Trailblazer: Judge Anne Thompson

Anne E. Thompson, 84, was the first African American to serve as a federal district court judge from New Jersey.  She was nominated to the bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1979.

Thompson served as a public defender and Lawrence Township municipal prosecutor before Trenton Mayor Arthur Holland appointed her to serve as a municipal court judge in 1972.

She was the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for New Jersey from 1984 to 2001, when she went on senior status.