Riley reflects on three decades in legal field

Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Riley has more than 30 years of institutional knowledge on the appellate bench.

From her experiences in the legal field, Riley can remember when being a woman in law was not as commonplace or accepted as it is now.

She will be joining her longtime friend, Senior Judge Margret Robb, as an Indiana Court of Appeals senior judge after her last day on Aug. 16.

Robb said Riley is someone who marches to the beat of her own drum and will stand for what she believes in.

“She’s known what’s important to her, and I think it’s guided what she’s done,” Robb said.

Robb noted how Riley became a lawyer at a time when there weren’t a lot of women in the field.

“She’s tried to spend time providing that mentorship for people that she wasn’t lucky enough to have,” Robb said.

Riley has passed the torch to Judge Dana Kenworthy, the newest woman on the appellate bench.

Kenworthy said that when she first joined the court in January 2023, she wanted to soak up as much knowledge as possible from people with experience on the court.

“She’s been very kind and encouraging to me since I started,” Kenworthy said.

Kenworthy added that Riley has shared her stories of being the only female attorney in her small-town community.

“Those stories have been really interesting to me. The Chief Justice often says that ‘to be the robe, you need to see the robe.’ I think she’s clearly been that for a lot of little girls over the last 33 years between her time on the Court of Appeals and the trial bench,” Kenworthy said.

One story that stuck out to Kenworthy was Riley’s decision to go by Pat instead of Patricia because she got much better responses.

“She had to figure out what worked best for her in order to succeed in a profession that was largely male dominated at that time. I appreciate that she’s blazed the trail, and other female judges across the state have blazed a trail for those of us coming later who have had it easier than she has,” Kenworthy said.

Blazing a trail

Riley hails from Rensselaer, a small town with a population of 5,677 located in Jasper County.

She said she was surrounded by supportive people in her life like her father and teachers growing up.

When she learned about colonial history and said she wanted to be Thomas Jefferson, no one told her no.

“I could be Thomas Jefferson because I could live on a farm and grow things and invent things and just tell people what to do and give advice,” Riley said.

She earned her law degree from Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis in 1974.

“I didn’t have any offers, of course,” Riley said.

Riley traveled to Washington D.C. in hopes of finding a job but said it was a strange time.

She got a call from a friend about a lawyer looking to hire more women. Riley said there were only three of them on a staff of more than 60 people.

That is how she got started as a deputy prosecutor in Marion County.

In her second year with the prosecutor’s office, Riley became a supervisor of two criminal courts and had to approve every plea agreement.

“That was a really wonderful career boost and gave me a lot of confidence that’s carried me throughout my career,” Riley said.

She said she was involved with a trial almost every week, which is something not a lot of attorneys experience anymore as the field has shifted and plea agreements have become more common.

“I think that’s a shame,” Riley said.

Through her involvement on the Board of Directors of RecycleForce, Riley has talked with ex-offenders who agreed to long sentences.

“It’s still happening with sex offenses, mainly child molest, which don’t get me wrong is a terrible crime, but judges are giving them more time in prison than murderers,” Riley said. “That bothers me.”

In 1990, Riley became a judge for the Jasper Superior Court after being appointed to the new court created by the Indiana General Assembly.

Due to the political climate in Jasper County at the time, Riley was concerned she wouldn’t be elected to the bench so she sent birthday cards to every registered voter in her county for two years.

She had people writing her back.

“I’d have these pen pals going on,” Riley said.

She was elected to stay on the bench, but she faced adversaries along the way.

“The county commissioners wouldn’t let me in the courthouse. They made the old REMC building into another courtroom,” Riley said.

She never got the chance to preside over a case in the Jasper County Courthouse.

Riley recalled the awkwardness of being a small-town judge.

She had a situation in which she had to put a high school friend in jail for operating a vehicle while under the influence.

Riley sentenced him to six months, after which his father called and explained how he was needed for the harvest. They made a deal that he was not allowed to drive during the time he helped with the farm, and then on Christmas Day he would surrender to serve his six months.

And that’s what happened.

When a vacancy on the appellate bench opened up, Riley applied.

She was appointed to the appellate bench by Gov. Evan Bayh in 1994, becoming the fourth woman on the Indiana Court of Appeals.

Riley was the only woman on the court until Judge Melissa May’s appointment in 1998.

The appellate court’s bench had a woman majority for the first time in 2023 when Kenworthy joined, but then Robb retired and was replaced with Judge Paul Felix.

Depending on how Riley and Judge Terry Crone’s vacancies are filed, the female majority has a chance of returning.

“I think women do make a difference. We follow the law, and we do all those things that you’re supposed to do. But we bring such different experiences along with us,” Riley said.

Riley recalled asking one of her lawyers after a year on the appellate bench how they felt.

“They look at each other. And my lawyer says, ‘What do you mean feel?’,” Riley said.

What’s next?

Being a senior judge is not all Riley has planned.

Riley said she would like to start a legal clinic for RecycleForce.

She noted how housing is an issue for ex-offenders once they are on the sex offender registry.

“We’ve had men living under bridges because they can’t find housing because of their status,” Riley said.

Riley also has a new miniature Australian Shepherd named Sky that she plans to take with her on some travels.

She plans to go Kenya in December and then England in January.

Riley joked her grandchildren call her “Go Go” because she is always on the go.•