Family Court Commissioner Anne-Marie Clarke of the St. Louis Circuit Court is a recipient of the 2018 Ina M. Boon Social Justice Award, presented by the St. Louis City Chapter of the NAACP at its 106th Anniversary Celebration and Freedom Fund Dinner, Oct. 20.

The NAACP wrote in its program, “Clarke has been an advocate for St. Louis children for 30 years. She created the Circuit’s first Truancy Court and the first probation review docket for juvenile offenders. She was the first Black woman appointed to the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners and its first woman president. Clarke is past president of the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association and past president of the local Mound City Bar Association.”

Commissioner Clarke practiced family and juvenile law before her appointment as Hearing Officer for the Family Court, Juvenile Division in January 1986. As Hearing Officer, she heard all cases of children in foster care.

She was appointed Family Court Commissioner by the Court En Banc on October 1, 1998 and has been reappointed in 2002, 2005 and 2009. Commissioner Clarke has been assigned to both the Juvenile Division and the Domestic Relations Division, and has served on numerous statewide committees including the Fostering Court Improvement Committee, under the Missouri Supreme Court.