INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Retiring Indiana Supreme Court Justice Robert Rucker was awarded one of the state’s highest civilian honors during a farewell ceremony where he called his legal career and time on the high court “an exciting and humbling journey.”
More than a dozen of Rucker’s relatives joined Gov. Eric Holcomb and others for Monday’s retirement celebration at the court’s Statehouse courtroom in Indianapolis.
Holcomb presented the 70-year-old Rucker with a Sagamore of the Wabash award, calling him someone who defines the word “trailblazer.”
Rucker is retiring Friday after 26 years on the bench, including nine years on the Indiana Court of Appeals. He was named to the high court in 1999 by Democratic Gov. Frank O’Bannon, becoming only its second black justice ever.
