A Guide to the Cynthia D. Kinser Papers, 1997-2014
A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Accession Number 51470
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Library of Virginia
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© 2015 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.
Processed by: Jim Greve
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Case Files are closed until 2045.
Use Restrictions
Case Files are closed until 2045.
Preferred Citation
Cynthia D. Kinser Papers, 1997-2014. Accession 51470. Personal Papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Cynthia D. Kinser, Pennington Gap.
Biographical Information
Cynthia Dinah (Fannon) Kinser was born in Pennington Gap, Lee County, Virginia on 20 December 1951. She attended the Unversity of Tennessee (B.A., 1974) and the University of Virginia (J.D., 1977). She served as a magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. She also engaged in private law practice and served as Commonwealth's Attorney for Lee County. Kinser was a bankruptcy trustee and clerked for Judge Glen M. Williams. On 2 May 1997, Kinser was appointed to the Supreme Court of Virginia by Governor George F. Allen to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Roscoe B. Stephenson. She began her service on 8 July 1997. On 30 January 1998, she was elected by the Virginia General Assembly to a 12-year term. On 31 August 2010, Justice Kinser was elected chief justice to succeed Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr. She served as chief justice until her retirement on 31 December 2014.
Scope and Content
Papers, 1997-2014, of Cynthia D. Kinser (b. 1951) of Pennington Gap, Lee County, Virginia, relating to her tenure as justice and chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. The collection includes case files, correspondence, subject files, and speeches. The case files are closed until 2045.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into the following series:
Series I. Case Files. Series II. Correspondence. Series III. Subject Files. Series IV. Speeches.Contents List
The case files include opinions, concurrences, and dissents written by Kinser. Some of the files also include draft concurrences or dissents that were not used. The case files are closed until 2045.
- Box 1-62
Case Files.
The correspondence contains mostly copies of outgoing letters. Subjects include acknowledgements, congratulations, appointments and elections, retirements, invitations, recommendations, thank yous, permissions for various individuals to be excused from attending mandatory judicial conferences, and letters concerning adding names of retiring judges to recall lists.
- Box 63
Folder 1-20
1997 - 2011 (May).
- Box 64
Folder 1-19
2011 (June) - 2012.
- Box 65
Folder 1-19
2013 - 2014 (July).
- Box 66
Folder 1-5
2014 (August-December).
The subject files include information on Kinser's appointment, investiture, and reappointment to the Court, interviews, and legislation and studies relating to the operation and procedures of Virginia's courts, such as appellate rules revisions, court technology, judicial boundary realignment and workload, payee notification, and rules of evidence.
- Box 66
Folder 6-8
Appellate Rules Revisions.
- Box 66
Folder n/a
Appellate Rules Revisions Advisory Committee Report.
- Box 66
Folder 9-11
Appointment, 1997 .
- Box 66
Folder 12
Appointment - Courts of Justice Committees, 1997 .
- Box 67
Folder 1
Carrico Outstanding Service Award - Chief Justice Hassell.
- Box 67
Folder 2
Chief Justice's Pro Bono Summit.
- Box 67
Folder 3
Court Technology - Kilgore/Kennedy.
- Box 67
Folder 4
Courts of Justice Committees.
- Box 67
Folder 5
DC-40 Form Processing - Wise County Circuit COurt.
- Box 67
Folder 6
Drug Court Information.
- Box 67
Folder 7
Election Day, 2012 .
- Box 67
Folder 8
Election of Chief Justice.
- Box 67
Folder 9
4-H Foundation.
- Box 67
Folder 10
Futures Commission.
- Box 67
Folder 11
Investiture and Thank You Letters, 1997 .
- Box 67
Folder 12
Invocation - Judicial Conference for District Court Judges, December 2011 .
- Box 67
Folder 13
John Marshall Foundation Advisory Council.
- Box 67
Folder 14
Judicial Conference of Virginia - Roanoke, 9-11 May 2011 .
- Box 67
Folder 15
Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission - "Hearing in Open Court".
- Box 67
Folder 16-17
Judicial Realignment Study, 2011 .
- Box 67
Folder 18
Judicial Workload Assessment.
- Box 67
Folder 19
Koontz Opinions Project.
- Box 67
Folder 20
Magistrate Judges.
- Box 67
Folder 21-22
Payee Notification.
- Box 68
Folder 1
Portrait.
- Box 68
Folder 203
Reappointment, 2010 .
- Box 68
Folder 4
Review of Virginia's System of Capital Punishment .
- Box 68
Folder 5
Richmond Free Press .
- Box 68
Folder 6-11
Rules of Evidence.
- Box 68
Folder 12
Supreme Court Historical Society.
- Box 68
Folder 13
Supreme Court Letter to Chief Justice Hassell.
- Box 68
Folder 14
Supreme Court of Virginia Historical Commission.
- Box 68
Folder 15
UVA Lawyer Interview.
- Box 69
Folder 1
Virginia Bar Association Interview, 2012 .
- Box 69
Folder 2
Virginia Legal Aid Society.
- Box 69
Folder 3
Virginia State Bar - Disciplinary Matters Website.
- Box 69
Folder 4
Weighted Caseload Study Committee.
- Box 69
Folder 5
Weighted Caseload Study Committee - Fairfax Bar Association.
