Wallace Bernard Jefferson (born July 22, 1963) is a former
chief justice of the
Supreme Court of Texas, who served from 2004 until October 1, 2013. In October 2013, he joined the law firm Alexander Dubose & Jefferson LLP as a name partner and now practices appellate law.
He sits on the council of the
American Law Institute and became its treasurer in May 2014. A member of the
Republican Party, Jefferson was the first
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
justice to serve on the
Texas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...
, the state's court of last resort for civil and juvenile appeals.
Early life and education
Jefferson is a graduate of
John Jay High School in
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, Texas, the
James Madison College
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...
at
Michigan State University
Historic judicial appointments and elections
In 2001, then
Texas Governor
The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...
Rick Perry initially appointed Jefferson to become the first
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
member of the Texas Supreme Court. Jefferson was appointed on April 18, 2001, to fill the vacancy left by
Alberto R. Gonzales
Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General, appointed in February 2005 by President George W. Bush, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic ...
, who resigned to become
White House counsel
The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...
to U.S. President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
.
In November 2002, Jefferson stood for election to retain the position to which he had been appointed, and defeated William E. Moody with 56.76% of the vote. He became, together with
Dale Wainwright, one of the two first African American Texans ever elected to that court.
Before Jefferson could complete his new term as associate justice, however, he was again promoted. On September 20, 2004, Governor Rick Perry selected Jefferson to succeed chief justice
Thomas R. Phillips, who had resigned from the court a few weeks earlier, after nearly seventeen years as chief.
Jefferson was elected to the position of Chief Justice in November 2006, to serve out the remainder of Phillips's unexpired term, and was then reelected to a full six-year term. He became the first African American chief justice of that court.
In the 2008 general election contest, Jefferson defeated his Democratic Challenger, Dallas District Court Judge Jim Jordan, with 53% of the vote.
Jefferson resigned in 2013 before his six-year term of office expired. Governor
Rick Perry then named long-term associate justice
Nathan Hecht
Nathan Lincoln Hecht (born August 15, 1949) is the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. A Republican from Dallas, Hecht was first elected to the Supreme Court in 1988 and was reelected to six-year terms in 1994, 2000 and 2006. He secured ...
of
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
to succeed Jefferson, and appointed
Jeff Brown from Houston to fill the vacancy resulting from Hecht's promotion to the position of chief.
Jefferson is now in private practice and occasionally appears before his former colleagues on petitions for review, briefs, or for oral argument.
Notable activities
Jefferson was elected to the
American Law Institute (the ALI) in 2001, and was elected to the ALI council in 2011. In May 2014, he was named treasurer of ALI. He also serves as an adviser on the Restatement Third, the law of consumer contracts. Jefferson also chairs the ALI's regional advisory group, covering Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas.
During his time on the bench, Jefferson served as president of the Conference of Chief Justices, an association of chief justices from the fifty states and U.S. territories.
In 2015, Texas Governor
Greg Abbott
Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 ...
appointed Jefferson to the
Texas Historical Commission
The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas.
The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Historic L ...
.
Before he became a judge, Jefferson successfully argued two cases before the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
: ''Board of Commissioners of Bryan County, Oklahoma v. Brown'', 520 U.S. 397 (1997), and ''Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District,'' 524 U.S. 274 (1998).
Honors and awards
In 2013, Jefferson was the recipient of the Texas Exes' Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Jefferson is a 1981 graduate of John Jay High School in
Northside ISD school district in San Antonio, which paid tribute to his success and rise from humble roots by naming Wallace B. Jefferson Middle School in his honor. The school opened August 27, 2007, and refers to the former jurist as "our namesake."
Personal life
Jefferson has three sons.
Jefferson married law professor
Renee Knake Jefferson on July 4, 2020, in Michigan. Michigan Governor
Gretchen Whitmer
Gretchen Esther Whitmer (born August 23, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 49th governor of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 ...
conducted the nuptials.
Possible U.S. Supreme Court nomination
Jefferson was mentioned as a possible supreme court nominee by
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
's campaign staff.
See also
*
List of African-American jurists
This list includes individuals self-identified as African Americans who have made prominent contributions to the field of law in the United States, especially as eminent judges or legal scholars. Individuals who may have obtained law degrees or ...
References
External links
Profile at Texas Supreme Court website
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Wallace
1963 births
Living people
African-American judges
Chief Justices of the Texas Supreme Court
Members of the American Law Institute
Michigan State University alumni
Texas lawyers
Texas Republicans
University of Texas School of Law alumni
21st-century American judges
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people