query: who was the first african american supreme court justice

pos: Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American lawyer, serving as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court's 96th justice and its first African-American justice. Prior to his judicial service, he successfully argued several cases before the Supreme Court, including "Brown v. Board of Education". Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Marshall graduated from the Howard University School of Law in 1933. He established a private legal practice in Baltimore before founding the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where he served as

pos: Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States "represented the first time in American history that an African American was an actual contender for the high court". The first African American appointed to the Court was Thurgood Marshall, appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967. The second was Clarence Thomas, appointed by George H. W. Bush to succeed Marshall in 1991. Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Tom C. Clark, saying that this was "the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place." Marshall was confirmed as an Associate Justice by a Senate

pos: Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson confidant on the Supreme Court who could provide him with inside information, and chose prominent attorney and close friend Abe Fortas to fill that role. He created an opening on the court by convincing Justice Goldberg to become United States Ambassador to the United Nations. A second vacancy arose in 1967 due to the retirement of Tom C. Clark. Johnson appointed Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall to the Court, and Marshall became the first African American Supreme Court justice in U.S. history. In 1968, Johnson nominated Fortas to succeed retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren; he also Homer Thornberry to succeed Fortas

pos: John F. Davis (lawyer) Justice Earl Warren, succeeding James R. Browning, who had been appointed to a federal judgeship by President Kennedy. As Clerk, Davis was responsible for maintaining the Court's docket and files. He also administered the oath of office to several new Justices, including Thurgood Marshall, the Court's first African American member, and Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. Davis served as Clerk of the Supreme Court until 1970, when he returned to private practice in Washington, also serving during the 1970s as a Special Master for the Supreme Court in two cases within the Court's original jurisdiction and co-authoring a law review

pos: Anita Hill her own history and history of other African American women such as Nannie Helen Burroughs, in order to strengthen her argument for reimagining equality altogether. In 1994, she wrote a tribute to Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court Justice who preceded Clarence Thomas, titled "A Tribute to Thurgood Marshall: A Man Who Broke with Tradition on Issues of Race and Gender". She notes Thurgood's contributions to the principles of equality as a judge and how his work has affected the lives of African Americans, specifically African American women. Anita Hill became a proponent for women's rights and feminism.

pos: John W. Marshall topics including criminal justice and civil rights. He is the son of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and Cecilia Suyat Marshall, his Filipino American mother. He is also the brother of Thurgood Marshall, Jr., former Secretary to the Cabinet in the Clinton administration. He is not related to Supreme Court justice John Marshall. John W. Marshall John William Marshall (born July 6, 1958) served as Secretary of Public Safety in the Cabinet of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine from 2006 to 2010, and Governor Mark Warner from 2002 to 2006, and was the longest-serving member of

pos: Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American judge, lawyer, and government official who currently serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is currently the most senior associate justice on the Court following the retirement of Anthony Kennedy. Thomas succeeded Thurgood Marshall and is the second African American to serve on the Court. Among the current members of the Court he is the longest-serving justice, with a tenure of days () as of . Thomas grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and was educated at the College of the Holy Cross

pos: Clarence Thomas dinner party in 1999, when she was a Truman Foundation scholar. Thomas denied the allegations. Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American judge, lawyer, and government official who currently serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is currently the most senior associate justice on the Court following the retirement of Anthony Kennedy. Thomas succeeded Thurgood Marshall and is the second African American to serve on the Court. Among the current members of the Court he is the longest-serving justice, with a tenure of days () as of . Thomas

pos: Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States Wilson, born in Fife, Scotland; James Iredell, born in Lewes, England; and William Paterson, born in County Antrim, Ireland. Justice David Josiah Brewer was born farthest from the U.S., in Smyrna, in the Ottoman Empire, (now İzmir, Turkey). George Sutherland was born in Buckinghamshire, England. The last foreign-born Justice, and the only one of these for whom English was a second language, was Felix Frankfurter, born in Vienna, Austria. The Constitution imposes no citizenship requirement on federal judges. All Supreme Court justices were white and of European heritage until the appointment of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Justice, in

pos: Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States represent all geographic regions of the country, as opposed to ethnic, religious, or gender diversity. The 20th century saw the first appointment of justices who were Jewish (Louis Brandeis, 1916), African-American (Thurgood Marshall, 1967), female (Sandra Day O'Connor, 1981), and Italian-American (Antonin Scalia, 1986). The 21st century saw the first appointment of a Hispanic justice (Sonia Sotomayor, 2009), if justice Benjamin Cardozo, who was a Sephardi Jew of Portuguese descent and appointed in 1932, is excluded. In spite of the interest in the Court's demographics and the symbolism accompanying the inevitably political appointment process, and the views of some commentators

pos: Ramsey Clark Tom C. Clark, would resign from the Supreme Court to avoid a conflict of interest. Johnson wanted a vacancy to be created on the Court so he could appoint Thurgood Marshall, the first African American justice. The elder Clark resigned from the Supreme Court on June 12, 1967, creating the vacancy Johnson apparently desired. Clark served as the Attorney General until Johnson's term as President ended on January 20, 1969. Clark played an important role in the history of the Civil Rights Movement. During his years at the Justice Department, he As Attorney General during part of the Vietnam War,

pos: Howard University School of Law the Civil Rights Movement. Former HUSL Dean Charles Hamilton Houston's work for the NAACP earned him the title of "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow." Thurgood Marshall, a 1933 graduate of Howard Law, successfully argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case before the U.S. Supreme Court and in 1967 became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. In 1950, Howard law graduate Pauli Murray published "States' Laws on Race and Color", an examination and critique of state segregation laws throughout the nation. Thurgood Marshall called the book the "bible" of the civil rights movement. First year students at Howard

pos: Cecilia Suyat Marshall who participated in the struggle. Cecilia Suyat Marshall Cecilia "Cissy" Suyat Marshall (born July 20, 1928) is an American Civil Rights activist and historian from Hawaii. She is of Filipino descent. Her life is featured in the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian and she was recorded by the Library of Congress regarding her experiences with civil rights in the United States. In the 1940s and 1950s, she served as a stenographer and private secretary for the NAACP in Washington D.C. and was married to Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, from

