Constance Slaughter-Harvey

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Constance Iona Slaughter-Harvey (born 1946) is an American judge who, in 1976, became the first Black woman to serve as a judge in Mississippi.

She was born in Forest, Mississippi, and graduated as valedictorian from Hawkins High School in 1963. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science and economics from Tougaloo College with honors. While in college, she met civil rights activist Medgar Evers, whose 1963 assassination inspired her to study law. She attended the University of Mississippi School of Law and became the first African-American woman to graduate from there in 1970.

At age 24, Slaughter-Harvey helped push to integrate the Mississippi State Highway Patrol. After graduating from law school in 1970, she sued the state for racial discrimination. In response, Mississippi added its first three Black state troopers: Walter Crosby, Lewis Younger, and R. O. Williams. Slaughter-Harvey said the Mississippi Highway Patrol had been used to oppress Black people, and she worked to change that. Her efforts opened doors for Black men to serve as state troopers across the country. She was so involved in the lawsuit that she missed her own law school graduation.

In 1976, she was appointed Scott County Court Judge, becoming the first Black woman to hold a judgeship in Mississippi. She also served on the Governor’s Minority Advisory Committee and as a Presidential Scholars Commissioner during the Jimmy Carter administration. Slaughter-Harvey is Catholic.