Judge Henry Green Jr. to retire from Kansas Court of Appeals
TOPEKA—Court of Appeals Judge Henry Green Jr. will retire March 3 after 32 years on the bench, making him the longest-serving judge on the court to date.
A native of Leavenworth, he was appointed to the court in 1993 after a career in private practice in his hometown and working for the federal bankruptcy court in Kansas.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the court, and it has been a very gratifying and a humbling experience for me,” Green said. “It was gratifying because as a judge, you must reflect often on whether you have allowed any prejudices, biases, or value judgments to creep into your thinking which may cloud your decision-making process.”
Chief Judge Karen Arnold-Burger said the court will miss having Green’s intellect.
“Although we all wish Judge Green the best in his retirement, selfishly we wish he would stay,” she said. “His wealth of experience, his calm demeanor, and his astute legal intellect will be greatly missed. He has always been willing to listen to opposing viewpoints and find common ground.”
Green earned bachelor’s degrees in history and political science from Kansas State University. Only two years into his college career, his father died in an automobile accident. He wanted to return home to help his mother, but she made him stay in school and finish his education.
After graduation, she told him to keep going, so he enrolled at the University of Kansas School of Law. In law school he was a research assistant and vice president of his third-year class. It was also there that he met his wife, Shirley.
After law school, the couple move to Leavenworth where Green set up his law practice from the front porch of the family home. He was the first Black attorney to open a law office in Leavenworth since the late 1930s.
The practice outgrew the porch, so he rented an office. When that space became too small, he and a law partner purchased a building where Green spent 12 years in private practice before joining the Court of Appeals.
Green said he didn’t keep statistics about his time on the bench, but judicial branch staff estimate he was involved in writing more than 10,000 decisions.
“I never kept track, I just enjoyed writing the decisions and getting them out in a timely fashion,” he said.
A slew of those decisions came shortly after Green joined the court. In 1993, Kansas started using sentencing guidelines based on crime severity and a defendant’s criminal history.
These replaced indeterminate sentencing rules that had been in effect since 1903 and modified in 1957 and 1969. The rules gave judges a range of sentencing options and the authority to base decisions on several factors.
“When the state added the sentencing guidelines, we had all kinds of appeals because defendants were challenging the guidelines,” he said. “Before we could do anything good and solid, we had to get these cases to the Supreme Court so they could set some precedents.”
Green said the Court of Appeals handled a high volume of appeals in the years following adoption of the guidelines, with 1,523 filed in 1996 and 1,687 in 1997.
“We had a 10-member court at the time, which meant each judge was writing more than 100 decisions a year,” he said.
Working through those cases affirmed he shared a core belief with fellow judges: equality before the law.
“One’s status in society, rich or poor, should not determine one’s rights,” he said. “The law should apply to everyone equally.”
He said he enjoyed working with his fellow judges because they agreed on that point.
“We had that same view,” he said. “When you do, it’s so easy to work together.”
Green has volunteered for many local and national causes, including as pro bono counsel for the Buffalo Soldier Monument at Fort Leavenworth. He has been active in the Leavenworth Kiwanis Club, Sunflower Baptist Church, NAACP, Riverfront Community Center Steering Committee, Neighborhood House, and the Admirals Club.
Green said he also enjoys speaking to students about civics and plans to continue doing so in his retirement.
“I like working with young people, going to the schools and talking to them about civics, the three branches of government, what we do as the judicial branch, and why it’s important,” he said. “I talk about the importance of the rule of law in our democracy.”
Green is a member of the American Bar Association, the Kansas Bar Association,
and is a past president of the Leavenworth County Bar Association, which awarded him their Smiling Bull Award in 2011. He was named an alumni Fellow of the Kansas State University College of Arts and Sciences 2011.
He and his wife have two children, Monica and Malcolm.
Court of Appeals appointment process
By law, the governor appoints judges to the Kansas Court of Appeals, subject to a majority confirmation by the Kansas Senate. The governor has 60 days from the date the position becomes vacant to make the appointment, although the appointment process can begin immediately.
Once the appointment is made, and the judge is sworn into office, the incumbent must stand for a retention vote in the first general election after serving one year in office. Once retained, the judge serves a four-year term.
A Court of Appeals judge must be at least 30 years old and have been a Kansas lawyer, judge, or full-time teacher at an accredited law school for at least 10 years.
Governor Laura Kelly’s office announced last week the Court of Appeals Nominating Commission will accept applications to fill the vacancy until 5 p.m. Monday, January 6. Interested individuals are encouraged to contact JudicialApplications@ks.gov for application materials.
