Harold David Melton (born September 25, 1966) is a former chief justice of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Early years and education

A 1984 graduate of

Joseph Wheeler High School Wheeler High School is located in northeast Cobb County, Georgia. It is near the U.S. city of Marietta, about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta. The school has been in operation since 1965. It is a public high school, accredited by th ...

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, Melton received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it among the oldest American university law sc ...

in 1991. From 1991–2002, he served as a Volunteer Leader of

Young Life Young Life is an evangelical Christian organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado which focuses on young people in middle school, high school, and college. Week-long Summer camps are a major focus, and these have a definite evangelizing asp ...

Ministries and is currently a Board Member of Atlanta Youth Academy and the Director of Teen Ministry at Southwest Christian Fellowship Church. While at

, Melton served as the

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President for the 1987-88 academic year. He was the first African-American student elected to that position in Auburn history. He was also the first "independent" (non-fraternity member) to be elected to that position. The Melton Student Center, at Auburn University, is named for Justice Melton.

Political and legal background

Prior to joining the Court, Melton served as Executive Counsel to Governor Perdue. Before serving as Executive Counsel, Melton spent 11 years as Assistant Attorney General in the Georgia Department of Law.

Service on the Georgia Supreme Court and after

Melton was first appointed to the Court by Governor

Sonny Perdue George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is an American veterinarian, businessman, politician, and university administrator who served as the 31st United States Secretary of Agriculture from 2017 to 2021. He previously served as t ...

on July 1, 2005, to fill a vacancy on the bench created by the retirement of Justice

Norman S. Fletcher Norman S. Fletcher (born July 10, 1934) is an American lawyer and jurist from the state of Georgia. He served on the Supreme Court of Georgia for over 15 years and was the Chief Justice of that body from 2001 through 2005. Early life and educat ...

. His appointment marked the first time a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

had made an appointment to the Supreme Court since 1868 when Governor Rufus B. Bullock selected Justices

Joseph E. Brown Joseph Emerson Brown (April 15, 1821 – November 30, 1894), often referred to as Joe Brown, was an American attorney and politician, serving as the 42nd Governor of Georgia from 1857 to 1865, the only governor to serve four terms. He also se ...

and H. K. McCay. He was sworn in as Chief Justice on September 4, 2018 by former Chief Justice

Harris Hines Preston Harris Hines (September 6, 1943 – November 4, 2018) was the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court in the United States for a span which began in 2017 and ended in 2018. Early years and education Preston Hines was born on September ...

. On February 12, 2021, Melton announced his intent to retire effective July 1, 2021. He accepted a partnership in Troutman Pepper effective July 19, 2021.

References

External links

*
Website of the Supreme Court of GeorgiaPress release from Governor Perdue's office announcing Justice Melton's appointment
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Melton, Harold 1966 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American people 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century African-American people African-American judges African-American people in Georgia (U.S. state) politics Auburn University alumni Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia (U.S. state) Justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia (U.S. state) University of Georgia alumni