Background
Kearse, Amalya Lyle was born on June 11, 1937 in Vauxhall, New Jersey, United States. Daughter of Robert Freeman and Myra Lyle (Smith) Kearse.
Kearse, Amalya Lyle was born on June 11, 1937 in Vauxhall, New Jersey, United States. Daughter of Robert Freeman and Myra Lyle (Smith) Kearse.
She attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. She was an editor of the law review and graduated cum laude in 1962.
A philosophy major and 1959 graduate of Wellesley College, she was the only black woman in her law school class at the University of Michigan Law School. She was an adjunct lecturer at New York University Law School from 1968 to 1969. Appointed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, she was the first woman and only the second black person (after Thurgood Marshall) on the court.
In 1992, she was considered by President Bill Clinton for appointment as United States Attorney General. The job eventually went to Janet Reno. On June 11, 2002, she took senior status.
Kearse is also known as a world-class bridge player. Honors Wins Runners-up North American Bridge Championships (3) Mixed Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1996 Women's Knockout Teams (1) 1991 Women's Swiss Teams (1) 2001 United States Bridge Championships (3) Women's Team Trials (3) 1988, 1995, 2004 Other notable 2nd places: IOC Grand Prix Women's Teams (1) 2002.
ACBL Hall of Fame, Blackwood Award 2004 Charles H. Goren Award (Personality of the Year) 1980 World Women's Pairs (1) 1986 North American Bridge Championships (6) Women's Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1990 Women's Knockout Teams (1) 1987 Women's Swiss Teams (1) 1991 Life Master Women's Pairs (1) 1972 Women's Pairs (2) 1971, 2004 United States Bridge Championships (1)Women's Team Trials (1) 1992.
Board of directors National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Endl. Fund, 1977-1979; board directors National Urban League, 1978-1979. Trustee New York City Young Women’s Christian Association, 1976-1979, American Contract Bridge League National Laws Commission, since 1975.
Member President's Committee on Selection of Federal Judicial Officers, 1977-1978. Member American Bar Association, Association of Bar of City of New York, American Law Institute, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (member Executive Committee 1970-1979).
