Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 2-4-22

Local
Supreme Court Contender Came Through Tampa On Way To Judgeship
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
Judge Julianna Michelle Childs, known professionally as J. Michelle Childs, is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, serving in that role since 2010. She previously served as a state circuit court judge based in Columbia, South Carolina.
“Judge Childs is among multiple individuals under consideration for the Supreme Court. And we are not going to move her nomi- nation on the Court of Ap- peals while the President is considering her for this va- cancy,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement.
Judge Childs has re- ceived high marks about her qualifications to be a Supreme Court Justice.
Before she settled in South Carolina, Judge Childs spent 4 years (1984- 1988) in Tampa as a student at the University of South Florida (USF).
It’s those years at USF that Dr. Samuel L. Wright, Sr., and Glenn Gilkey, two of the staffers at USF at the time who remem- ber the mild-mannered, easy-to-get-along-with stu- dent.
“She is among the great- ness that came out of USF, at that time,” Gilkey, a Coun- selor stated. Michelle, was
FYI
JUDGE J. MICHELLE CHILDS
a quiet, kind student who took well to instructions,” he stated. It was the caucus of African Americans on the campus at the time that in- stilled greatness in the stu- dents.
Gilkey, who currently resides in Georgia, said when he first heard the name for consideration, he mentioned to his wife, Sonja, that he recalled a Michelle Childs at USF. He later learned that she was the person.
Dr. Wright recalled Judge Childs competing for the Miss Florida pageant. “She was a bright, wonderful student and one of our Black Scholars,” he said. Dr. Wright also recalled that she pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority while at USF.
Judge Childs was born in Detroit. When she was a teen, her father, who was a police officer, died. Her
DR. SAMUEL L. WRIGHT, SR.
mother, a personnel man- ager for Michigan Bell Tele- phone, decided to move to Columbia, South Car- olina due to the rising crime in Detroit. Childs was in-
GLENN GILKEY
spired to pursue a legal ca- reer after participating in a mock trial program at the University of South Florida. She earned a Bache- lor of Arts degree in Man-
agement, cum laude, in 1988 from the University of South Florida and a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1991. Judge Childs also earned a Master of Arts degree in personnel and employment relations from the University of South Carolina School of Business in 1991. She received her L.L.M. in Judicial Studies from Duke University School of Law in 2016.
In 2010, she was ap- pointed by President Barack Obama to serve as a United States District Court Judge for the District of South Carolina.
Free COVID Testing And
Vaccinations In Memory Of
Minister James Hart, Jr.
At the request of Minister James Hart, Jr’s. wife, De- vara Sims-Hart, there will be free COVID-19 testing and vac- cinations available at his service on Saturday, February 5th, 2022.
Testing and vaccinations will available to the public from 10 a. m. till 12 noon at Allen Temple AME Church, 2101 Lowe St., Tampa, FL 33605.
The family is grateful to Health Matters Pharmacy (1702 N. 50th St, Tampa, FL 33619) and Nomi Health for providing tests and vaccinations for the public as a way for Mrs. Hart to honor her late husband.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 5-A