pos: Clarence Thomas on the federal court, including with fellow federal judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After Justice William Brennan stepped down from the Supreme Court in July 1990, Thomas was one of five candidates on President Bush's shortlist for the position and Bush's favorite of the five. Ultimately, after consulting with his advisors, Bush decided to hold off on nominating Thomas, and nominated Judge David Souter of the First Circuit instead. Justice Thurgood Marshall announced his retirement, and on July 1, 1991, President Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to replace him. Marshall had been the only African-American justice on the court. In announcing his

neg: Supreme Court of Mississippi the only African-American justice, though not the first to serve on the court. The first female justice was Lenore Prather, who became chief justice; the first African-American was Reuben Anderson. To date, no female African-American justice has served on the Mississippi Supreme Court. Supreme Court of Mississippi The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was created in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817. Initially it was known as the "High Court of Errors and Appeals." The court is an appellate court,

neg: Bernette Joshua Johnson In October 2012, the state Supreme Court members (Johnson, Victory and another candidate recused themselves) declared that Johnson would succeed Kimball because the start of Johnson's tenure predated that of Victory. They concluded that her seniority was more important than the fact that she had not gained her seat on the Supreme Court by election. Johnson is the first African American to serve as chief justice in Louisiana. She is the first African-American woman to serve on the Louisiana Supreme Court as both associate justice and chief justice. Justice Victory retired from the Supreme Court on December 31, 2014. He

neg: Robert D. Rucker and practiced general law in East Chicago, Indiana. Justice Rucker was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court by Governor Frank O'Bannon in 1999. He is the second African American to serve on the Supreme Court of Indiana, succeeding Myra Selby, the first African American, and the first woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court of Indiana. Justice Rucker is the only Court of Appeals judge to ever be elevated to the Supreme Court. Since his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1999 he has served on the longest continuous group of justices to serve together in the Court's long

neg: Robert Benham (judge) Benham was appointed by Governor Joe Frank Harris to the Court of Appeals, where he served for five years following his statewide election to the court, distinguishing himself as the first African American to win statewide election in Georgia since Reconstruction. In 1989, Justice Benham was further distinguished as the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of Georgia, following his appointment by Governor Harris. He won the statewide election to a full term on the Supreme Court in 1990, where he continues as a Justice after serving as Chief Justice for six years, 1995-2001. Justice Benham holds

neg: Adrienne Nelson in February 2006, to replace Sidney Galton. She was re-elected to a new six-year term in 2012. Governor Kate Brown appointed Nelson to the Oregon Supreme Court in January 2018, to replace justice Jack Landau, who retired on December 31, 2017. Justice Nelson's current term on the Supreme Court ends in January 2019, and she is eligible to run for re-election in November 2018. Nelson is the first African-American to serve on the Oregon Supreme Court, or on any kind of appellate court in Oregon. Adrienne Nelson Adrienne Nelson (born 1967) is an American lawyer and judge who is an

neg: Louisiana Supreme Court end of 2008, Justice Hughes was appointed Pro Tempore to fill in until an election could be held. Justice Hughes won the election to the Louisiana Fifth Supreme Court District on December 8, 2012, over the Democrat John Michael Guidry, an African American circuit court judge, who had led in the first round of balloting on November 6. Hughes was a judge on the 21st Judicial District Court from 1990 to 2005, and later a judge on the First Circuit Court of Appeals from 2005 to 2013. He earned his Juris Doctor from Louisiana State University Law School. Justice Weimer

neg: Robert N. C. Nix Jr. Robert N. C. Nix Jr. Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix Jr. (July 13, 1928 – August 23, 2003) served as the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1984 to 1996. Nix was the first African-American Chief Justice of any state's highest court, and the first African American to be elected to statewide office in Pennsylvania. He served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for 24 years, 12 of which were as chief justice, and was a prominent figure in Pennsylvania law and public service for more than three decades. Nix was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on

neg: Tom Colbert first African-American to serve on that Court. Colbert briefly served as Chief Judge of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals in 2004, then was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court District 6 seat in 2004, by Governor Brad Henry, becoming the first African-American to serve on this court. On January 4, 2013, he was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the former Chief Justice Steven Taylor. Very little has been published about Tom Colbert's personal life. One source revealed that he has a wife and three children. Another said that he was raised by a single

neg: John F. Kennedy Supreme Court candidates his first vacancy on the Supreme Court. Two names initially came up as potential nominees: Judge William H. Hastie of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Harvard Law School Professor Paul A. Freund. United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy had recommended Hastie, who would have become the first African-American on the Supreme Court. Robert F. Kennedy said "it would mean so much overseas that we had a Negro on the Supreme Court." However, Hastie was opposed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, who balked because "he's not a liberal and he'll be opposed to all

neg: Wallace B. Jefferson Wallace B. Jefferson Wallace Bernard Jefferson (born July 22, 1963) is a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, who served from 2004 until October 1, 2013. In October 2013, he joined the law firm Alexander Dubose Jefferson Townsend LLP as a name partner and now practices appellate law. He sits on the council of the American Law Institute and became its treasurer in May 2014. A member of the Republican Party, Jefferson was the first African American justice to serve on the Texas Supreme Court, the state's court of last resort for civil and juvenile appeals. Jefferson

neg: Peggy Quince Peggy Quince Peggy Ann Quince (born January 3, 1948) is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, having previously served as Chief Justice from July 1, 2008, until June 30, 2010. Quince was the second African American and third woman to serve as Chief Justice. She had been a Justice of the Court since 1999, and was the first African-American woman to sit on the state's highest Court and the third female Justice. From 1993 to 1997 she served as a judge on Florida's Second District Court of Appeal. On July 1, 2008, Quince assumed the office of Chief

neg: Roderick L. Ireland Judicial Court by Governor William Weld. He is the first African-American associate justice and also the first African-American chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. He resigned from the high court in 2014, and was replaced by Associate Justice Ralph Gants. Chief Justice Ireland has served on the faculty of both Northeastern University School of Law and Northeastern University's College of Criminal Justice. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Northeastern University. In 2015, the town of Springfield, Massachusetts renamed the street Ireland grew up on, Terence Street,

