Gregory Kellam Scott, Coloradoâs first â and only â Black Supreme Court justice, dies at 72
Denver7
Posted at 6:40 PM, Apr 01, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-01 20:40:10-04
Gregory Kellam Scott, the only Black person to serve on the Colorado Supreme Court and a role model for the stateâs Black legal community, died unexpectedly Wednesday at his home in Anderson, Indiana. He was 72.
âHe was a giant,â Patty Powell, an adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, said Thursday.
Scott was sworn onto the court on Jan. 15, 1993, after being appointed by Gov. Roy Romer, and he served seven years, stepping down in 2000 to become vice president and general counsel of Kaiser-Hill LLC, a private company contracted to clean up Rocky Flats, the former nuclear weapons facility in the northwest Denver suburbs.
First Black Supreme Court justice in Colorado dies at 72
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First Black Supreme Court justice in Colorado dies at 72
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âTis a Privilege to Live in Coloradoâ was a slogan that once adorned a prominent building in downtown Denver, and many of us, whether a native or a transplant, would nod our heads in agreement with that sentiment. But while it is a privilege to live in Colorado, it is not always easy.
The Homestead Act opened up the lands of the West to private ownership in 1862. With good intentions, President Lincoln and the Actâs supporters envisioned that each new settler would receive a âquarter sectionâ of land. As Bernard DeVoto wrote in his introduction to âBeyond the Hundredth Meridian,â â160 acres were the ideal family-sized farm, the basis of a yeoman democracy, the buttress of our liberties, and the cornerstone of our economy.â But as DeVoto also observed â âWell, there isnât much rain out westâ â the challenges were inescapable from the beginning.