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First, she is the YWCA of Greater Toledo’s
Milestones awardee this year for government. Second, Federal
District Court Judge David Carr is about to retire to senior
status and Bell is applying for a presidential appointment
to replace him.
This is the 15th year of the YWCA
Milestones: A Tribute to Women awards ceremony. The purpose
of the awards is to honor women “who have demonstrated
leadership qualities and who, through their efforts and
accomplishments, opened doors for other women to achieve
milestones of their own” says the YWCA’s literature about
the event.
For Bell this achievement means joining the
ranks of others who have served as her role models.
“It’s a tremendous vote of confidence, an
honor bestowed by my sorors who nominated me and the YWCA,”
says the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority member.
This year Bell will join six other honorees
at the March 23 luncheon in accepting possibly as
prestigious an award as the area has to offer. The other
awardees are: Paula Brown – Arts; Betsy Brady – Business;
Mari Davies – Education; Dr. Anne Baker – Sciences; Deb
Ortiz-Flores – Social Services and Sandra Hylant –
Volunteerism.
In the meantime, Bell will continue her
pursuit of a federal judgeship although she admits she is at
a disadvantage given her past reluctance to promote herself.
Lots of candidates will be vying for a spot on the federal
bench including judges in the state courts with a good deal
more political contacts. While state court judges are
elected and federal judges are presidential appointments,
the president relies on elected officials to recommend
judges – as political a process as an election could ever
be.
If she does attain her goal, Bell would have
come full circle in her career – an appealing prospect
indeed.
A Toledo native, Bell moved to Los Angeles
shortly after earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
speech/rhetoric and communications from Bowling Green State
University – a Dean’s List student.
After eight years on the West Coast, Bell
applied to law schools there and also here in Toledo, making
the decision to return to Toledo for the support that her
family would provide while she was in school and raising a
young daughter.
Law school for Bell seemed an inevitable
result of her youthful gifts and concerns.
“My childhood honed my persuasive abilities
and skills,” she recalls. “And I always had a sense that
things could be fair and things should make sense.”
She did very well at The University of
Toledo’s College of Law – valedictorian of her 1986
graduating class. That success earned her a coveted
clerkship with her early mentor, Judge Richard McQuade, then
on the federal bench in the Western Division of the Northern
District of Ohio.
Bell clerked for McQuade for two years before
joining Shumaker, the largest law firm in northwest Ohio, as
an associate. She made partner after nine years and now
specializes in civil litigation, a practice that encompasses
commercial real estate, federal rights, civil rights and
employment issues, among others.
But after all these years with the law firm,
she reflects fondly on her early years in the federal
courthouse, where she made lifelong friends and the idea was
implanted in her that she would make an excellent judge at
some point.
“It was the best job I have ever had,” she
says. “The judge was, and is, a mentor and a friend – as
were the other judges. That experience gave me the
opportunity to advocate as he listened to me; my ability to
analyze was honed; it really helped me to learn to research
and write and to get an inside sense of how justice is
done.”
However, as Bell notes, since she has never
seen herself as a politician, running for the bench was
never a particularly appealing prospect. An appointment to
the bench, however, would be welcome … more than simply
welcomed.
The federal district court – the court Bell
calls “the people’s court” – provides an opportunity for a
judge to exercise both courage and discretion, she believes.
For although Bell loves the law because “the
law makes sense,” she also recognizes that there can be
exceptions on occasion. As a judge, “you have to be
courageous when necessary,” she says.
“If there is a change in circumstance that
brings a law into question or allows it to be adjusted
without losing the spirit of the law, that can be done at
the district court level.”
As a judge, Bell would also be an advocate
for greater transparency in the federal justice process,
bringing greater understanding of the process to all
citizens. Presently, federal courts, unlike most state
courts, do not allow cameras inside the courtroom. She would
argue for such openness as long as national security issues
were not at stake and as long as the rights of the parties
involved were protected.
In order to reach that goal, however, she
will have to work with a good amount of intensity to make
her case with those who have the president’s ear – elected
officials, unions and other interest groups. It’s a process
that involves not only the well connected but also the
everyday U.S. resident who takes the time to contact his or
her representative and senator and to call or write the
White House in support of Bell’s candidacy. Should enough
people advocate for her appointment, her long-shot chance
can become a reality.
“It would be a dream come true,” says Bell,
“to end my career in the same place I started.”
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