Inez Smith Reid

Inez Smith and her twin brother George Bundy Smith were born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 7, 1937, to Reverend Sidney R. Smith, Sr. and Beatrice Bundy, who was a teacher. They also had an older brother, Sidney R. Smith, Jr.. Reid's mother moved her children to Washington, D.C., in 1938 or 1939, when it was still segregated. The family was reunited with extended relatives, and they lived with their grandmother and great uncle in the Black community of Northeast DC. Reid recalled her upbringing in DC as defined by her nurturing community and revolving around church, school and family, with family at the center of everything. Though many of the Black communities in DC at the time were producing highly educated Black professionals, many could not find work because of the prevalence of racism. Many professionals that had received PhDs and Masters from prestigious universities would return to teach in segregated Black high schools such as Dunbar High School, Reid's alma mater. At Dunbar, Reid was surrounded with highly educated Black faculty and motivated students. She recalled that this created an electric culture where students were constantly reminded of those who achieved greatness before them despite the odds. Reid studied French beginning in elementary school and eventually became fluent, and took on Latin in high school as well. When she graduated from high school, Reid studied at Howard University and then Tufts University, where she was exposed for the first time to students from different racial, ethnic and geographical backgrounds. When she started at Tufts as a sophomore, her intention was not to become a lawyer but rather gain a well-rounded education. Reid and her twin, who was studying at Yale, were majorly influenced by the 1954 major historic moment in American history for educational equity, Brown v Board of Education. Reid and her brother traveled to the Supreme Court in September 1958 to watch a decision related to Brown v Board, in which a case in Arkansas had been climbing the courts to prevent integration of schools in Little Rock. The case of Aaron v Cooper went to the supreme court, and Reid and her brother were able to witness Thurgood Marshall’s argument and the historic decision that continued the implementation of Brown v Board in all states. Reid graduated magna cum laude from Tufts in 1962. Reid's brother George had been studying at Yale University, and in their senior years the twins applied to attend Yale Law School together. Although Judge Reid received a scholarship to New York University Law School, George encouraged his sister to join him at Yale and "make a way out of no way" despite the financial burden. Judge Reid and her brother would go on to become the only two Black students in their class at Yale Law School, and were often mistaken for janitors and or the school's clerical staff by their white classmates. Despite these negative experiences, Reid remembered her time at Yale positively, with great professors and courses and the opportunity to forge new relationships, such as with future Dartmouth College president James O. Freedman and with her roommate at Yale Marian Wright Edelman who founded the Children's Defense Fund. ==Career==

Teaching in Congo After graduating from Yale Law School without a job, Reid received a Ford Foundation Foreign Area Training Fellowship and enrolled in a master's degree program at UCLA, where she studied political science with a concentration in African studies. The following year, she accepted a position as a professor in Congo-Leopoldville at the Ecole Nationale de Droit et d'Administration. The opportunity was jointly funded by Yale Law School, the Ford Foundation and the Congolese government, and her role was to teach students studying to become magistrate judges. Reid taught her law students in French amidst the ongoing Congo Crisis. She worked alongside European professors and administrators who at times belittled her American education. In Africa, just like in the other places she lived and worked, Reid experienced racism and had to prove herself to those around her. She would go on to teach at Lehman College, Brooklyn College, Barnard College, the University of Virginia School of Law, the West Virginia University College of Law, American University, and the City University of New York at New Paltz. At Brooklyn College, she was an associate professor, and at American University she was a constitutional scholar and an adjunct professor in the Department of Government. In addition to law, Reid taught political science and African studies, and she published in the fields of constitutional law, African-American studies, African studies, and environmental law. D.C. Corporation Counsel When President Reagan was elected, Reid and her fellow Inspector Generals that served under the Carter Administration were all fired. In March 1981, Reid moved on to serve as chief of the Legislation and Opinion section in the office of what was then called the Corporation Counsel for the District of Columbia, which is now the Attorney General of the District of Columbia. This office had a staff of 100 lawyers which represented the city in civil litigation as well as a wide variety of misdemeanor prosecutions, more serious traffic charges, and juvenile cases. Reid was nominated as the new Corporation Counsel by Mayor Marion Barry on September 15, 1983, replacing her former boss Judith W. Rogers. Though Reid was considered a little known figure in Washington, her nomination was praised by Councilmember Wilhelmina J. Rolark (D-Ward 8), who was the head of the Council's Judiciary Committee at the time. Reid faced controversy in November 1983 when she promoted Laphalia Joyce Gause to a position as her executive assistant that would pay $43,000 per year after Reid cosigned a note for Gause to buy a $191,000 house. The National Law Journal reported in 2010 that Reid was the court's most prolific judge, issuing 85 written opinions over the course of four years. She was in the middle of the nine active judges on the court in terms of timing, as she averaged about 246 days per written opinion. Reid retired from active service on the appeals court on April 2, 2011. She served as a senior judge for six more years until her retirement on December 12, 2017. ==Honors and awards==

2011 Stars of the Bar Award Recipient from the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia Pro Bono Equal Rights Award from the Washington Committee of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc. Ollie May Cooper Award from the Washington Bar Association Emily Gregory Award, Barnard Teaching College Awards, 1976 2012 Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit from the Washington Bar Association Hero in Law 2008 Award at the Annual Olender Foundation Awards == See also ==