Florence Allen, American Federal Judge

Florence Ellinwood Allen (March 23, 1884 - September 12, 1966) was a Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Early in her career she did volunteer work with the local Legal Aid Society. The belief that women should be treated as equals under the law as a result of her struggles to be taken seriously as an attorney. She became interested in politics, and more committed to the cause of women's rights. She was active in the Women's Suffrage Party and began challenging local laws that limited women's participation in the political process. Allen was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and received her commission in 1934. She was the first woman to serve on a state supreme court and one of the first two women to serve as a United States federal judge. A pacifist, Allen was an opponent of war and argued that the only way to avoid war was to outlaw it. War must be made outlaw it and declare it a crime. She called for the establishment of an international court that have jurisdiction over purely international disputes and that international law should be codified on the basis of equity and right. In declining health after falling and breaking her hip, Allen died in 1966, at the age of 82. In 2005, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Bain News Service, undated

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12697434

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47703622

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LOC/Science Source/Mary Evans