neg: Peggy Quince of signing Quince's commission to office fell to Chiles' temporary successor, Governor Buddy MacKay. Thus, three Governors were involved in Quince's appointment. Peggy Quince Peggy Ann Quince (born January 3, 1948) is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, having previously served as Chief Justice from July 1, 2008, until June 30, 2010. Quince was the second African American and third woman to serve as Chief Justice. She had been a Justice of the Court since 1999, and was the first African-American woman to sit on the state's highest Court and the third female Justice. From 1993 to 1997

neg: John Carro interaction with the young Lee Harvey Oswald. From 1965 to 1969 Carro was in private practice and was law partner with Mary Johnson Lowe, a prominent African American attorney who was later appointed a Federal Court Judge. In 1969, Carro was appointed as Judge of the Criminal Court by New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay. In 1976, Carro became an Acting Supreme Court Justice and in 1977, was officially elected to the Supreme Court. Carro was the first Puerto Rican to be elected to the Supreme Court in the Bronx. Two years later in 1979, Governor Hugh L. Carey

neg: Supreme Court of Ohio state and federal. From the election of Justice Robert R. Cupp in November 2006 to replace Democrat Alice Robie Resnick until the 2010 appointment of Eric Brown as Chief Justice, the Court was all Republican. With the January 2018 appointment of Mary DeGenaro to fill the seat vacated by Bill O'Neal, the Court went back to being all Republican; however, the election in November 2018 of Michael Donnelly and Melody Stewart, the first African-American woman elected to the Ohio Supreme Court, turned the balance of power to 5-2 Republican. Asterisks (*) next to retirement dates indicate justices who will be

neg: Leah Ward Sears lawsuit to end that restriction. Leah Ward Sears Leah Ward Sears (born June 13, 1955) is an American jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Sears was the first African-American female Chief Justice in the United States. When she was first appointed as justice in 1992 by Governor Zell Miller, she became the first woman and youngest person to sit on Georgia's Supreme Court. Leah Ward Sears was born in Heidelberg, Germany to United States Army Colonel Thomas E. Sears and Onnye Jean Sears. The family eventually settled in Savannah, Georgia, where she attended and graduated

neg: Leah Ward Sears Leah Ward Sears Leah Ward Sears (born June 13, 1955) is an American jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Sears was the first African-American female Chief Justice in the United States. When she was first appointed as justice in 1992 by Governor Zell Miller, she became the first woman and youngest person to sit on Georgia's Supreme Court. Leah Ward Sears was born in Heidelberg, Germany to United States Army Colonel Thomas E. Sears and Onnye Jean Sears. The family eventually settled in Savannah, Georgia, where she attended and graduated from Beach High School. Sears

neg: Supreme Court of Pakistan Court. In the 1970s–1980s, Justice Dorab Patel was the first Zorastrian, followed by Justice Rustom Sidwa who served as Supreme Court justice from 1989 until 1993. Justice Rana Bhagwandas was the first Hindu jurist who has distinction being the Chief Justice of Pakistan in 2007. Justice Qazi Faez Isa is of the Hazara descent who is currently serving as the justice of the Supreme court. The jurists/judges do not represent or receive the official political endorsements from the nation's political parties which is an acceptable professional practice in the executive branch of the government. As their American counterparts in the

neg: Karla M. Gray was 69. Karla M. Gray Karla Marie Gray (1947 – 2017) was an American attorney and judge who served as the Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court; she was the first woman to serve as Chief Justice and to be elected to the Montana Supreme Court. Gray was born in Escanaba, Michigan. She attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo from 1965–1970, earning a B.A. and an M.A. in African history. She then moved to California, working as a clerk matron at the Mountain View Police Department. She received a J.D. in 1976 from Hastings College of the Law in

neg: Karla M. Gray Karla M. Gray Karla Marie Gray (1947 – 2017) was an American attorney and judge who served as the Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court; she was the first woman to serve as Chief Justice and to be elected to the Montana Supreme Court. Gray was born in Escanaba, Michigan. She attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo from 1965–1970, earning a B.A. and an M.A. in African history. She then moved to California, working as a clerk matron at the Mountain View Police Department. She received a J.D. in 1976 from Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco,

neg: Tom Colbert Tom Colbert Tom Colbert (born December 30, 1949) is an Associate Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Court's District 6 seat in 2004, by Governor Brad Henry, becoming the first African-American to serve on this court. On January 4, 2013, he was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the former Chief Justice Steven Taylor and served as Chief Justice until January 2015. Colbert was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and graduated from high school in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. His educational background includes an associate degree from Eastern Oklahoma State College, and a

neg:
State Bar of Arizona on to become the first woman United States Attorney in the District of Arizona and Arizona's first woman federal judge.
 1961—Lorna Lockwood becomes the first woman Arizona Supreme Court Justice and goes on to become the first woman in the United States to be Chief Justice of a State Supreme Court.
 1962—The "Arizona Bar Journal" debuts.
 1965-Hayzel B. Daniels became the first African American judge in Arizona state history. His appointment became a national news story.
 1966—In a landmark ruling the United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Arizonan Ernesto Miranda, ruling that his confession was not voluntarily given

neg: Louis Austin African American on the United States Supreme Court. Austin had highlighted the importance of African American engagement in the political system his entire life, and Marshall's appointment to one of the most prominent institutions in the United States government was a testament to Austin's beliefs that blacks could achieve power in the political system. "The Carolina Times" printed that "The United States Supreme Court opened a historic term October 2, with the swearing of the first Negro justice in its 178-year history." "The Carolina Times" continued to publicize important milestones for the African American community. Austin continued to advocate for

neg: Supreme Court of the United States one to two years. The first law clerk was hired by Associate Justice Horace Gray in 1882. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. and Louis Brandeis were the first Supreme Court justices to use recent law school graduates as clerks, rather than hiring a "stenographer-secretary." Most law clerks are recent law school graduates. The first female clerk was Lucile Lomen, hired in 1944 by Justice William O. Douglas. The first African-American, William T. Coleman, Jr., was hired in 1948 by Justice Felix Frankfurter. A disproportionately large number of law clerks have obtained law degrees from elite law schools, especially Harvard, Yale, the

