Fred Lee Banks Jr. (born September 1, 1942) is an American lawyer, politician, and former Mississippi Supreme Court justice, having served on the court from 1991 to 2001.

Early life, education, and career

Banks grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, the son of F. L. Banks Sr. and Violet Mabery Banks and graduated from Lanier High School in 1960. He received a

BBA Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

from Howard University in Washington, D.C. followed by a JD from the

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...

, in 1968, where he graduated ''cum laude'', second in his class. Banks "chose to enter the law to help African Americans achieve equality", being one of only a handful of African American attorneys in the state at the time of his graduation. After gaining

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in Mississippi, he entered into private practice in Jackson with several other attorneys acting as local counsel for the

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Altho ...

. He then formed a law firm with several of those attorneys, Reuben Anderson, E.M. Nichols, and

Melvyn R. Leventhal Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal (born March 18, 1943) Evelyn C. White, ''Alice Walker: A Life'' (2004), p. 135-137. is an American attorney known for his work as a community organizer and lawyer in the 1960s–70s Civil Rights Movement, and for being th ...

Career

Legislative service

In 1975, Banks was elected to represent

Hinds County Hinds County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. With its county seats (Raymond and the state's capital, Jackson), Hinds is the most populous county in Mississippi with a 2020 census population of 227,742 residents. Hinds Co ...

in the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...

. He was twice re-elected. During his time in the House, Banks chaired the House Ethics Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, and the Legislative Black Caucus. Banks, along with Representatives Horace L. Buckley and Douglas L. Anderson, also from Jackson, fought to preserve records from the pro-segregation

Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (also called the Sov-Com) was a state agency in Mississippi from 1956 to 1977 tasked with fighting desegregation and controlling civil rights activism. It was overseen by the Governor of Mississippi. T ...

, in opposition to a bill which would authorize the destruction of these records. Also during this period, on September 24, 1979, President Jimmy Carter announced his appointment of Banks as one of nine members of the National Advisory Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children.

Judicial service

During this time, Reuben Anderson had been appointed to a seat as a Circuit Judge for the 7th Circuit District, encompassing Hinds County and Yazoo. Banks served in the legislature until February 1985, when Governor William Allain, having elevated Reuben Anderson to the Mississippi Supreme Court, appointed Banks to Anderson's seat on the 7th Circuit District. Banks was twice re-elected without opposition. In January 1991, following Anderson's resignation from the Mississippi Supreme Court, Governor Ray Mabus appointed Banks to fill the remainder of Anderson's term. Banks was elected to serve the remainder of that term in November 1991 and re-elected to a full term in November 1996. In 1993, Banks was mentioned as a potential nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, during the administration of President Bill Clinton, as there were no African American judges on the Fifth Circuit."Clinton and the Federal Courts", '' Black Enterprise'' (April 1993), p. 29. Clinton ultimately appointed Louisiana state court judge

Carl E. Stewart Carl E. Stewart (born January 2, 1950) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994, and previously sat as a judge of the Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal ...

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Fred L. Jr. Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court Politicians from Jackson, Mississippi Members of the Mississippi House of Representatives Mississippi state court judges Howard University alumni Howard University School of Law alumni American civil rights lawyers 1942 births Living people