Most of the speeches in the collection are post-2010. They were delivered at ceremonies and meetings of various bar associations, civic groups, and educational institutions. Topics include appellate review and decision-making, indigent criminal defense, court history, and ethics and professionalism. There are also copies of the State of the Judiciary Address. There are two groups of speeches. The first group are arranged chronologically. The second group are undated speeches, and are arranged alphabetically by topic.
- Box 69
Folder 6
Wise County Law Day Luncheon, 1 May 1998 .
- Box 69
Folder 7
Bristol VA Bar Association, 22 February 2000 .
- Box 69
Folder 8
Keokee High School, 22 January 2001 .
- Box 69
Folder 9
Legal Aid, November 2002 .
- Box 69
Folder 10
Bristol Bar Association, 26 May 2009 .
- Box 69
Folder 11
Appalachian School of Law, 17 August 2009 .
- Box 69
Folder 12
Christopher Newport University, 30 March 2010 .
- Box 69
Folder 13
Lee County Historical Society, November 2010 .
- Box 69
Folder 14
"Attaining Justice Within the Bounds of Appellate REview" - Jefferson Medal in Law, 2011 .
- Box 69
Folder 15
2011 Harry L. Carrico Outstanding Career Service Award.
- Box 69
Folder 16
2011 State of the Judiciary.
- Box 69
Folder 17
4-H Congress, Blacksburg, 20 June 2011 .
- Box 69
Folder 18
Virginia Circuit Court Clerk's Association, 17 September 2011 .
- Box 69
Folder 19
Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management, 19 September 2011 .
- Box 69
Folder 20
Roanoke Bar Association, 11 October 2011 .
- Box 69
Folder 21
2012 Harry L. Carrico Outstanding Career Service Award.
- Box 69
Folder 22
2012 State of the Judiciary.
- Box 69
Folder 23
Virginia Board of Bar Examiners, 11 January 2012 .
- Box 69
Folder 24
Mountain Empire Community College, 21 March 2012 .
- Box 69
Folder 25
Greater Peninsula Women's Bar Association, 4 April 2012 .
- Box 69
Folder 26
Virginia State Bar 20th Anniversary Conclave, 22-23 April 2012 .
- Box 69
Folder 27
Pro Bono Summit, 25 April 2012 .
- Box 69
Folder 28
Indigent Criminal Defense Advanced Skills for the Experienced Practioner, 4 May 2012 .
- Box 69
Folder 29
Virginia Bar Association Southwest Virginia CLE, 24 September 2012 .
- Box 69
Folder 30
Montgomery County Courthouse Dedication, 7 November 2012 .
- Box 70
Folder 1
2013 State of the Judiciary.
- Box 70
Folder 2
Recognition of Gregory E. Lucyk, Chief Staff Attorney, 27 February 2013 .
- Box 70
Folder 3
Magistrate Training, November 2013 .
- Box 70
Folder 4
2014 Harry L. Carrico Outstanding Career Service Award.
- Box 70
Folder 5
2014 Indigent Criminal Defense Seminar.
- Box 70
Folder 6
2014 Magistrate Training.
- Box 70
Folder 7
2014 State of the Judiciary.
- Box 70
Folder 8
Pro Bono Summit, 2 April 2014 .
- Box 70
Folder 9
Southeastern Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates Conference, 1-2 May 2014 .
- Box 70
Folder 10
Virginia State Bar 75th Anniversary, 4 June 2014 .
- Box 70
Folder 11
Recognition of Virginia LAw Foundation, 10 September 2014 .
- Box 70
Folder 12
Hassell Portrait Presentation, 28 October 2014 .
- Box 70
Folder 13
Virginia State Bar Bench-Bar Dinner, 1 November 2014 .
- Box 70
Folder 14
Admissions Ceremony, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 15
Appellate Advocacy, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 16
Appellate Judicial Decision-Making, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 17
Avoiding Mistakes That Will Sink Your Appeal, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 18
Citizenship, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 19
Comments on Judicial Decision-Making, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 20
Effective Writing Tips, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 21
Hassell Honor Tree Dedication, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 22
History of Court - Delta Kappa Gamma, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 23
History of Court - Lee County Chamber of Commerce, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 24
Incivility in the Legal Profession, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 25
Jury Duty Script, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 26
Legal Aid Award Luncheon, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 27
MECC Graduation, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 28
Making a Different World of the Legal Profession, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 29
Metro Richmond Women's Bar Association, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 30
Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 31
The Nuts and Bolts of a Successful Appeal to the the Supreme Court of Virginia: Avoiding the Pitfalls, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 32
Petition for Appeal and Oral Argument, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 33
Professionalism - "Listen to the Voices," n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 34
Public Confidence and Trust in the Judicial System, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 35
Relationship With Court, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 36
Recent Developments in Virginia Law Regarding Preservation of Error, Contemporaneous Objection Rule, and Assignments of Error, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 37
Review of Worker's Compensation Cases, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 38
Right of Privacy, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 39
Ten Things I Wish Every Lawyer Knew, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 40
Virginia Women Attorneys Association, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 41
Women in the Law: Our History and Our Future, n.d.
- Box 70
Folder 42
Worker's Compensation, n.d.