neg: Graciela Dixon Graciela Dixon Graciela Dixon is a former Chief Justice of the Corte Suprema de Justicia de Panamá (Supreme Court of Panama). She is widely considered to be the first woman of African descent to hold that position. Supreme Court magistrates in Panama serve fixed 10-year terms and elect, from among their peers, the Chief Justice, who serves for one two-year term. She was nominated by Panama, under the Rome Statute, to sit in the International Criminal Court in the Hague, however, this nomination was not successful. Prior to becoming a Supreme Court justice, Dixon spent 22 years in private legal

neg: Race in the United States criminal justice system "separate but equal". Homer Adolph Plessy was removed from the East Louisiana Railroad train and arrested for violating the Jim Crow Car Act of 1890 on June 7, 1892. Despite the Supreme Court ruling against him, Plessy's case marked the first use of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection provision after the Reconstruction Period. In 1935 the United States Supreme Court overturned convictions of the Scottsboro Boys in "Norris v. Alabama". These were nine African American teenagers who had been previously denied equal protection under the law as stated in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because African Americans

neg: William H. Hastie hold this position. Hastie served as governor from 1946 to 1949. Hastie received a recess appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from Harry S. Truman on October 21, 1949 — the first African-American appellate judge. Hastie was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 19, 1950, and received his commission on July 22, 1950, going on to serve on the appellate court for 22 years. As the first and most distinguished African American on the Federal bench, Hastie was considered as a possible candidate to be the first African-American Justice of the Supreme Court.

neg: James E. Graves Jr. Court in 2004. At the time, Graves was the only African-American Justice on the Court. The first African-Americans to serve on the Mississippi Supreme Court were Reuben Anderson, who served from 1985 to 1990, followed by Fred L. Banks Jr. from 1991 to 2001. On June 10, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Graves to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to replace Judge Rhesa H. Barksdale, who assumed senior status on August 8, 2009. Although approved by Senate Judiciary Committee on December 1, 2010, the Senate failed to act on the nomination.

neg: Bernette Joshua Johnson was succeeded by Republican, Scott Crichton, a former Louisiana 1st District Court judge from Shreveport. Bernette Joshua Johnson Bernette Joshua Johnson (born June 1943) is a Democratic lawyer from New Orleans, Louisiana, who has served as the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court since 2013. She is the first African American to have this position, and succeeded Catherine D. Kimball. As of 2017, Johnson is the only Democrat serving on the state Supreme Court, which also consists of four Republicans and two Independents. Johnson was born in 1943 in New Orleans. She attended local public schools, which were still

neg: Juanita Kidd Stout African-American woman in the US to be elected to a judgeship. On November 15, 1959, Justice Stout appeared on the game show "What's My Line?" from that position. She later was appointed to the Court of Common Pleas, where she specialized in homicide cases. In 1988 she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the first African-American woman in the United States to serve on the Supreme Court of any state. That year her husband died. She served for one year before obligatory retirement at age 70. Stout died in Philadelphia in 1998. Juanita Kidd Stout Juanita Kidd Stout

neg: William E. McAnulty Jr. aged 59. A standing-room-only memorial service was held on August 26, 2007, in the Highland Presbyterian Church. He is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. A bust of Judge McAnulty was unveiled in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, on February 11, 2010. The bust is located in the antechamber to the Supreme Court courtroom in the State Capitol. William E. McAnulty Jr. William Eugene McAnulty Jr. (October 9, 1947 – August 23, 2007) was an American attorney and judge in Louisville, Kentucky who became the first African American justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court. He

neg: Randy Evans tenure as the longest serving Republican Speaker of the House in history including the Bush vs. Gore election in 2000 and the attacks on September 11, 2001. Beginning in 2002, Evans represented Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, who was the first Republican governor in Georgia since Reconstruction. Later, Perdue nominated Harold Melton to the Georgia Supreme Court. Melton was appointed as the first Republican African-American justice to Georgia's Supreme Court. Evans went on to represent Perdue's successor, Governor Nathan Deal. Evans has represented former House Republican Conference Chairman J. C. Watts since his last term in Congress. He later served as

neg: Blyew v. United States of the law. Justice William Strong wrote that any case involving an African American witness could be brought to a Federal Court if the court had ruled for the victims and upheld the right of African Americans to testify in court. Blyew v. United States Blyew v. United States was a case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court in April 1872 addressing the civil rights of African Americans, as well as states' rights issues. The case involved the testimony of a dying man who identified his attackers and the testimony of other African American victims of an attack with an

neg: United States Constitution Chief Justice Roger B. Taney of Dred Scott case fame. In one of his first official acts, Chase admitted John Rock, the first African-American to practice before the Supreme Court. The "Chase Court" is famous for "Texas v. White", which asserted a permanent Union of indestructible states. "Veazie Bank v. Fenno" upheld the Civil War tax on state banknotes. "Hepburn v. Griswold" found parts of the Legal Tender Acts unconstitutional, though it was reversed under a late Supreme Court majority. William Howard Taft was a Harding appointment to Chief Justice from 1921 to 1930. A Progressive Republican from Ohio, he

neg: Daniel Payne European-American representatives of the Cincinnati Methodist Episcopal Conference, Payne served on the founding board of directors of Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1856. Among the trustees who supported the abolitionist cause and African-American education was Salmon P. Chase, then governor of Ohio, who was appointed as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court by President Abraham Lincoln. The denominations jointly sponsored Wilberforce in 1856 to provide collegiate education to African Americans. It was the first historically black college in which African Americans were part of the founding. Wilberforce was located at what had been a popular summer resort, called Tawawa

neg: Charles E. Freeman Charles E. Freeman Charles E. Freeman (born December 12, 1933) is an American attorney and former first district justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. He was elected to his position on the court on November 6, 1990, becoming its first African-American justice. He served as Chief Justice from May 12, 1997 to January 1, 2000. His political affiliation is Democratic. He retired from the court on June 14, 2018. Freeman is originally from Virginia. His surname may have been adopted when his father's family was freed from slavery by Quakers before the Civil War. Charles Freeman received his undergraduate degree

neg: Leslie D. King to the Mississippi House of Representatives, serving from 1980 to 1994. In 1994, King was elected to the Mississippi Court of Appeals, where he served until his appointment to the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2011. King is only the 4th African American to serve as a Mississippi Supreme Court Justice in the state's history. On February 23, 2011, Governor Haley Barbour appointed King to the Mississippi Supreme Court. Leslie D. King Leslie D. King (born January 17, 1949) is a justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. King graduated from Coleman High School in Greenville, Mississippi in 1966 and then attended

neg: William E. McAnulty Jr. William E. McAnulty Jr. William Eugene McAnulty Jr. (October 9, 1947 – August 23, 2007) was an American attorney and judge in Louisville, Kentucky who became the first African American justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court. He served on every level court in Kentucky. The son of a mailman, he attended Shortridge High School, Indiana University, and received a J.D. from the University of Louisville School of Law. McAnulty became a juvenile court judge in Louisville in 1975, and was elected Jefferson County District Court judge in 1977. In 1980, he left the bench when Governor John Y. Brown Jr.

