NEWS RELEASE

The National Center for State Courts
300 Newport Avenue · Williamsburg, Virginia  23185

Contact:
Lorri Montgomery
Communications Manager
The National Center for State Courts
757.259.1525

Retired Chief Justice Ellen Ash Peters
 Inducted into Warren E. Burger Society

Williamsburg, VA (Oct. 31, 2002) – The National Center for State Courts recently inducted retired Chief Justice Ellen Ash Peters of Connecticut into the Warren E. Burger Society. The Burger Society honors individuals who have demonstrated the highest commitment to improving the administration of justice through extraordinary contributions of service and support to the National Center for State Courts.

Chief Justice of the United States William H. Rehnquist and Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye of New York Unified Courts, chair of The National Center’s Board of Directors and president of the Conference of Chief Justices, recently inducted Chief Justice Peters and other new members into the Burger Society at a luncheon in Washington, D.C.

Chief Justice Peters holds the distinction of being the first women president of the Conference of Chief Justices. She’s also a former chair of The National Center’s Board of Directors. In 1996, Chief Justice Peters was presented the Distinguished Service Award by The National Center.

Inductees to the society are selected by a committee, which is chaired by Texas attorney Charles M. Noteboom who commissioned the original portrait of Chief Justice Burger, which hangs in The National Center’s headquarters. Each new society member receives a limited edition print of the portrait, which is signed and numbered by the artist Fran Di Giacomo. Chief Justice Burger’s children own the first two prints and Chief Justice Rehnquist owns the last print, numbered 1986, the year Chief Justice Burger retired and Chief Justice Rehnquist took office.

The National Center for State Courts, which was founded in part by Chief Justice Burger in 1971, is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice through providing leadership and service to the state courts. The National Center carries out this mission through its offices in Williamsburg, Washington, D.C. and Denver, Colo., which provide research, education, and hands-on consulting services to the nation’s state courts.

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