Joseph Rodney Moss
Joseph Rodney Moss | |
---|---|
Chief Justice of South Carolina | |
In office March 24, 1966 – June 15, 1975 | |
Preceded by | Claude A. Taylor |
Succeeded by | James Woodrow Lewis |
Associate Justice of South Carolina | |
In office 1956 – March 24, 1966 | |
Preceded by | Taylor Hudnall Stukes |
Succeeded by | C. Bruce Littlejohn |
Personal details | |
Born | July 15, 1903 York County, South Carolina |
Died | April 20, 1993 | (aged 89)
Spouse(s) | Rosa Dill |
Alma mater | Erskine College, University of South Carolina (J.D. 1927) |
Joseph Rodney Moss (July 15, 1903 – April 20, 1993) was an associate justice and chief justice on the South Carolina Supreme Court.
In 1941, he was elected to the South Carolina Senate. In 1948, he became a trial court judge. He was chosen as an associate justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court in 1956. He was chosen as chief justice of the court in 1966.[1] He remained chief justice until he retired in 1975.[2] During that time, he supervised the relocation of the Supreme Court from the South Carolina State House to its current location on . The South Carolina unified court system was created while he served on the high court.
After retiring, he served as a special trial court judge. In 1985, he created controversy by saying "damn niggers" from the bench into a microphone that he may have thought was turned off.[3] He had been referring to a group of black protestors who were displeased about the conviction of a black man for the killing of a white man in Pendleton, South Carolina.[4] The York County Justice Center was named in his honor[5] over the objections of the NAACP.[6]
Personal life[]
He married Rosa Dill in 1931, they had no children and she died in 1966.[7]
References[]
- ^ "Chief Justice To Be Sworn In On March 24". Spartanburg Herald. Spartanburg, South Carolina. March 17, 1966. p. 30. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ^ "Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ^ "Joseph Moss". Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, South Carolina. April 21, 1993. pp. B6. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Judge's Remark Angers NAACP". Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, South Carolina. January 28, 1995. pp. A1. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Memory Hold the Door". University of South Carolina. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
- ^ "NAACP opposed naming of new justice center". Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, South Carolina. October 9, 1991. pp. B3. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Joseph Rodney Moss : Memory Hold The Door | University of South Carolina School of Law". law.sc.edu. 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- Chief Justices of the South Carolina Supreme Court
- Justices of the South Carolina Supreme Court
- 1903 births
- People from York County, South Carolina
- 1993 deaths
- 20th-century American judges
- American state court judge stubs