MELISSA LONG PROMOTING A FAIR AND BIAS-FREE COURT SYSTEM
MELISSA LONG PROMOTING A FAIR AND BIAS-FREE COURT SYSTEM
In 2015, Melissa Long was working as a lawyer in the administration of then-Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea when she picked up a copy of The Providence Journal. There, on the cover, was a headline about the lack of judges of color in Rhode Island’ s judiciary above the headshots of twenty-five justices— nearly all of them white.
“ What stood out— what was meant to stand out— was the lack of diversity,” she says.
The article served as a call to action for Long, who would go on to become the first Black justice appointed to Rhode Island’ s
Supreme Court. The daughter of a Black Army helicopter pilot-turned-dentist and a white Women’ s Army Auxiliary Corps member, Long was raised in an environment of public service. Her parents married in Washington, D. C., six months before the United States Supreme Court struck down state laws against interracial marriage.
“ I like to say that nine judges paved the way for me to be here,” she says.
After graduating from the University of Virginia, she attended the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. Though she initially had her sights set on a job with the Federal Trade Commission, she moved instead with her family to Rhode Island, her husband’ s native state. After several years working for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and Gorbea’ s administration, she was appointed as an associate justice to the state’ s Superior Court in 2017.
Four years later, she was sworn into the Supreme Court on Jan. 11, 2021— her late mother’ s seventyseventh birthday.
Upon learning of her appointment, the first person she called was her dad.
“ They faced hardships so that we could live the American dream,” she says.“ My dad and I are fully in agreement that it’ s only in this country that we live up to these ideals, that my family’ s story is possible.”
The year of her appointment was a turbulent time for Rhode Island’ s judiciary. At the urging of retired Superior Court Associate Justice Edward Clifton and other judges of color, the state Supreme Court in 2020 established the Committee on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. Long serves as chair of the committee, which was formed to enhance public confidence in the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary and promote a fair and bias-free system of justice.
One of its greatest accomplishments toward that goal, she says, was urging reform to Rhode Island’ s system of court fines and fees. In 2022, legislation removed these costs for those unable to pay. Before that, however, individuals could remain in debt to the court system long after they’ d served their sentence. As of May 2023, the judiciary’ s fines and fees clinics had served 662 people and successfully eliminated $ 2.21 million in debt.“ It was life-changing for people,” Long says. More recently, the committee coordinated a self-funded judicial education trip to Alabama and continues to review data to ensure constituents feel they’ re being treated fairly in the courts.
Aside from her judicial activities, Long serves on the board of Sophia Academy and devotes her time to education initiatives. She urges young lawyers to remember the importance of the state courts and always prioritize civics and civility.
“ We don’ t all agree, we don’ t all have to agree, but we do need to model how to listen and how to speak in ways that promote problem-solving,” she says.— Lauren Clem
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I OCTOBER 2025 93