The Supreme Court of Texas honored the legacy of former Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson by unveiling his official court portrait on September 6 in the Supreme Court of Texas courtroom.
Jefferson, who served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas from 2004 to 2013, was the state’s first African American Supreme Court justice and chief justice. Jefferson was first appointed to the court in 2001 by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Perry then appointed Jefferson chief of the bench three years later and Jefferson went on be reelected as chief justice in 2002, 2006, and 2008.
“Chief Justice Jefferson broke barriers as the first African American to lead the Texas Supreme Court, but his true legacy is one of unwavering dedication to the principles of fairness and equality for all Texans,” Supreme Court of Texas Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht said in a press release.
“A call from Governor Perry’s office set me on a course that I could not have imagined 23 years ago. He asked me to interview for a vacancy on this very court,” Jefferson said. “Since the day the governor appointed me, I asked a recurring question, and that is: ‘Did you ever think that one day you’d be a justice, let alone chief justice, of the Supreme Court of Texas?’ The answer was ‘no, I didn’t.’ But as I reflected on that day 23 years ago, there were signs.”
Jefferson, who discovered through genealogic research that he is the great-great-great grandson of Shedrick Willis, who was enslaved by Texas Judge and Civil War Lieutenant Nicholas W. Battle, spoke about his rise to the state’s highest judicial rank on a path that seemed destined.
“I graduated from a high school on the south side of San Antonio, John Jay High School, named for the first chief justice of the United States,” he said. “I received my bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, specifically from James Madison College, the father of the U.S. Constitution. My professor at the University of Texas School of Law, Charles Alan Wright, was the premier constitutional scholar of his time. I was one of nine students in his highly sought-after class, in which each of us played the role of a sitting supreme court justice deciding cases the court considered that term. I was Byron White, a stellar athlete who went on to serve as justice on the [U.S. Supreme] Court. I have argued in this court before Chief Justice [Thomas] Phillips and then Chief Justice Hecht. All of these were signs.”
In his portrait, painted by Ying-He Liu, Jefferson’s hands rest on Volume 24 of the old Texas Reports, an issue symbolic to his family and the destiny he has realized.
“In that volume, the Supreme Court of Texas affirmed a decision in which Judge Battle declared that it was against public policy to enforce a contract to sell a free man—a freed Black man—into slavery. That was a remarkable and courageous ruling in 1856,” Jefferson said. “After the war, that same judge not only enforced the newly amended constitution, but also encouraged those in power to entrust his former slave as a leader in the community. Once master and servant, these two [Battle and Willis] would become colleagues. A history of public service and judicial leadership—further precursors to the once improbable notion that the descendant of a slave once owned by a judge would ascend to the highest court in Texas.”
Jefferson’s tenure on the bench was marked by his commitment to justice and legal integrity. He made significant contributions to the state’s legal landscape, including reforming juvenile justice procedures, leading the court’s efforts to fund access-to-justice programs, inaugurating a statewide court electronic filing system, and broadcasting the Supreme Court of Texas’ oral arguments. He is the namesake of the Wallace B. Jefferson Middle School in San Antonio.
In 2013, Jefferson retired from the court and returned to private law practice at Alexander Dubose & Jefferson. As co-chair of the firm’s Texas Supreme Court and State Appellate Practice, he frequently appears before the court he once helmed.
Jefferson is donating the portrait, a symbol of his lasting impact on the state’s justice system, to the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society. It will be displayed in the court building as an inspiration to current and future generations of legal professionals.
“I am honored to be here celebrating with you this amazing venture,” Jefferson said. “I thank the chief and the court for hosting this event, the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society for making it possible, and I thank the rule of law, without which our freedoms and liberties would waste away.”
PHOTO: Former Supreme Court of Texas Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson addresses the audience during his portrait unveiling ceremony on September 6 in the Supreme Court of Texas courtroom. Photo by Will Korn.