Doris Smith-Ribner


Doris A. Smith-Ribner is a former judge of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.

Formative years and family

Born in 1945, Doris Smith attended the University of Pittsburgh and the University of [Pittsburgh School of Law], where she earned her Juris Doctor in 1972.
Smith-Ribner and her husband, former Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Paul Ribner, have one daughter.

Public service career

Following her graduation from law school, Smith-Ribner entered into private law practice in Allegheny County with law partner Byrd R. Brown. She served as solicitor for the Allegheny County Controller from 1980 to 1984. Smith-Ribner served as a judge of the Allegheny County Pennsylvania [Courts of Common Pleas|Court of Common Pleas] on an interim basis from 1984 to 1985. She was first elected to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in 1987 and was re-elected in 1997 and 2007.
She retired from the court in 2009.
She was a candidate for the Democratic [Party (United States)|Democratic] nomination for lieutenant governor in lieutenant governor election, 2010|2010].
In addition, her career in government, prior to her unsuccessful campaign for the position of lieutenant governor, included five years as a member of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, service as chair of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's Disciplinary Board Hearing Committee, and eleven years as a member of the Pennsylvania Judicial Auditing Agency.