neg: Louisiana Supreme Court Louisiana State University Law Center in Baton Rouge 1969. In 1984, she was elected District Judge for the Civil District Court for Orleans Parish. In 1994, she was elected Chief Judge of that Court. Justice Johnson began serving on the Supreme Court in 1994. She was not elected but appointed to the post after the U.S. government sued the state to insure that at least one seat on the Supreme Court be held by a minority person. The state expanded the court from six to seven seats and appointed Johnson at that time. She is the first African-American woman to

neg: Susie Sharp Susie Sharp Susie Marshall Sharp (July 7, 1907 – March 1, 1996) was an American jurist who served as the first female chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. She was not the first woman to head the highest court in a U.S. state, but is believed to be the first woman elected to such a post in a state, like North Carolina, in which the position is elected by the people separately from that of Associate Justice. In 1965, Lorna E. Lockwood became the first female chief justice of a state supreme court, but in Arizona, the Supreme

neg: Otis M. Smith Otis M. Smith Otis M. Smith (1922–1994) was the first African American justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and the General Counsel for General Motors. Smith graduated from law school at The Catholic University of America in 1950, where he was a member of the first volume of the school's "Law Review". He then went to Flint, Michigan, where he engaged in private practice until 1957. At that time he was appointed to the Michigan Public Service Commission. From 1959 until 1961 Smith served as Michigan Auditor General. He was appointed a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court in 1961

neg: Charles Z. Smith Charles Z. Smith Charles Z. Smith (February 23, 1927 – August 28, 2016) was an American judge who served as a Washington State Supreme Court Justice from 1988 to 2002. He was the first person of color and the only African American to hold the position. Smith was born in Lakeland, Florida. His father, John R. Smith, was a Cuban immigrant, and his mother, Eva Love Smith, was an African American whose grandparents were former slaves. Smith was one of eight siblings. During his childhood, he lived in Franklin, North Carolina; Lakeland; and Maitland, Florida. As a teenager, one of

neg: Salmon P. Chase the party, Lincoln mentioned Chase as a potential Supreme Court nominee. When Chief Justice Roger B. Taney died in October 1864, Lincoln named Chase to replace him. Lincoln issued the nomination on December 6, 1864. Chase was confirmed by the Senate that very day, and immediately received his commission, holding the office from 1864 until his own death in 1873. Chase was a complete change from the pro-slavery Taney; one of Chase's first acts as Chief Justice was to admit John Rock as the first African-American attorney to argue cases before the Supreme Court. Among his most prominent decisions while

neg: Bernette Joshua Johnson Bernette Joshua Johnson Bernette Joshua Johnson (born June 1943) is a Democratic lawyer from New Orleans, Louisiana, who has served as the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court since 2013. She is the first African American to have this position, and succeeded Catherine D. Kimball. As of 2017, Johnson is the only Democrat serving on the state Supreme Court, which also consists of four Republicans and two Independents. Johnson was born in 1943 in New Orleans. She attended local public schools, which were still segregated. She went to college at Spelman College in Georgia, earning a BA in 1964.

neg: Supreme Court of the United States of a chief justice, currently John Roberts, and eight associate justices. Among the current members of the Court, Clarence Thomas is the longest-serving justice, with a tenure of days () as of ; the most recent justice to join the court is Brett Kavanaugh, whose tenure began on October 6, 2018. This graphical timeline depicts the length of each current Supreme Court justice's tenure (not seniority) on the Court: The Court currently has six male and three female justices. Among the nine justices, there is one African-American (Justice Thomas) and one Hispanic (Justice Sotomayor). Two of the justices were born

neg: Brandeis Brief health or welfare of classes of individuals. This strategy of combining legal argument with scientific evidence was later successfully used in "Brown v. Board of Education" to demonstrate the harmful psychological effects of segregated education on African-American children. Brandeis Brief The Brandeis Brief was a pioneering legal brief that was the first in United States legal history to rely more on a compilation of scientific information and social science than on legal citations. It is named after then-litigator and eventual associate Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who presented it in his argument for the 1908 US Supreme Court case "Muller

neg: Frank Drowota 1965. He served in the United States Naval Reserve as a Judge Advocate General's Corps officer. Drowota practiced law with Goodpasture, Carpenter, Woods & Sasser in Nashville until 1970, when he was elected chancellor of the Davidson County Chancery Court. From this position he was elevated to the Tennessee Court of Appeals in 1974. In 1980, Drowota was elected to an unexpired term on the Tennessee Supreme Court to the seat of former justice Joe Henry, who had died of a heart attack. Drowota defeated George Brown, the court's first African-American member, who had been appointed to the position by

neg: Juanita Kidd Stout Juanita Kidd Stout Juanita Kidd Stout (March 7, 1919 – August 21, 1998), born in Wewoka, Oklahoma, was an attorney and judge, last serving as Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, from 1988–1989. She set up a practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1954. After working in the District Attorney's office, where Stout was known for her successful prosecutions, she was appointed on an interim basis to the municipal court bench in 1959, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as a judge in the state. Elected that year to the municipal court, she was the first African-American woman elected

neg: John Charles Thomas (judge) to make partner. In 1983, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Virginia, becoming the first African American and (being 32) the youngest person of any race to sit there. In the middle of his seventh year on the court, he resigned (due to illness) and was succeeded by Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr.. who later became the court's first black chief justice. Judge Thomas now practices law in Richmond, Virginia as part of the Hunton & Williams LLP law firm. In 1995, he received the NAACP's Lifetime Image Award. In 2005, Thomas was named a member of the Court

neg: Louis B. Butler was returned to the President on December 17, 2011, pursuant to the rules of the Senate. Louis B. Butler Louis Bennett Butler Jr. (born 1952) is a former justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Butler was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Jim Doyle in August 2004; his term expired on July 31, 2008. He is the first African American to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Louis Butler was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He earned his bachelor's degree from Lawrence University in 1973 and his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1977.

