Carol Jean Vigil | Judicial pioneer, 61

Carol Jean Vigil, 61, the first Native American woman to be elected a state district judge in the United States, has died.

Ms. Vigil died in her sleep Friday at Tesuque Pueblo, N.M., her family said. She had a number of health problems, including diabetes, her husband, Philip Palmer, said.

She earned her bachelor's and law degrees at the University of New Mexico. After passing the bar - the first Pueblo Indian woman to be admitted - she worked for Indian Pueblo Legal Services.

She served as assistant state attorney general under Jeff Bingaman, who is now a U.S. senator, and in the mid-1980s went into private practice, her husband said.

She was elected to New Mexico's First Judicial District in 1998 and retired in 2005, citing poor health. - AP