FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s first female chief justice said Tuesday that she’s “never given much thought to gender,” an outlook she attributed in part to her upbringing when she worked at her father’s auto shop.

“I don’t think you can expect good or bad decisions that I might make as chief (justice) to be either clouded or enhanced by my double X chromosomes,” said chief justice Debra Hembree Lambert. “They will simply be either good or bad decisions — and carefully made.”

Lambert was chosen by her colleagues on the state Supreme Court last year to succeed Laurance VanMeter as chief justice after he opted not to seek reelection in 2024. Her Appalachian upbringing also forged her commitment to fairness and for everyone to have a voice, she said.

Lambert also said that it’s “especially ni

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