Two judges who retired from the state Court of Appeals will return until Gov. Nathan Deal fills seats vacated by judges confirmed to the federal bench recently.

Senior Judge Dorothy Toth Beasley, who left the court in 1999, will replace Judge Tilman “Tripp” Self III, who now serves in Macon on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

Senior Judge Herbert Phipps, who left the court in 2016, will replace Judge Elizabeth “Lisa” Branch, who now serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

“The court is indebted to Judge Beasley and Judge Phipps, whose experience will be a great help to the court during this transitional period,” said Chief Judge Stephen Dillard.

Beasley became the first woman on a state appellate court when Gov. Joe Frank Harris appointed her in 1984. Since leaving the bench in 1999, she became a mediator and has stayed active in various domestic and international law-related efforts, including a stint working with judges on a Rwanda war crimes trial.

The Court of Appeals still bears her mark. Engraved in marble over the bench, the court's credo used to say, “Upon the integrity, wisdom and independence of the judiciary depend the sacred rights of free men.” It took her eight years to make it happen, but in 1992 the court added two words at the end: “and women.”

Phipps was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1999 by Gov. Roy Barnes. At a retirement reception in 2016, he reflected on civil rights work he'd done. He added that it is “regrettable that many of the issues that divide us” call to mind the injustices of the past, and that too many people remain silent in fear of “losing a friend or a dollar.”

“I will continue to fight these battles for as long as I can or until they are all won.”