[3] For a personal account of her early life, see Mormon Women: Portraits and Conversations by James N. Kimball and Kent Miles.

While in North Carolina, she was a legal consultant for the Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development.

At this time she formed a partnership with two other lawyers and founded the law firm of Johnson, Durham, & Moxley.

[15] In the case of In the Matter of the Adoption of W. A. T., et al., 808 P.2d 1083, 1085 State v. Holm (Utah 1991), Justice Durham protected the civil rights of polygamists.

The decision held that the Utah Constitution does not per se preclude a polygamist family from adopting children.

She stated, "It is not the role of the courts to make threshold exclusions dismissing without consideration, for example, the adoption petitions of all convicted felons, all persons engaging in fornication or adultery, or other persons engaged in illegal activities.

"Declaring a fetus to be a 'person' entitled to equal protection would require not only overturning Roe v. Wade but also making abortion, as a matter of constitutional law, illegal in all circumstances, even to save the life of the mother.

In State v. Larocco, 794 P.2d 460 (Utah 1990), however, Justice Durham recognized the duality of the American system.

Under the majority analysis, she said, "the university may not subject a student to academic discipline for flashing his pistol to a professor in class.

"[21] Justice Durham has published numerous articles and is a frequent lecturer on the judiciary, women's issues, and civic education.

[24] Durham served on the Governor's Task Force that recommended legislation to implement the 1985 amendments to the Judicial Article of the Utah Constitution.

As Chief Justice, she chaired the Utah Judicial Council, which is the administrative governing body of the state court system.

She was part of the Commission on Justice in the 21st century and the co-chair of the Committee on Improving Jury Service.

[26] She is an immediate past president of the Conference of Chief Justices, and is the first Utahn to be elected to this position.