In November, state court reportBrennan Center for Justice, and Northwestern University Law Overview He hosted a symposium on the state constitution. Several state Supreme Court justices who participated in the program agreed to brief interviews. state court report” is published as a series.
Judge Melissa Long was appointed to the Rhode Island Supreme Court in 2021, becoming the state’s first Black high court judge. She previously served as an associate judge on the Rhode Island Superior Court. Before joining the bench, Mr. Long held several positions in the Rhode Island government, including deputy secretary of state.
In an interview, Mr. Long talked about how state courts can educate and serve the public, increase trust in democratic institutions, and seek innovative solutions.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When you were in law school, what did you think your career as a lawyer would look like?
When you think about it, it’s very interesting because it’s completely different from what I imagined.
My parents were once in the military, and public service was part of my DNA. I wanted to live in the Washington, DC area and do some kind of public service work. I had a five-year plan. Immediately after graduating from law school, I worked as a clerk in a state court and gained litigation experience handling civil litigation at the Fairfax County Attorney’s Office before thinking about changing direction. My dream was to work for the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Protection Bureau. At the time, they were trying to get around the misleading Joe Camel ads about encouraging kids to smoke, and I thought that’s what I wanted to do.
But I met a really nice guy from Rhode Island in a law school class (and we ended up getting married). Then, about four years into that five-year plan, we decided to move to Rhode Island. When I was a child, I moved around the world (due to my parents’ military service). I thought I’d go to Rhode Island and live there for a couple of years and see how it goes. Obviously, it took.
This move forced me to think deeply about what I wanted to achieve through my work in public service. If you think about the values that are important to you and the jobs that serve those values, you might be surprised at where you end up.
What advice do you wish you had received when you were a law student?
One of the things I often tell undergraduates is to take some time between undergrad and law school to understand the world and the context of what you’re going to learn. I went straight from undergrad to law school. I was the first generation in my family to go to law school, and when I came to law school in the early ’90s, a lot of people were getting great jobs and doing all sorts of incredible things. For me, fresh out of undergrad, it felt a little scary.
And to all law students: Believe in yourself, you will get through this. Especially if you entered law school on the younger side without previously having a job. Are you okay. You don’t need to know everything.
How are the challenges faced by law students different from those you have experienced?
A report from Tufts University, Protect Democracy, and the Center for Information Research on Civic Learning and Engagement shows that Gen Zers experience democracy today and share a deep skepticism about it. I think this is a great challenge because our work, legal institutions in constitutional democracies, and norms of professional responsibility depend on public participation and support to maintain authority. So if you have a generation of young people who are skeptical of democracy, that poses a challenge for the legal institutions that these young lawyers belong to.
We must restore and strengthen our lost faith in the rule of law. One of the report’s recommendations is that we need to learn from Gen Z and Millennials what works, what helps them believe in democracy, believe in the rule of law, and believe in the legal system. They are the experts of their generation.
What are some of the challenges facing state courts?
It’s the feeling of people who don’t necessarily think that the courts are going to help them. Not only young people but also people’s trust in our country’s democratic system is being shaken. Data also shows that women and people of color do not believe courts are accountable and transparent. Here, I want to return to the roots of my education at George Mason University. George Mason was one of the Founding Fathers and there is a great quote he wrote in 1776. “In times like these, it is everyone’s duty to contribute their interests to the public service.” This is true today. You need to figure out how to roll up your sleeves. I am a strong believer in public engagement.
I believe that judges are educators. That’s our opinion. But I can’t just stay on the court and expect people to read all my opinions and understand democracy that way. We need to go out and educate because only a certain few people read our opinions. That’s absolutely something that state judges can do because we come from these communities and we know these communities.
This also ties in with the fact that Rhode Island judges have lifetime terms. If we are not elected or re-elected by the people (which is a check on the accountability that exists in other states for judges facing voters), we have a greater responsibility to go out and participate in the sharing of knowledge about what state courts are doing.
More than 95% of all lawsuits are filed in state court. We are committed to innovating to solve people’s problems. That kind of person comes to court, right? People with problems. I don’t know if people realize that we innovate to solve problems. How can we help them understand that? We have to do our part to educate them.
The good news for state courts is that the situation is better than in federal courts. The National Center for State Courts has been surveying court users going back to probably 2014. In the 2010s, that number was much higher than it is now, but then it started to decline around 2020. And now we’re seeing an increase again. So it’s great news that we’re working to help people trust our organization.
What do you enjoy about being a state judge?
Oh, I feel so lucky to be able to go to work and do my job every day. It goes back to my desire to become a civil servant. People who come to court are often at the lowest point in their lives. We are a forum for them to tell their stories. Our job, ultimately, is to listen to people’s stories, apply the rule of law to those stories, and explain to people why the law prescribes certain outcomes.
That’s a huge responsibility. I have always been interested in public service, so I feel that this is a job I could never have imagined when I was a law student. I used to be a judge, and I certainly feel that way in cases like this because there are people in front of me. It’s a little bit more difficult at the appellate level because there’s so much paper, but one of the things I would say to law clerks is that you have to remember that this is people’s stories. These are not abstract concepts or constructs.
What is the most memorable opinion you have attended?
What I am saying is that every case is important to the litigants. Must remember that.
That being said, one of my more memorable observations was an agreement in which I wrote: State vs. Garciaa 2024 lawsuit focused on jury selection. Over the past almost 40 years, we have Batson It refers to a framework for determining whether peremptory challenges to strike people of color from jurors is discriminatory, but it doesn’t work.
In general, a lack of jury diversity is a problem. How can we get a diverse group of people to attend the jury system? I also wrote a consent form in How do I ensure a diverse jury once the jury is present? garcia I don’t know what the solution is, but I need to think of a solution.
I was really fascinated by the number of state courts and judges thinking about state law issues. Batson framework. Our sister state, Connecticut, is working hard to find a solution, working with the administration’s task force on jury selection, which is studying this issue. inside me garcia I’ll tell you what a great idea it is.
This is memorable to me because it’s an important problem that we need to solve as a country, and there are states that have interesting ideas that are worth pursuing.
What do you wish more people understood about state courts and the Constitution?
Justice in this country is administered in state courts. The huge numbers speak for themselves. So, get to know your state courts. Learn about state courts, find out what happens there, and find ways you can get involved. And attend jury service!
Gabriela Sanchez is a staff writer and editor at the Brennan Center for Justice.
Recommended citation: Gabriela Sanchez Conversation with Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Melissa LongSᴛᴀᴛᴇ Cᴏᴜʀᴛ Rᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ (February 9, 2026), https://statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/conversation-rhode-island-supreme-court-justice-melissa-long
