Mary Janipher Bennett Malveaux (1967 - )

Henrico County

Judge of the Virginia Court of Appeals

Growing up in Richmond, Mary Janipher Bennett Malveaux attended Collegiate School, where she nurtured a sense of service to her community. She attended the University of Virginia, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in 1990. She earned a law degree at the University of Richmond’s T. C. Williams School of Law in 1993 and was admitted to the bar. The following year, Malveaux began working as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney for Henrico County and gained a reputation as a tough but fair prosecutor. She left in 1998 to join a private practice, where she practiced civil and criminal law. She also became involved with Voices for Virginia’s Children, a nonprofit organization that advocates public policies to improve the lives and well-being of children whose needs are often underserved, and was named to its board of directors in 2007.

In 2011 Malveaux became the first African-American woman to be appointed a full-time General District Court judge in Henrico County. Two years later the governor appointed her to the Criminal Justice Services Board, which serves as the policy board for the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. The General Assembly recognized her talent and dedication on March 11, 2016, when it unanimously elected Malveaux as a judge on Virginia’s Court of Appeals, making her the second African-American woman to sit on the state’s second highest court.


2017 Strong Men & Women in Virginia History honoree, Library of Virginia and Dominion.

Watch Mary Malveaux's speech at the 2017 Strong Men and Women in Virginia History awards ceremony on February 3, 2017.

Image Courtesy of Mary Bennett Malveaux.