Ernesto Scorsone
| Ernesto Scorsone | |
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| Judge of the Fayette County Circuit Court |
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Assumed office August 2008 |
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| Appointed by | Steve Beshear |
| Preceded by | Sheila Isaac |
| Member of the Kentucky Senate from the 13th district |
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In office 1996–2008 |
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| Succeeded by | Kathy Stein |
| Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 75th district |
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In office 1984–1996 |
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| Succeeded by | Kathy Stein |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 15, 1952 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | John Davis |
| Residence | Lexington, Kentucky |
Ernesto Scorsone is an American lawyer, politician and judge from Kentucky.
Ernesto Scorsone was born in Palermo, Italy, on February 15, 1952. His family immigrated to the United States in 1960.
Scorsone earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky in 1973 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1976. After a year of public defender work, he began private practice in Lexington in 1977.
A Democrat, Scorsone was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, 75th District, in 1984 and served for 12 years. In 1996, he was elected to the Kentucky Senate from the 13th District and re-elected without opposition in 2000 and 2004. He was the first openly gay member of the Kentucky General Assembly.
In 1998 Scorsone was the Democratic nominee for the open 6th district seat in the United States House of Representatives, but he lost the general election to Republican Ernie Fletcher by seven points (53%–46%). Fletcher would go on to be elected Governor.
In the legislature, Scorsone advocated for measures to protect the wellbeing of Kentuckians and to ensure equal treatment for all. Among his accomplishments while serving in the General Assembly:
His leadership on LGBT issues has been extensive and has marked much of his career. He led the legal battle to overturn Kentucky's sodomy statute and a successful legislative fight against a constitutional amendment to reinstate the law. Scorsone successfully worked to amend the state's penal code to include, the first time, a hate crime provision based on sexual orientation and helped organize the campaign for a fairness ordinance in Lexington to protect employment, housing and accommodation. He successfully petitioned and helped draft a gubernatorial executive order in 2003 protecting LGBT state employees from job discrimination.
On August 7, 2008, Governor Steve Beshear appointed Scorsone as Fayette Circuit Court Judge. In November of that year, he was elected to the post without opposition. Among other accomplishments as circuit judge, he initiated a conciliation conference process to avoid home foreclosures in Fayette County.
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