ABA to honor Chief Judge Melissa Pope as the first Native American recipient of the 2023 Judith S. Kaye Award
The American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence will award the Honorable Melissa L. Pope, chief judge for the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Tribal Court, the Judith S. Kaye Award for judicial excellence. She is the first Native American and first tribal judge who is a recipient of this award.
The annual award will be presented in a ceremony at the ABA Annual Meeting in Denver in August. The ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence created the Judith S. Kaye Award for Judicial Excellence in 2016 to recognize service by judicial officers who demonstrate knowledge of domestic and sexual violence and exemplary leadership developing courtroom responses to these issues. In honor of Judge Kaye's exemplary professional and personal contributions to the field of domestic and sexual violence law throughout her career, this award will recognize a judge each year that embodies her spirit and dedication.
What: Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence
Ceremony for Sharon L. Corbitt Award and Judith S. Kaye Award
When: Friday, August 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m. MST
Where: Hyatt Regency Denver
650 15th St.
Denver, Colorado
Melissa L. Pope is the chief judge of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Tribal Court. She has served and been reappointed in this role since 2011. She also served as an elected chief justice of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Court of Appeals since 2009. Since 2007, she has taught American Indian Law as an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Having worked in various assault prevention programs, she also represented clients as an attorney for the Women’s Survival Center of Oakland County. She was the first director of victim services at the Triangle Foundation, now Equality Michigan. She provided direct services to victims of anti-LGBTIQ violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and discrimination. She collected data and reported on the overwhelming level of violence experienced and the discrimination LGBTIQ victims faced in accessing the legal system, medical services and victim services. The experience furthered her commitment to the fundamental belief that equality for one community can only be achieved through the equality of all. Judge Pope has further utilized her knowledge, skills, and passion to build the court system in collaboration with Tribal Council, Tribal Elders, and Tribal Citizens to not only create a Victim Services Department, but integrate trauma-informed, victim-centered, traditional culturally honoring care into the very foundation of the NHBP Tribal Court.
To learn more about the awardee, click here.
