Miriam Shearing

Miriam Mattinen Shearing (born Ellen Miriam Mattinen; February 24, 1935) is an American lawyer and retired judge in Nevada. Shearing was the first woman to serve as a Nevada district judge and as justice and chief justice on the Supreme Court of Nevada (1993–2005). Early life and education She was born on February 24, 1935, in Waverly, New York. Shearing grew up on a farm near Spencer, New York, the oldest of three children. She was the daughter of Eino Olavi and Lillian Sophia (Petaja) Mattinen. Her parents were Finnish American, and she spoke Finnish in the home. Shearing graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy; at Cornell she met her husband, Steven Shearing. She then graduated from Boston College Law School, where she took night classes while her husband attended medical school. Career After graduation, the Shearings moved to California, where Steven Shearing completed his medical internship and residency, and then lived in Pakistan, where Steven Shearing worked for CARE. The Shearings moved to Nevada in 1969, and Shearing was admitted to the bar in Nevada that year, becoming the fiftieth woman admitted to practice in the state. Shearing practiced for several years in Las Vegas, and became a juvenile court referee in 1975. Shearing successfully ran for a seat on the justice court, after the Clark County Commission (which was opposed to a woman serving on the court) refused to appoint her to an open seat.