neg: Louis B. Butler Louis B. Butler Louis Bennett Butler Jr. (born 1952) is a former justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Butler was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Jim Doyle in August 2004; his term expired on July 31, 2008. He is the first African American to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Louis Butler was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He earned his bachelor's degree from Lawrence University in 1973 and his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1977. After serving as an assistant state public defender from 1979 to 1992, Louis Butler was appointed

neg: Larry Thompson African-American ever to head the Justice Department. Instead, Alberto Gonzales was selected as Ashcroft's replacement. Later, Thompson's name was mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. With the resignation of Gonzales in August 2007, Thompson's name again surfaced a candidate for Attorney General. He supported former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 presidential election, and the American Bar Association mentioned Thompson again as a possible Attorney General or Supreme Court justice during a potential John McCain administration. Thompson was named independent corporate monitor overseeing compliance reforms at Volkswagen AG for the next

neg: Robert D. Rucker Valparaiso University School of Law. Justice Rucker is the father of three children: James, Dawn and Fanon. Fanon A. Rucker is a Judge on the Hamilton County Municipal Court in Cincinnati, Ohio. Justice Rucker and Judge Rucker were recently honored as the first African-American father/son Justice/Judge combination in known American History. Robert D. Rucker Robert D. Rucker (born 1952) was the 105th justice appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court. He retired May 12, 2017. Born in Canton, Georgia, Rucker grew up in Gary, Indiana, and is a veteran of the Vietnam War. He is a graduate of Indiana University (B.A.

neg: Ernest A. Finney Jr. 1972. He was subsequently appointed a member of the House Judiciary Committee, making him the first African-American to serve on that key committee in modern times. Finney was one of the founders of the Legislative Black Caucus and served as charter Chairperson from 1973-75. In May 1994, the state's general assembly elected Ernest Finney to the position of Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, effective December 1994, making him the first African-American Chief Justice of South Carolina since Reconstruction. In 1976, he won an election to become South Carolina's first black circuit judge. He has been on the state

neg: Belford Lawson Jr. Belford Lawson Jr. Belford Vance Lawson Jr. (July 9, 1901 – February 23, 1985) was an American attorney and civil rights activist who made at least eight appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was the first African-American man to win a case before the Supreme Court and the first African-American president of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). Lawson attended the University of Michigan and was the school's second African-American varsity football player (having been preceded by George Jewett in the 1890s) and the only African American on the varsity during Fielding H. Yost's coaching tenure. In 1924, after

neg: John Matthias John M. Matthias, was a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court who followed his own father, Edward S. Matthias, on the high court bench. His mother, Lois Kirkpatrick Matthias, taught elementary school at the Ohio State University lab school where Matthias himself was a pupil from first grade to senior high school. There he met several contemporaries who became life-long friends, especially Joel Barkan, a scholar of African and American politics, who appears in his poems and in his novel, "Different Kinds of Music." At Notre Dame, Matthias initially taught courses in modern literature but, once an MFA program was

neg: Charles V. Bush 2012. Charles V. Bush Charles Vernon Bush (December 17, 1939 – November 5, 2012) was an American civil rights activist, retired senior corporate executive and former U.S. Air Force officer. In 1954, Bush was selected by Chief Justice Earl Warren for appointment as the first African-American page of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also one of the first three African-American Cadets to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy and the first African American to graduate from there. The son of Charles H. Bush, an administrator at Howard University, and his wife Marie, Bush grew up around

neg: Charles V. Bush Charles V. Bush Charles Vernon Bush (December 17, 1939 – November 5, 2012) was an American civil rights activist, retired senior corporate executive and former U.S. Air Force officer. In 1954, Bush was selected by Chief Justice Earl Warren for appointment as the first African-American page of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also one of the first three African-American Cadets to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy and the first African American to graduate from there. The son of Charles H. Bush, an administrator at Howard University, and his wife Marie, Bush grew up around Howard

neg: Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States descended from Sephardic Jews from the Iberian Peninsula who fled to Holland during the Spanish Inquisition then to London, before arriving in New York prior to the American Revolution. Justice Antonin Scalia, who served from 1986-2016, and Justice Samuel Alito, who has served since 2006, are the first justices of Italian descent to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Justice Scalia's father and both maternal grandparents as well as both of Justice Alito's parents were born in Italy. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born to a father who immigrated from Russia at age 13 and a mother who was born

neg: A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. chambers were originally in the Federal Courthouse and Post Office at 9th and Market Streets, in Philadelphia (the building was later named in honor of Robert N.C. Nix Sr., the first African American member of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation and father of Robert N.C. Nix Jr., the first African-American Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court). As a new judge, Higginbotham still encountered racism. On his first day on the district court, he parked his car in the area reserved for judges, and was yelled at by a guard "Hey, boy!" Higginbotham asked whether the guard was speaking to him, and

neg: University of Virginia NATO Secretary General Javier Solana; United States President and Nobel Laureate Woodrow Wilson; U.S. Speaker of the House Robert M. T. Hunter; widely known United States Senators Harry Byrd, Robert F. Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy; the first African American Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court, Leroy Hassell; the United States Supreme Court Justices Howell Edmunds Jackson, James Clark McReynolds, and Stanley Forman Reed; Federal Judge on United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: Thomas B. Griffith, and President of the Supreme Court of Israel Asher Grunis. Fourteen Governors of Virginia are UVA alumni: Gerald Baliles,

