SALEM, Ore. (AP) — An African-American has been appointed, for the first time, to the Oregon Supreme Court.
Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday announced the appointment of Adrienne C. Nelson, a trial judge in Multnomah County, to the high court.
In an interview with Portland Monthly magazine, Nelson said when she moved to Oregon in 1994, people were honest about the fact that there’s not a lot of diversity in the state. Nelson said the conversation of race is so uncomfortable that people decide not to deal with it. Then she added: “We all have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.”
Nelson fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Jack L. Landau. The appointment is effective immediately.