WALLACE JEFFERSON, FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN TEXAS CHIEF JUSTICE, TO RESIGN

Jefferson, the first African American Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2001 and became chief justice three years later. Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson will retire from the bench on Oct. 1, leaving behind a legacy of efficiency, transparency and access to justice on the state’s highest civil court.

Jefferson says he has not yet determined his future employment plans. “I’m sorry to go. It’s just been a wonderful 12 years,” Jefferson says of his decision. “And I know there are many aspects about leaving that I’ll regret.”

Under his leadership, the Texas Supreme Court began requiring all civil cases to be filed electronically, making them available on the Internet, and allowing cameras in the courtroom so the public could view oral arguments live. Jefferson, 50, noting the large number of exonerations in Texas, urged the Legislature to create a special commission to examine those cases. The bill to establish such a body failed in the last session.

The chief justice did order a court of inquiry to investigate one case, that of a former Williamson County prosecutor who was found to have committed prosecutorial misconduct in the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton, who spent 25 years in prison.

Other Jefferson initiatives include his fight for more legal aid assistance for the poor; reforming the state’s guardianship system designed to protect the interests of incapacitated individuals; and decriminalizing schoolchildren who are overly ticketed for behavior that “in the old days landed you and me in the principal’s office.”

Following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Phillips, Jefferson also has pushed for reform of the judicial selection system by eliminating the partisan election of judges.