neg: Olumuyiwa Jibowu Olumuyiwa Jibowu Sir Olumuyiwa Jibowu, Kt (26 August 1899 – 1 June 1959) was a Nigerian jurist who was the first African to serve on the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The first African police magistrate, the first Nigerian High court judge, a pioneer of the Nigerian Judiciary and one-time Chief Justice of Western Region, Nigeria. Jibowu was also a judge of the West African Court of Appeal. Samuel Olumuyiwa Jibowu was the first surviving male child of Samuel Alexander Adebowale Jibowu and Mary Elizabeth Jibowu [née Pearce]. He was also a nephew-in-law to Adeyemo Alakija. He was born on August

neg: Virginia Linder Barbara Lenk, Connecticut Supreme Court justice Andrew J. McDonald, Vermont Supreme Court justice Beth Robinson, and Washington Supreme Court justice Mary Yu. Her 2006 election campaign was supported by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. Virginia Linder Virginia Lynn Linder (born 1953) is an American judge from Oregon who served as the 99th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from January 2007 until January 2016. She served on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 1997 until her election to the state's Supreme Court in the 2006, an electoral campaign in which she defeated former Labor Commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate

neg: Rosemary Barkett Rosemary Barkett Rosemary Barkett (born August 29, 1939) is a Judge of the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal. Previously, she served as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Prior to her nomination for that post, she was Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court. Born in Mexico to parents who were emigrants from Syria, she is recognized as the first woman, Arab American, and Hispanic judge (of Syrian descent) on the Florida Supreme Court—contrasting with Justice Raoul Cantero who was the first Justice of Hispanic descent. Born Rosemary Barakat in Ciudad

neg: William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. spent the war defending the accused in court-martials. After the war, Coleman returned to Harvard Law, where he became the third black staff member accepted to the "Harvard Law Review", and graduated first in his class and magna cum laude in 1946. He began his legal career in 1947, serving as law clerk to Judge Herbert F. Goodrich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter in 1948. He was the first African American to serve as a Supreme Court law clerk. Fellow clerks, including Elliot Richardson, would have difficulty finding

neg: Chase Court Chief Justice was to admit John Rock as the first African-American attorney to argue cases before the Supreme Court. During Chase's chief-justiceship, Congress passed the Habeas Corpus Act 1867, giving the Court the ability to issue writs of habeas corpus for defendants tried by state courts. The Chase Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendent for the first time, and its narrow reading of the Amendment would be adopted by subsequent courts. As Chief Justice, Chase presided over the 1868 impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. He also pursued the presidency twice while in office; he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination

neg: Graciela Dixon practice. She is a graduate of the University of Panama and the Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua. Graciela Dixon Graciela Dixon is a former Chief Justice of the Corte Suprema de Justicia de Panamá (Supreme Court of Panama). She is widely considered to be the first woman of African descent to hold that position. Supreme Court magistrates in Panama serve fixed 10-year terms and elect, from among their peers, the Chief Justice, who serves for one two-year term. She was nominated by Panama, under the Rome Statute, to sit in the International Criminal Court in the Hague, however, this

neg: University of Dayton School of Law The concentrations allow students to develop their skills and knowledge in those specific areas in an effort to give them better training in the field they plan to enter. Michael B. Coleman '80 - First African-American Mayor of Columbus, Ohio. Hon. Frank Geraci '77 -Chief U.S. District Judge- Western District of New York Hon. Elizabeth A. McClanahan '84 - Virginia Supreme Court Justice Hon. Frank Caruso '82 - 8th Judicial District, Niagara County, Supreme Court Justice Hon. Beth Ann Buchanan '97 - U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Southern District of Ohio David P. Joyce '82 - U.S. House of Representatives, Ohio 14th

neg: Cleo Powell judge, working as a General District Court Judge in Chesterfield, Virginia and Colonial Heights, Virginia from 1993 until 2000, a Circuit Court Judge in the same jurisdictions from 2000 until 2008, and on the Court of Appeals of Virginia from 2008 until 2011. In 2013 Powell was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History". Cleo Powell Cleo Elaine Powell (born January 12, 1957) is a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. She was sworn in on October 21, 2011 for a term ending in July 31, 2023. Justice Powell is the first African American

neg: Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States four months after her parents immigrated from Poland. No African-American candidate was given serious consideration for appointment to the Supreme Court until the election of John F. Kennedy, who weighed the possibility of appointing William H. Hastie of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Hastie had been the first African-American elevated to a Court of Appeals when Harry S. Truman had so appointed him in 1949, and by the time of the Kennedy Administration, it was widely anticipated that Hastie might be appointed to the Supreme Court. That Kennedy gave serious consideration to making this appointment

neg: Belford Lawson Jr. was elected President of the National Council of the YMCA. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1985, after having battled Alzheimer's disease and cancer. Belford Lawson Jr. Belford Vance Lawson Jr. (July 9, 1901 – February 23, 1985) was an American attorney and civil rights activist who made at least eight appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was the first African-American man to win a case before the Supreme Court and the first African-American president of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). Lawson attended the University of Michigan and was the school's second African-American varsity football player (having been

neg: Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination drag-out, bloody-knuckles, grass-roots fight" over confirmation. On July 1, 1991, President Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to replace Marshall, who had recently announced his retirement. By then, Thomas had been a federal judge for 16 months. He had not previously argued before the Court, though that has not been a traditional requirement. Marshall had been the first African American Justice on the Court, and while the appointment of Thomas would preserve the existing racial composition of the Court, it was seen as likely to move its ideological balance to the right. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh had previously warned Bush that replacing

neg: Supreme Court of Liberia Supreme Court of Liberia The Supreme Court of Liberia is the highest judicial body in the West African nation of Liberia. The court consists of the Chief Justice of Liberia, who is also the top Judiciary official, and four Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The justices hold court at the Temple of Justice on Capitol Hill in Monrovia. The Article III of the Constitution of Liberia stipulates judiciary as one of the three branches of government that ought to be equal and coordinated based on the Principle of checks and balances. The

neg: African Americans proportion that rose to 27 percent by 1967. In 1960, the median level of education for blacks had been 10.8 years, and by the late Sixties the figure rose to 12.2 years, half a year behind the median for whites. Politically and economically, African Americans have made substantial strides during the post–civil rights era. In 1989, Douglas Wilder became the first African American elected governor in U.S. history. Clarence Thomas became the second African-American Supreme Court Justice. In 1992, Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois became the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate. There were 8,936 black officeholders in the

neg: Benjamin Robbins Curtis children. Benjamin Robbins Curtis Benjamin Robbins Curtis (November 4, 1809 – September 15, 1874) was an American attorney and United States Supreme Court Justice. Curtis was the first and only Whig justice of the Supreme Court. He was also the first Supreme Court justice to have a formal legal degree and is the only justice to have resigned from the court over a matter of principle. He successfully acted as chief counsel for the Impeachment of U.S. President Andrew Johnson during the first presidential impeachment trial and is notable as one of the two dissenters in the "Dred Scott" decision.

