Judge Toria Finch is the Democratic judge of the Harris County Criminal Court at Law Texas No. 9. Finch was elected to the office on November 6, 2018, along with 18 black female judges in Harris County.
Becoming a judge was not necessarily in her plans. Originally, she thought she would be the first woman in the World Masters Athletics but a setback made her rethink her goals. But one day, her mom came up with an epiphany: She saw Toria arguing before a jury or a court. That piqued her curiosity. Eventually, "I kind of fell in love with the law, " she says.
Judge Finch had no role models to look up to for her career choice, but she had parents that instilled the concepts of "education and exposure", which was instrumental for her, she says, to pursue what has proven to be a brilliant career.
Watch her talking about the path from becoming an attorney to making history in 2018, and her thoughts on the criminal justice system reform.