Ernest A. Finney, Jr.
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Ernest A. Finney, Jr., (born 1931, Smithfield, VA) was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice appointed to the South Carolina Supreme Court since the Reconstruction Era. He currently resides in Sumter, South Carolina. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
[edit] Early life, education
His mother died when he was ten days old so he was raised by his father, Dr. Ernest A. Finney, Sr. Finney earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claflin College in 1952. He then enrolled in South Carolina State College's School of Law, from which he graduated in 1954. In the beginning, he was unable to find work as a lawyer so he followed in his father's footsteps and worked as a teacher. In 1960, he moved to Sumter and began a full time law practice. [1]
[edit] Legal career
In 1963, Finney served as chairman of the South Carolina Commission on Civil Rights. Finney was elected to the South Carolina House of Representative in 1972. He was subsequently appointed a member of the House Judiciary Committee, making him the first African-American to serve on that key committee in modern times. Finney was one of the founders of the Legislative Black Caucus and served as charter Chairperson from 1973-1975. Finney's other many accomplishments include National College of State Trial Judges, 1977; Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, The Citadel & Johnson C. Smith University, 1995; Doctor of Humane Letters, SC State University, 1996; Doctor of Laws, Morris College, 1996; Doctorate, Claflin University; Honoree, S.C. Trial Lawyers Association, 1993; elected and qualified Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, 1976; and elected and qualified Associate Justice, 1985. [2]
In May 1994, the state's general assembly elected that same Ernest Finney to the position of Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, effective December of 1994, making him the first African-American Chief Justice of South Carolina since Reconstruction. Finney's qualifications are impeccable. In 1976, he won an election to become South Carolina's first black circuit judge. He has been on the state Supreme Court since 1985.[3]
Finney retired from the state Supreme Court in 2000 and was named interim president of S.C. State University in 2002.[4]
