State of Mississippi Judiciary

Justice Diaz enrolled in Master of Laws program

June 9, 2002

Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver E. Diaz Jr. of Biloxi is one of 30 judges from across the country to be accepted into the University of Virginia School of Law Master of Laws in the Judicial Process program.

The three-year program includes six weeks of classes for two summers and a third year preparing a dissertation.

"It's a tremendous honor to be accepted," Diaz said from the campus in Charlottesville, Va. "It's the only masters degree for judges in the country. It's really the premier judicial education in the country."

The summer session, which began June 24, includes four courses: Constitutional history, legal theory, law and economics, and legislation.

"They are condensing a semester's work into a six-week period," Diaz said.

Diaz said he will continue his court duties of research and writing via a computer link to the Supreme Court.

Diaz has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Alabama and a law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law.

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