Fred L. Banks, Jr.

Fred Lee Banks Jr. (born September 1, 1942) is an American lawyer, civil rights activist, politician, and former Presiding Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi. He served on the court from 1991 to 2001. He served as a judge of the state's Seventh Circuit District Court from 1985-1991, and as a member of the state house of representatives from 1976-1985.

Early life, education, and career Banks grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, the son of Fred Lee Banks Sr. and Violet (Mabery) Banks. He graduated from Lanier High School in 1960.

He received a BBA from Howard University in Washington, D.C. followed by a JD from the Howard University School of Law, in 1968. After gaining admission to the bar in Mississippi, he entered into private practice in Jackson with several other attorneys. They acted as local counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Also during this period, on September 24, 1979, President Jimmy Carter announced his appointment of Banks as one of nine members of the National Advisory Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children.

Judicial service During his time as state representative, his former partner Reuben Anderson was elected as a Judge of the state Seventh Circuit District Court, encompassing Hinds and Yazoo counties.

In February 1985, after Governor William Allain had appointed Reuben Anderson to the Mississippi Supreme Court, he appointed Banks to complete Anderson's term on the 7th Circuit District. Clinton ultimately appointed Louisiana state court judge Carl E. Stewart as the first African-American judge on the Fifth Circuit.

Banks retired from the state court in 2001. Thereafter he became a senior partner at the law firm of Phelps Dunbar.