Retired Judge Charlotte Cooksey enshrined in Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Today, retired Judge Charlotte Cooksey, District Court in Baltimore City, will be honored and enshrined in the 2023 Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame. She receives this honor for being recognized as a visionary and an innovator who worked to provide fair, efficient, and effective justice for all, including disenfranchised women and Marylanders suffering from mental illness who interfaced with the criminal justice system. A virtual recognition of Judge Cooksey along with her nomination can be found on the Maryland Commission for Women website. A small reception for the honorees and their invited guests will be held at the Government House of Maryland this evening.

“I’d like to thank the Commission, for selecting me for induction into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame,” said retired Judge Charlotte Cooksey via video. “It is an honor to be included with a remarkable group of women who will be recognized with me and those who have been recognized in past years. When I became a judge, I found that the judicial system is in a prime position to identify wide-scale community problems that impact the court system, other parts of the criminal justice system such as corrections and law enforcement, and often, the public mental health system; and even sometimes to be able to fashion a solution or improvement.”

“While serving the District Court, Judge Cooksey was on the cutting edge in recognizing how the courts play a pivotal role in supporting litigants of all backgrounds and conditions, whether before, during, or even after their interaction with the court system,” said District Court of Maryland Chief Judge John P. Morrissey. “Although our careers in service to the bench only intersected for a brief time within the Judiciary, it is clear that her impact to the District Court is lasting.”

Judge Cooksey was appointed to the District Court of Maryland, District 1, Baltimore City, in 1983 at the age of 35. She served as an associate judge on the District Court for 25 years, until she retired in 2008. Her last six years on the bench were spent as the presiding judge of Baltimore’s Mental Health Court, the first such court in Maryland – a problem-solving court that Judge Cooksey created. Read her full bio on the Maryland State Archives website.