When the truth is at stake.
Colorado Supreme Court Justice Mary Mullarkey told colleagues about her 1994 MS diagnosis, but saw no need to announce it to the world. She got more vocal in 2002, when the rumor mill falsely reported she was resigning due to poor health.
Mullarkey, by then the Centennial State's first female chief justice, leapt to her own defense—and by extension, the defense of everyone mistrusted or disrespected because of a disability.
“Living with MS has taught me you have to get over not wanting to ask for help. I calculate the dangers of doing nothing to be far more risky than not trying to achieve your dreams,” she said.
After graduating from Harvard Law in 1968, Mullarkey went to Washington, DC, working on federal water and power issues in the Interior Department. An unexpected opportunity came when President Nixon was elected. Nixon wanted to enforce a clause in federal contracts forbidding discrimination in employment. “I found myself working in employment and civil rights. It was exactly what I wanted to do.”
She loved hiking and skiing, so when a chance to work at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Denver came up, she and her husband moved. “Going west was an adventure,” she said. She later worked in state government and in private practice; then Gov. Roy Romer appointed her to the state Supreme Court in 1987.
Along the way, vague physical symptoms cropped up, such as numbness on the bottoms of her feet. Her MS diagnosis came after a day of ice skating when she kept falling over backwards.
Mullarkey said she met her diagnosis “with a combination of dread and relief.”
She credits her family and friends, especially her husband and grown son, for their unfaltering support. “My husband buttons the buttons when I can’t,” she said. She faithfully injects a disease-modifying drug and advises everyone to take advantage of the treatments that were not available when she was diagnosed. Though she can no longer hike and ski, she lifts weights, swims, does water aerobics, and practices yoga.
She’s still chief justice, and she maintains a full caseload.
“To be singled out is both difficult and an opportunity,” Mullarkey said.
“By virtue of who I am, I bring attention to the issue of accessibility. Despite my mobility problems, I travel to speaking engagements. I plan the logistics and get assistance. People begin to realize that a simple handrail can make getting up on a podium possible for someone with an impairment.”