School of Law
School of Law Pittman Award Ceremony
Creighton University’s Black Law Students Association honored School of Law graduate Phrasel L. Shelton, with the Judge Elizabeth Pittman award on Feb. 8 in the Gross Appellate Courtroom room 124 in Creighton’s law school. A reception followed in the Schnieder Commons.
Shelton, who retired in 2004 after a 29-year career as a judge in Mateo County in California, was first appointed to the bench in 1976 and was named Superior Court Judge in 1988.
After graduating from Creighton in 1968, Shelton served as a trial attorney with the Anti-trust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles and later served as a Deputy Public Defender in Monterey County.
Shelton helped create and direct the Success Enhancement Institute, Inc., several years ago. The Institute was designed to build the African American Community, in order to support families and children and to help the children succeed in school and life.
He has also served on the board of many agencies in San Mateo County including: Legal Aid Society, Family Service Agency, YMCA, San Mateo Council of the Boy Scouts of America and was vice president in charge of all explorer scouts programs in the county.
The Judge Elizabeth D. Pittman Award, recognizes those alumni who possess the excellence, perseverance, and dedication that made Pittman a role model as the first African-American graduate of Creighton University’s School of Law and the first African- American judge in Nebraska.
