Georgia gets distinct, and controversial, voice as chief justice

Indeed, some say the GOP realized firsthand the risks of going too aggressively after a member of the judiciary. "There's no doubt that conservative groups can overplay their hand, as liberal groups can," says political scholar David O'Brien, author of a book about the US Supreme Court called "Storm Center."

But others say it's not as simple as the voters reacting to too much politics in judicial elections. In fact, solidarity among blacks probably also played a role.

"To a degree that nobody realized, [the judicial race] really energized black voters," says Tom Baxter, a political columnist at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Sears seems to have had a particular impact on those voters."

Ever cognizant of the subtle messages that judges can send, Sears says that since her election she has gone out of her way to promote her impartiality. She did it last week as only a reporter (which she was for a year in the 1970s in Columbus, Ga.) knows how: by miffing both sides.

Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Sears critic, didn't attend her jubilant inauguration, claiming prior engagements. Neither did some of Atlanta's most stalwart civil rights promoters - normally among her biggest allies. The reason: Sears had a guest who is considered a nemesis to many civil rights proponents: Supreme Court Justice Thomas, a longtime friend.

"The point I'm trying to make is that you can be a friend with somebody that you don't agree with on all counts, that there is a need for civil discourse in this country, that we need to stop labeling people that we don't agree with as evil, simply because we do not agree with them," she says.

Sears has long been a subject of controversy. She faced vigorous opposition in all three statewide judicial elections she ran in. She admits that the Deep South "has been hard on me from time to time," but confesses to feeling "emotional" when she returns from a plane trip to see the gold dome of the capitol building in Atlanta shimmering in the Dixie sun.

Her route through the judiciary has included many firsts. Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young appointed her to her first judgeship, on a local traffic court, in 1982. She was 27. She later won an election to become the state's first black female superior court judge. In 1982, Zell Miller, then governor, made her the first woman on the Georgia Supreme Court. She took over as chief justice based on her seniority.

"I felt like God's hand was on my shoulder each little milestone," she says. "You don't know where you're headed, you don't know what the point is, and it seems so painful until you know that it was all in preparation for this."

Sears has never lacked interest in the law. While still in grade school, she ordered catalogs from elite law schools. Her daughter, Brennan Sears-Collins, is named after the late US Supreme Court Justice William Brennan.

Last Tuesday, while getting her robes ready for her swearing-in, the realization of her latest achievement finally hit her. "It's a miracle," she whispered over and over to a friend who had called her to pray.

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