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Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, of the Supreme Court of Ohio, came to the bench by a very different route.

She was born to missionary parents in Bangkok, Thailand, and spent her childhood in Southeast Asia, attending boarding school in South Vietnam during the height of the Vietnam War, and later in Malaysia, coming to America periodically with her parents. At age 18, she returned to America alone with only a few hundred dollars in her pocket. She worked her way through school, receiving a Juris Doctor degree from The Ohio State University College of Law.

Justice Stratton's legal career began in the courtrooms of central Ohio as a trial lawyer. In 1989, as the first woman judge to be elected to the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, she presided over major cases ranging from capital murder trials to major civil actions. In her years on the bench, she established a solid record of judicial integrity, fairness, and diligence. Her approach to sentencing in serious felony cases earned her the nickname "The Velvet Hammer." Her work on the court led to her appointment, and subsequent election, to the Supreme Court of Ohio.

Justice Stratton is also committed to her community and her efforts have helped lead to major changes in adoption law. As chairperson of a national committee, Justice Stratton has led a nationwide effort to speed up adoption appeals. She has also provided strong leadership as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and Prevent Blindness Ohio.

With a partnership between courts and the mental health system, Justice Stratton believes many defendants whose mental illness is the basis of their criminal activity can be helped and their lives improved. She formed the Supreme Court of Ohio Advisory Committee on Mental Illness and the Courts, a task force that includes mental health, legal and criminal justice professionals from around the state. The advisory committee focuses on mental health initiatives in the court system and how to effectively implement such programs.

Justice Stratton also leads several national efforts toward helping persons with mental illness. She is the founder and immediate past co-chair of the Judges' Leadership Initiative, which supports mental health efforts, as well as the Returning Home Advisory Commission, which assists in the re-entry by persons from jails and prisons in order to reduce recidivism and its cost to society.

Justice Stratton is the wife of John A. Lundberg III, and the mother of two adult sons.

Justice Stratton enjoys painting, Thai cooking, and fly fishing with her husband. But surely her most interesting accomplishment was her first-place finish in a college Stampede Girls Goat Tying Competition - a talent she later put to good use as a trial lawyer.