Claire G. Cardwell

Claire G. Cardwell is a judge for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.

Early life and education Cardwell earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and later attended the University of Richmond School of Law, receiving a Juris Doctor.

In January 2017, Cardwell was elected to a six-year judgeship in the Richmond General District Court by the Virginia General Assembly. In November 2020, Cardwell was brought in as a special judge in Portsmouth, Virginia, to oversee a case in which the police department had filed charges against Virginia state senator Louise Lucas, Portsmouth Chief Public Defender Brenda Spry, and others who had been charged with felony destruction of a Confederate monument at a June 2020 protest. Cardwell dismissed the charges, and expressed concern that the Portsmouth Police had filed the charges without the approval of local prosecutors.