neg: Benjamin Robbins Curtis Benjamin Robbins Curtis Benjamin Robbins Curtis (November 4, 1809 – September 15, 1874) was an American attorney and United States Supreme Court Justice. Curtis was the first and only Whig justice of the Supreme Court. He was also the first Supreme Court justice to have a formal legal degree and is the only justice to have resigned from the court over a matter of principle. He successfully acted as chief counsel for the Impeachment of U.S. President Andrew Johnson during the first presidential impeachment trial and is notable as one of the two dissenters in the "Dred Scott" decision. Benjamin

neg: Henry Stern to a New York State Supreme Court Justice, Matthew M. Levy. He was appointed Secretary of the Borough of Manhattan in 1962, and was an assistant to Borough Presidents Edward R. Dudley (a former ambassador, and prominent African American civil rights activist) and Constance Baker Motley, the first African-American woman to become a federal court judge. In 1966, Parks Commissioner Thomas Hoving appointed him executive director of the agency. He later became Assistant City Administrator in the office of Deputy Mayor Timothy W. Costello. In 1969, Commissioner Bess Myerson of the newly created NYC agency that was formed by consolidating

neg: Friendship Nine barrier of arrest, lock-up, and bail-out." In 2015, Judge John C. Hayes III of Rock Hill overturned the convictions of the nine, stating: "We cannot rewrite history, but we can right history." At the same occasion, Prosecutor Kevin Brackett apologized to the eight men still living, who were in court. The men were represented at the hearing by Ernest A. Finney, Jr., the same lawyer who had defended them originally, who subsequently went on to become the first African-American Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court since Reconstruction. Friendship Nine The Friendship Nine, or Rock Hill Nine, was a

neg: Mississippi Court of Appeals public schools of the Mississippi Delta for four years before going to law school. In 1974, he graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law. In 1975, he became the first African-American attorney to clerk for the Mississippi Supreme Court when he was hired as a law clerk to the late Chief Justice Robert G. Gillespie. In 1976, he served as an Earl Warren Fellow intern with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in New York, New York. In 1978, he became the first African-American to serve as an assistant United States Attorney in Mississippi since reconstruction when

neg: Otis M. Smith University of America. Otis M. Smith Otis M. Smith (1922–1994) was the first African American justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and the General Counsel for General Motors. Smith graduated from law school at The Catholic University of America in 1950, where he was a member of the first volume of the school's "Law Review". He then went to Flint, Michigan, where he engaged in private practice until 1957. At that time he was appointed to the Michigan Public Service Commission. From 1959 until 1961 Smith served as Michigan Auditor General. He was appointed a justice of the Michigan Supreme

neg: Roger A. Page Roger A. Page Roger A. Page (born October 7, 1955) is an American lawyer and judge who is a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Having been appointed to the court by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. Justice Page was sworn in as a member of the Tennessee Supreme Court in February 2016. He was appointed to this position by Governor Bill Haslam. He was the first Justice to be confirmed by the state legislature under the state's appellate court selection process ratified by state voters in 2014. This amendment to the Constitution of Tennessee requires appointment by the governor and

neg: Fred L. Banks Jr. Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, during the administration of President Bill Clinton, as there were no African American judges on the Fifth Circuit. Clinton ultimately appointed Louisiana state court judge Carl E. Stewart as the first African American judge on the Fifth Circuit. Banks retired from the court in 2001, and thereafter became a senior partner at the law firm of Phelps Dunbar. Fred L. Banks Jr. Fred L. Banks Jr. (born September 1, 1942) is a former Mississippi Supreme Court justice, having served on the court from 1991 to 2001. Banks grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, the son of

neg: A. A. Birch Jr. A. A. Birch Jr. Adolpho A. Birch Jr. (September 22, 1932 – August 25, 2011) was an American lawyer and judge who was the first African American to serve as Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Birch was born in Washington, D.C. in 1932 and grew up in that city, the son of an Episcopal priest who was widowed early and subsequently raised his son as a single parent. His father's professional concerns for his parishioners left Birch with much time on his own, and he often raised small amounts of money for himself by picking up soft drink

neg: Charles Z. Smith Service also named a low-cost housing location after him. Smith and Eleanor "Elie" Jane Martinez married in 1955. They had four children who currently reside in Seattle. Smith died on August 28, 2016, at his home in Seattle, Washington. Charles Z. Smith Charles Z. Smith (February 23, 1927 – August 28, 2016) was an American judge who served as a Washington State Supreme Court Justice from 1988 to 2002. He was the first person of color and the only African American to hold the position. Smith was born in Lakeland, Florida. His father, John R. Smith, was a Cuban immigrant,

neg: Jack Pope Jack Pope Andrew Jackson Pope, Jr., known as Jack Pope (April 18, 1913 – February 25, 2017), was an American judge, attorney, author and legal scholar who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. Pope holds the record of the longest sitting justice in Texas Supreme Court history, having served for 38 years. At the time of his 100th birthday, he was the oldest living former Chief Justice of any supreme court in the United States, as well as the longest living chief justice of any supreme court of any state in United States history. Pope was

neg: Leah Ward Sears Emory University School of Law. Sears was appointed by Mayor Andrew Young to the City of Atlanta Traffic Court in 1985. She then became a Superior Court judge in 1988, becoming the first African-American woman to hold that position in the state. Sears was appointed as a state Supreme Court justice in 1992. Twelve years later, in what is historically a non-partisan election, the Georgia Republican Party and Georgia Christian Coalition targeted Sears for defeat in 2004. However, she easily defeated her challenger with 62 percent of the vote, and became Chief Justice of the Court in June 2005. Sears