Carol W. Hunstein

Carol W. Hunstein (born August 16, 1944) is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. She has served on the court since 1992.

Hunstein was born in Miami, Florida, on August 16, 1944. By age 23, she was a divorced, single mother who had lost her left leg to cancer. However, she overcame this adversity receiving an Associate's degree from Miami-Dade Community College in 1970, and shortly thereafter a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in 1972. Upon graduation from FAU, Hunstein enrolled in the Stetson University College of Law. In 1976, she received her Juris Doctor, was admitted to the Georgia Bar Association, and subsequently went into private practice.

Hunstein moved from Florida to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1976. Having established herself in the legal community by 1984, she ran against four men for election to the Superior Court in DeKalb County and made it into the runoff. During the three-week runoff, for the first time Hunstein began using the slogan “This time, this woman,’’ and upon election became the first female superior court judge in the county.

In November 1992, Hunstein was nominated to the Supreme Court of Georgia by Governor Zell Miller. She is the second woman in Georgia history to serve in this position. Since her nomination to the court in 1992, Hunstein has been re-elected by voters three times, most recently in November 2006.

Hunstein also serves as an adjunct professor at the Emory University School of Law.