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First Black justices on the state supreme courts
This page was last updated on July 5, 2023. Please email us about any updates.
The first state in the nation to have a Black supreme court justice was South Carolina, where Jonathan Jasper Wright took office in 1870. After that, the next Black state supreme court justice was Harold A. Stevens on the State of New York Court of Appeals in 1955.
Fifteen states (30%) have not had a Black justice on their supreme court bench.
List of states
The following table lists the first Black justices to serve on each of the state supreme courts.
Jonathan Jasper Wright
Jonathan Jasper Wright (1840-1885) was the first Black justice of a state supreme court in the country. He was born in Pennsylvania and attended school at the Lancasterian Academy in New York, where he graduated in 1860. He was initially denied admittance to the Pennsylvania State Bar Association due to his race. After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, he was accepted in 1866 and became the first Black attorney in Pennsylvania. He taught and gave legal advice to former slaves and helped organize schools. Becoming involved in Republican politics, he served as a delegate to the South Carolina Constitutional Convention in 1868 and was a member of the South Carolina State Senate. At age 30, he was appointed to the South Carolina Supreme Court in 1870. In 1877, when the government became controlled by Democrats, the legislature tried to impeach Wright on charges of corruption. He resigned later that year. After leaving the court, he practiced law in Charleston. An award named after him is given annually to "an outstanding member of the South Carolina legal community."[39][40]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Alabama Department of Archives & History, "Oscar W. Adams Jr."
- ↑ The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, "Supreme Court of Arkansas"
- ↑ CBS Local: San Francisco Bay Area, "California Legislature Celebrating 50 Years Of African-American Justices," April 24, 2011
- ↑ Colorado Judicial Branch, "Justice Gregrory Kellam Scott Resigns from the Supreme Court," March 6, 2000
- ↑ Connecticut Judicial Branch, "Dedication Ceremony program for the naming of the Justice Robert D. Glass Courthouse," May 19, 2008
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Delaware Senate confirms state Supreme Court picks," November 7, 2019
- ↑ 2013 Florida Black History Month: Black Firsts in Florida
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-breaking and Pioneering Historical Events edited by Jessie Carney Smith. Visible Ink Press, 2003. (Google Books preview)
- ↑ Tuskegee University, "Justice Robert Benham"
- ↑ Illinois Blue Book 2011-2012, "Supreme Court" Scroll to p.140
- ↑ Randall T. Shepard Academy, "Indiana Supreme Court"
- ↑ Indiana Public Media, "A Woman's Judgment," March 18, 2013
- ↑ University of Kentucky Libraries, "Notable Kentucky African Americans Database - McAnulty, William E., Jr."
- ↑ Hinterland Gazette, "Justice Revius Ortique Jr., First Black Louisiana Supreme Court Judges Dies at 84," June 23, 2008
- ↑ Press Herald, "Maine Senate confirms Rick Lawrence to the state’s highest court," accessed April 18, 2022
- ↑ Baltimore Bar Library portraits, "Hon. Harry A. Cole"
- ↑ The Massachusetts Judicial System, "The Supreme Judicial Court"
- ↑ Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society, "Otis Smith"
- ↑ University of Minnesota Duluth, "Justice Alan Page panel discussion"
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "First Black Joins State's High Court in Mississippi," January 17, 1985
- ↑ Your Missouri Courts, "Law Matters: Celebrating African-Americans' contributions to Missouri's justice system," March 5, 2013
- ↑ RGJ.com, "Remembering the first black justice in the Nevada Supreme Court," February 5, 2006
- ↑ CBS New York, "Christie Pressed To Make NJ Supreme Court More Diverse," October 21, 2011
- ↑ New York Times, "Judge Harold Stevens, 83, Dies; First Black on Court of Appeals," November 11, 1990
- ↑ This Day In North Carolina History, "Henry Frye: First African-American on the N.C. Supreme Court," February 3, 2013
- ↑ Dayton Daily News, "Ohio’s first black Supreme Court justice dies at 85," November 2, 2012
- ↑ NewsOK, "First black justice takes seat on Oklahoma Supreme Court Tom Colbert is sworn in before a packed Capitol house," November 5, 2004
- ↑ NewsOK, "Judge becomes first black on Court of Criminal Appeals Gov. Henry appointed David B. Lewis to fill vacancy on the bench," September 29, 2005
- ↑ New York Times, "R. N. C. Nix Jr., 75, Groundbreaking Judge," August 26, 2003
- ↑ WPRI 12 News, "Melissa Long sworn in as first Black justice in RI Supreme Court," January 11, 2021
- ↑ University of South Carolina, "Jonathan Jasper Wright Award"
- ↑ YouTube, "Radio Ad, "Important Firsts," Featuring Judge George Brown," October 21, 2008
- ↑ University of Texas at Austin, "Alumnus Wallace B. Jefferson, ’88, Appointed First African American Chief Justice of Texas Supreme Court," September 14, 2004
- ↑ State Bar Association of Texas, "Texas Legal Legends"
- ↑ ABC3 Winchester, "VA's First Black Chief Justice Has Died," February 9, 2011
- ↑ BlackPast.org, "Smith, Charles Z."
- ↑ The West Virginia Encyclopedia, "Franklin D. Cleckley," April 11, 2013
- ↑ Wisconsin Court System, Supreme Court Former Justices: Louis B. Butler, Jr.
- ↑ University of South Carolina School of Law, "Jonathan Jasper Wright Award," accessed March 20, 2015
- ↑ BlackPast.org, "Wright, Jonathan J. (1840-1885)," accessed March 20, 2015
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