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Judge Karen Greene grew up in Oak Cliff, Dallas and graduated from The Hockaday School and the University of Texas at Austin. She worked for American Airlines as a flight attendant and in various management positions, leaving American after 10 years to attend SMU School of Law where she became fascinated with criminal law. Next she worked as a briefing attorney at the court of appeals and then as a prosecutor in the Dallas County DA’s office where she held the distinction of never losing a lead felony jury trial. She was on the trial team on the case of State v. Joy Aylor a capital murder trial covered by Court TV and that was the subject of a made-for-TV-movie “Telling Secrets” starring Cybil Shepherd and Ken Olin.
When George W. Bush became governor he selected her to be his criminal justice advisor where, for 2 years, she was involved in all aspects of the statewide criminal justice system including legislation, victim’s projects, juvenile law, parole and executions. Pleased with her work, Governor Bush fulfilled a life-long dream when he appointed her a state district judge in Dallas County in 1997. She has since been re-elected twice.
As a criminal judge, she presides over serious felony cases such as capital murder, aggravated robbery, rape, and child abuse and has presided over five death penalty cases. In her ten years on the bench she has never been reversed on appeal, which means no repeat trials and certainty for victims, and for two years she served as presiding judge of all of the fifteen criminal district courts.
In November 1999, Judge Greene received a poor prognosis when she was diagnosed with stage III-b breast cancer. After undergoing a mastectomy and the removal of 20 lymph nodes 11 of which were cancerous, she began a rigid schedule of chemotherapy followed by 33 rounds of radiation. After remission, she participated in a Phase I clinical trial to prevent recurrence at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital, which took her to New York City intermittently for six months. Judge Greene previously served on the Boards of the Dallas Youth Services Corps, the Dallas County Juvenile Board, Children’s Medical Center, and Dallas Women Lawyers Association. Currently, she serves on the Board and as a volunteer at Gilda’s Club and on the Volunteer Center Community Council.
In 2003 she was honored to receive the Macy’s Heart and Soul award for her work in the cancer community. She has been published and/or featured in CURE MAGAZINE and The New Yorker. She has appeared on UPN’s “Positively Texas” and Fox’s John Hammarly did a series on her for “4 Your Health.” As she is working on a book about living with the fear of recurrence, she speaks to survivor and professional groups about the life changing experience that is cancer.
Judge Greene is married to John Council, senior reporter for Texas Lawyer. They live in Old East Dallas with their two dogs. |