Edwin Lloyd Pittman (born January 2, 1935) is an American jurist and politician who served as a justice of the

Supreme Court of Mississippi The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appe ...

from 1989 to 2001 and chief justice from 2001 to 2004. He also served as the State's Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Treasurer. Pittman reached the rank of Brigadier General in the

Mississippi National Guard The Mississippi National Guard (MSNG), commonly known as the Mississippi Guard, is both a Mississippi state and a federal government organization, part of the United States National Guard. It is part of the Mississippi Military Department, a stat ...

Early life and education

Pittman was born in

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 45,989 at the 2010 census, with the popul ...

in 1935. He received his Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1957 and his J.D. from the University of Mississippi in 1960.

Political career

Pittman was first elected to the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol ...

in 1964 and was reelected in 1968 from Forest County. In 1975, he was elected as the State's

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

. He was sworn-in on January 14, 1976. In 1980, he was elected as Mississippi's Secretary of State. In 1984, he was elected

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. Pittman ran for the 1987 Democratic nomination for governor, finishing fifth.

Judicial career

Pittman was first elected to the State Supreme Court in 1988 and reelected in 1996.

Notable rulings

In 2000, Justice Pittman ruled that the courts are not in the position of determining the

state flag In vexillology, a state flag is either the flag of the government of a sovereign state, or the flag of an individual federated state (subnational administrative division). Government flag A state flag is a variant of a national flag (or occasi ...

. He wrote, "In this case, the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

failed to offer any proof that the flying of the state flag deprived any citizen of a constitutionally protected right."

Family

Pittman is married to Virginia Lund Pittman and they are the parents of seven children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittman, Edwin L. 1935 births 20th-century American politicians Living people University of Southern Mississippi alumni University of Mississippi School of Law alumni People from Hattiesburg, Mississippi Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court Mississippi Attorneys General Democratic Party Mississippi state senators Secretaries of State of Mississippi State treasurers of Mississippi