SANTA FE - New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Pamela Minzner, the state's first female chief justice, died Friday after a battle with cancer, the court said. She was 63.
Justice Minzner had been on the state's highest court since 1994, the second woman ever to serve on the five-member panel.
"Justice Minzner enjoyed unconditional respect and admiration from the legal community because she was hard working, articulate, and an excellent writer," Chief Justice Edward Chavez said in a statement.
Soft-spoken and unfailingly courteous on the bench, Justice Minzner asked incisive questions that cut to the heart of complicated legal issues in cases that were argued before the court.
Justice Minzner was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1994 to fill a vacancy and was elected to the seat in 2002 for an eight-year term. She served as chief justice in 1999-2000.
Justice Minzner received her law degree in 1968 from Harvard University, where she was one of just 22 women in a class of more than 500. It was "exciting to have the chance to be at the forefront of that era," she said in a 1999 interview.
