William E. McAnulty, Jr.

Infobox Person
name = William E. McAnulty, Jr.


caption =
birth_date = birth date|1947|10|9
birth_place = Indianapolis, Indiana
death_date = death date and age|2007|08|23|1947|10|9
death_place = Louisville, Kentucky
death_cause = Metastatic lung cancer
other_names =
known_for =
occupation = Attorney, judge
title = Kentucky Supreme Court Justice, 4th District
term = 2006-2007
predecessor = Martin E. Johnstone
successor = Lisabeth Hughes Abramson

William Eugene McAnulty, Jr.cite news|url=http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/158316.html |title=Former Supreme Court Justice McAnulty dies |first=Brett |last=Barrouquere |publisher=Associated Press |date=2007-08-24 |accessdate=2007-08-27] (October 9 1947 – August 23 2007) was an American attorney and judge in Louisville, Kentucky who became the first African American justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court. The son of a mailman, he attended Indiana University and received a J.D. from the University of Louisville School of Law.cite news|publisher="The Courier-Journal"|date=2007-08-24|url=http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070824/NEWS01/70824014/1008|title=Justice 'was simply born to be a judge'|author=Wolfson, Andrew]

McAnulty became a juvenile court judge in Louisville in 1975, and was elected Jefferson County District Court judge in 1977. In 1980, he left the bench when Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. named him state justice secretary, making him the first black to hold a cabinet-level post in Kentucky. However, he resigned a month later, saying that the position would force him to spend too much time away from his family; Brown immediately reappointed him to his former seat on the District Court.cite news|url=http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/159203.html |title=1st African-American Ky. high-court justice |first=Jennifer |last=Hewlett |publisher="Lexington Herald-Leader" |date=2007-08-25 |accessdate=2007-08-27] McAnulty was elected Circuit Court judge in 1983. His sister recalled that on that particular Election Day, he decided to play one-on-one basketball against a 12-year-old neighbor, and McAnulty ended up attending his victory party on crutches. His basketball opponent was future NBA star Allan Houston. As a Circuit Court judge he presided over one of the high-profile and highly emotional Trinity murders cases, sentencing Victor Dewayne Taylor to death, despite McAnulty's own moral reservations about the death penalty.

In 1990 he left the bench for private practice, but was re-elected to the Circuit Court in 1993 as chief judge. The Kentucky Trial Attorneys Association named McAnulty as the Henry V. Pennington Outstanding Judge of the Year in 1997. He was appointed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1998, representing the 4th Appellate District, and wrote about 750 opinions in that position. In 2006, Governor Ernie Fletcher appointed McAnulty to the Kentucky Supreme Court.cite news|title=Former Justice William McAnulty dies|url=http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=6977804&nav=menu31_3|publisher=WAVE 3|date=2007-08-24] After his appointment he won election to a full 8-year term in November 2006.cite news|title=Running the bases with Jackie Robinson|date=Winter 2007|publisher=University of Louisville Magazine|author=White, Amanda D.|url=http://louisville.edu/ur/ucomm/mags/winter2007/mcanulty.html] McAnulty was a long time supporter of the Legal Aid Society of Louisville, he spoke at their office dedication ceremony in November 2007 and advocated in his position of Chair of the Metro United Way board for the establishment of their HIV/AIDS legal advocate program. [ [http://www.laslou.org/Fall_2007.pdf Legal Aid Society Louisville - Fall 2007.pdf] ]

In June 2007, McAnulty was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to his brain. He blamed his illness on a 40-year smoking habit that he finally kicked in December 2006, saying, "I'm paying the piper. I ain't a victim and I ain't going to whine." He maintained a sense of humor during his illness; before surgery on July 11 to remove a lesion from the base of his brain, he joked with the attending neurosurgeon, "My only question was will this make me a UK fan or affect my political outlook. He assured me it won't, so I'm excited about that."

However, after he fell and broke his collarbone, McAnulty stepped down from the bench in early August. He died in his home in Louisville's Highlands neighborhood on August 23 2007, aged 59. He is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. [cite news|url=http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/NEWS01/708250452|title=Irreverent, trailblazing jurist dies after bout with cancer|publisher="The Courier-Journal"|date=2007-08-25|author=Wolfson, Andrew]

References

External links

* [http://courts.ky.gov/courts/supreme/justices/mcanulty.htm Official Kentucky Courts profile]

Persondata
NAME = McAnulty, William E., Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = McAnulty, William Eugene, Jr.
SHORT DESCRIPTION = 20th century Kentucky Supreme Court judge
DATE OF BIRTH = October 9 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH =
DATE OF DEATH = August 23 2007
PLACE OF DEATH = Louisville, Kentucky