Joseph Rodney Moss

Joseph Rodney Moss (July 15, 1903 – April 20, 1993) was an associate justice and chief justice on the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Joseph Rodney Moss
Chief Justice of South Carolina
In office
March 24, 1966 – June 15, 1975
Preceded byClaude A. Taylor
Succeeded byJames Woodrow Lewis
Associate Justice of South Carolina
In office
1956 – March 24, 1966
Preceded byTaylor Hudnall Stukes
Succeeded byC. Bruce Littlejohn
Personal details
BornJuly 15, 1903
York County, South Carolina
DiedApril 20, 1993 (1993-04-21) (aged 89)
Spouse(s)Rosa Dill
Alma materErskine College, University of South Carolina (J.D. 1927)

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 Gervais Street. 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
  1. "Chief Justice To Be Sworn In On March 24". Spartanburg Herald. Spartanburg, South Carolina. March 17, 1966. p. 30. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  2. "Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  3. "Joseph Moss". Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, South Carolina. April 21, 1993. pp. B6. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  4. "Judge's Remark Angers NAACP". Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, South Carolina. January 28, 1995. pp. A1. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  5. "Memory Hold the Door". University of South Carolina. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  6. "NAACP opposed naming of new justice center". Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, South Carolina. October 9, 1991. pp. B3. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  7. "Joseph Rodney Moss : Memory Hold The Door | University of South Carolina School of Law". law.sc.edu. 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.


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