Women entering the legal field today are indebted to pioneers like Grace Storey Merlo, who with dignity and perseverance pried open closed doors, changed minds and proved gender was no indication of competency.
Merlo, the first female judge for the 22nd Judicial District, died at her home on Friday, July 17. She was 90 years old.
“Grace was the hardest-working judge I’ve ever seen,” said Cortez attorney and former district attorney George Buck.
When taking the bench in 1987, Merlo’s predecessor had left scores of undecided cases. After transcripts were prepared, Merlo spent countless hours at home reviewing the files and issuing rulings. She served on the bench until retiring in 1995.
“I can’t speak highly enough about her,” said Buck. “She was a slugger.”
Recalling that Merlo seldom took a sick day, Buck said she treated everyone she encountered, whether in the courtroom or on the street, with decency.
“First and foremost, Grace was a lady,” said Buck.
Also saddened to hear of Merlo’s passing, current Chief District Court Judge Doug Walker called her a “true pioneer” and said he was saddened by her passing.
“My memories of Judge Merlo include her caring nature and her patience,” said Walker. “Grace was indeed an appropriate name for Judge Merlo.”
Merlo’s climb began long before she arrived in Cortes.
She was one of only two women enrolled in the San Francisco Law School during the early 1950s. On her first day of class, a male professor spent an hour explaining why women shouldn’t be lawyers. To prove him wrong, she studied harder, noting that he frequently called upon her in class with challenging questions.
At the end of that first semester, Merlo recalled, that professor privately confessed that he erred by belittling women publicly. She graduated in 1954 among a class of 150 men.
Soon after, Merlo moved to New York City to work for Western Union. She was promised that she wouldn’t be passed over for advancement because of her gender. But three years later, Merlo encountered a glass ceiling when the company hired a man with no legal background for a general counsel position. She quickly resigned.
Returning to California in 1957, Merlo took a temporary position with a San Francisco law firm doing civil work. Within months, she was tapped as the first female deputy public defender in San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles.
The district attorney at the time pressured Merlo every chance he could, trying to trip her up in the courtroom. Eight years later, his opinion and attitude would change.
In a letter dated July 15, 1969, San Bernardino District Attorney Don Turner wrote that Merlo was a “guiding light” for the public defender’s office, noting that she always fought hard and within the rules.
“It has been my personal pleasure, and often my professional misfortune, to appear in court against her,” Turner wrote.
During her eight years as public defender, Merlo represented all types of felony defendants, including murderers. One defendant was a Muslim man who was affiliated with the Black Panther Party.
When the gentleman realized that a woman would serve as his attorney, he reportedly asked the court if she was qualified, stating that he didn’t want anyone “practicing” on him. Merlo went on to win the case.
Two years later, the man again faced criminal charges, but he was more open to Merlo’s legal skills the second time around. He reportedly told his co-defendants that if he was going to be charged with a crime, then he wanted Merlo to represent him. Again, Merlo won the case.
After marrying fellow lawyer Samuel Merlo of Cortez, Merlo became Montezuma County’s first female public defender in 1970. A year later, she and her husband opened their own practice, Merlo and Merlo. He preceded her in death in 2010.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
