First female member of Alabama Supreme Court dies at 85

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - The first female member of the Alabama Supreme Court has died.

A godson says Janie Shores died Wednesday. She was 85.

Shores worked as a legal secretary in Mobile before graduating from the University of Alabama law school. She practiced in Selma and worked on the legal staff of Liberty National Life Insurance Co. before entering politics.

Shores was first elected to the state Supreme Court in 1974 as a Democrat and served until her retirement in 1999. Then-President Bill Clinton once considered Shores for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Shores also was the first female professor at Samford University's Cumberland School of Law in suburban Birmingham. The Alabama Law Foundation awards a scholarship in Shores' honor to female law students.

Shores' survivors include daughter Laura Shores, an attorney.

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