Justice Wallace B. Jefferson of San Antonio, the first African American to serve on the Texas Supreme Court, will be named chief justice of the Court today by Governor Rick Perry.
Governor Perry appointed Justice Jefferson to the court in 2001, and he won election to the Court the next year. Justice Jefferson will replace former Chief Justice Tom Phillips, who resigned earlier this summer after serving on the court since 1987.
Justice Jefferson will lead the all-Republican Supreme Court during a tumultuous time. A coalition of school districts has challenged the constitutionality of the state’s school finance system, and a decision in that case is expected shortly from the state District Court in Travis County. No matter how that decision turns out, the decision will be appealed and the Supreme Court is expected to review it.
Governor Perry created somewhat of a stir earlier this year when he predicted to a crowd of supporters in Dallas that the Supreme Court would not force the Legislature to change the school finance system. At the time, Justice Jefferson publicly defended the Supreme Court as vigorously independent and stated that no justices spoke to Governor Perry about the case. Governor Perry later backed off his prediction and confirmed that he had not lobbied any Supreme Court justices on the matter.
Justice Jefferson grew up in San Antonio, the son of a hard-working military family that stressed education. He won a scholarship to an honors program at Michigan State University before attending the University of Texas Law School. After earning his law degree, he went into private practice in San Antonio, where he opened his own law firm in 1991.