Shirley Marie Watts (born March 6, 1959)[1][citation needed] is an American lawyer and jurist from Baltimore, Maryland.

Watts is the first African American woman to serve as a judge on the Court of Appeals.

[2] Born in Baltimore, Watts received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University in 1980.

She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers School of Law in 1983.

[2] On July 3, 2013, Governor Martin O'Malley nominated Watts to fill the seat of retired Chief Judge Robert M. Bell on the Court of Appeals, representing the 6th Appellate Circuit (Baltimore City).