Ernest A. Finney Jr.

Ernest A. Finney Jr.
Chief Justice of South Carolina
In office
December 1994 – March 23, 2000
Preceded byA. Lee Chandler
Succeeded byJean H. Toal
Associate Justice of South Carolina
In office
1985 – December 1994
Preceded byJulius B. Ness
Succeeded byE. C. Burnett, III
Personal details
Born
Ernest Adolphus Finney Jr.

(1931-03-23)March 23, 1931
Smithfield, Virginia, U.S.
DiedDecember 3, 2017(2017-12-03) (aged 86)
Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
SpouseFrances Davenport Finney
Children3, including Nikky Finney
Alma materClaflin College (B.A. 1952)
South Carolina State University (J.D. 1954)

Ernest Adolphus Finney Jr. (March 23, 1931 – December 3, 2017) was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice appointed to the South Carolina Supreme Court since the Reconstruction Era.[1] He spent the last years of his life in Sumter, South Carolina. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[2]

  1. ^ Roberts, Sam (7 December 2017). "Ernest Finney Jr., Rights Lawyer in 'Jail, Not Bail' Case, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Ernest A. Finney Jr". South Carolina Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2017-12-04.