Since the first African American, Jonathan Jasper Wright, was appointed to the State Supreme Court of South Carolina in 1870, black men and women have slowly but steadily obtained seats on the highest state courts across the nation. Listed below are the first African Americans elected or appointed to the highest courts in their respective states. As you can see, there are many justices who await volunteers to write their profiles. Please help us bring their stories to the public by writing about them for BlackPast.org. If you are interested please contact us at [email protected].
Alabama
Oscar Adams, Jr., 1980
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
George Howard, Jr., 1977
California
Wiley W. Manuel, 1977
Colorado
Gregory Kellam Scott, 1992
Connecticut
Robert Davis Glass, 1987
Delaware
Tamika Montgomery-Reeves, 2020
Florida
Joseph W. Hatchett, 1975
Georgia
Robert Benham, 1989
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Charles E. Freeman, 1990
Indiana
Myra C. Selby, 1995
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
William E. McAnulty, Jr. 2005
Louisiana
Revius Oliver Ortique, Jr., 1992
Maine
Maryland
Harry A. Cole, 1977
Massachusetts
Roderick Ireland, 1997
Michigan
Otis M. Smith, 1961
Minnesota
Alan Page, 1993
Mississippi
Reuben V. Anderson, 1985
Missouri
Ronnie L. White, 1995
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
Michael Douglas, 2004
New Hampshire
New Jersey
James Coleman, Jr., 1944
New Mexico
New York
Harold A. Stevens, 1955
North Carolina
Henry Frye, 1983
North Dakota
Ohio
Robert Morton Duncan, 1969
Oklahoma
Tom Colbert, 2004
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals*
David B. Lewis, 2005
Oregon
Adrienne C. Nelson, 2018
Pennsylvania
Robert C. Nix, Jr. 1972
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Jonathan Jasper Wright, 1870
South Dakota
Tennessee
George H. Brown, 1980
Texas
Wallace B. Jefferson, 2001
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals*
Louis Sturns, 1990
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
John Charles Thomas, 1983
Washington
Charles Z. Smith, 1988
West Virginia
Franklin D. Cleckley, 1994
Wisconsin
Louis B. Butler, Jr. 2004
Wyoming
*Both Oklahoma and Texas have Courts of Criminal Appeal which are considered of equal rank to their State Supreme Courts.