Mary Mullarkey, who passed away on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
Mary's journey is a familiar Colorado story. She was born and raised elsewhere, in Wisconsin. While there, she graduated from St. Norbert College before earning her law degree at Harvard University in 1968. After law school, Mary traveled to Washington, D.C. in order to work for the Department of the Interior in the agency's equal employment opportunity division. Not only did she find the beginning of what would become a lengthy and distinguished career in public service, but she also found the love of her life, Tom Korson. By 1973, the two had married and moved to Denver for what was supposed to be a brief
``adventure,'' not to exceed two years. However, as the story so often goes, they fell in love with Colorado and thankfully decided to make our state a permanent home for themselves and eventually for their son Andrew.
As many Coloradans have reflected in the wake of her passing, Mary--
or ``the Chief,'' as she was affectionately known by her former law clerks--was a remarkable woman with a brilliant legal career. She advised Governors, ran her own law firm, served as our state's Solicitor General and led the appellate division in the Colorado Attorney General's Office before her appointment to the Colorado Supreme Court in 1987. Mary served on the court for 23 years.
Mary's legacy while serving on this esteemed bench is unmatched. She was nominated by her colleagues to be the court's first woman Chief Justice in 1998. She served in this capacity for 12 years, and she is the court's longest serving chief justice. During her time on the Court, Coloradans benefited from her fair and thoughtful decisions. She authored more than 470 opinions, including her most memorable case, which was a 2002 decision granting land access to descendants of Mexican homesteaders in the San Luis Valley after decades of dispute.
Beyond the courtroom, her reputation as a trailblazer and a tireless advocate continued. During her tenure, she accomplished the amazing feat of building a new home for the judiciary, the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, named for the state's Republican governor who opposed the use of internment camps for Japanese individuals during World War II. She also expanded access to the courts by hiring professional interpreters to break down language barriers for those who sought the court's protection. To that same end, she added more jurists to resolve more cases and insisted that childcare be provided in courthouses so that parents could more easily access the court system.
When Mary was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, she faced that challenge the way she approached life in general--with determination, grit, and resolve. My husband Lino and I are honored, along with so many others, to call her a friend and role model.
Truly, the light that Mary cast over once hidden spaces within the state's judiciary, over those parents and individuals who sought the court's haven, and over those Coloradans who get up and work hard every day despite living with a debilitating disease--that light will shine as strongly and brilliantly as Mary Mullarkey did for many, many years to come. Our heartfelt condolences go out to her family, in particular to Tom, Mary's husband of 49 years, as well as to their son Andrew, and to all the friends, colleagues, and Coloradans who mourn her loss.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 70
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