Justice Miller-Lerman retiring from Nebraska Supreme Court

The first woman ever appointed to the Nebraska Supreme Court is retiring.

Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman said in a letter to Gov. Jim Pillen she intends to retire Oct. 31, Pillen’s office said.

Miller-Lerman was appointed to the high court by then-Gov. Ben Nelson in 1998 and is the longest-serving member of the court. She wrote the opinion for a unanimous court allowing DNA testing for members of the Beatrice Six, who had been convicted for a 1985 rape and murder, but were subsequently exonerated.

Before the Supreme Court, Miller-Lerman was in private practice, and served on the Nebraska Court of Appeals. She earned her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College, and her law degree from Columbia University.

The Judicial Nominating Commission for the Second District, consisting of Douglas County, will now solicit names of potential nominees for Pillen to consider appointing.