John S. Palmore

John Stanley Palmore Jr. (August 6, 1917 – July 4, 2017) was an American judge who served as Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals from 1959 until it became the Supreme Court of Kentucky in 1975, and on the latter court until his retirement, in 1982. He served as chief justice in 1966, in 1973, and from 1977 to 1982.

Early life Palmore's grandfather, Andrew Houston Palmore, was a member of the 5th Cavalry Regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Palmore's family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1929, and he graduated from Bowling Green High School in 1934.

Political career After the death of 5th district circuit judge Marlin L. Blackwell in 1955, Governor Earle C. Clements appointed the district's Commonwealth's attorney, Faust Y. Simpson, to the judgeship and Palmore as the new Commonwealth's attorney, possibly as a reward for supporting Clements' ally, Bert T. Combs, in the 1955 Democratic gubernatorial primary against Clements' factional foe, A. B. "Happy" Chandler. Palmore began his service on October 12, 1955, and was immediately tasked with prosecuting a high-profile murder case against Ben Charles Sitton, who was accused of killing police officer Jack Rainier during a traffic stop. The Fraternal Order of Police, concerned that Palmore's inexperience would result in Sitton's acquittal, asked Palmore to allow a more experienced attorney to try the case, but Palmore refused. On January 27, 1956, after just over three hours of deliberation, a jury returned a guilty verdict against Sitton and recommended a death sentence.

Between the two Sitton trials, Palmore faced a challenge in the Democratic primary from State Representative Carl D. Melton. In 1966 and 1973, he served as the court's chief justice.

In 1976, an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution renamed the court to the Kentucky Supreme Court and created a new Court of Appeals below it. Palmore and the other justices on the old Court of Appeals were retained on the Kentucky Supreme Court. When Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. fell critically ill following heart surgery in 1983, Palmore advised Collins to take the role of acting governor. Later that year, he was named to the board of regents for Western Kentucky University, where he served until 1988. In 1986, he moved back to Central Kentucky to join his son, John W. Palmore, in the Lexington law firm of Jackson, Kelly, Williams & Palmore. He considered running for governor in 1987, but ultimately decided to manage the campaign of former Governor Julian Carroll.

Palmore received the Brandeis Medal from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1987 and was named an Alumni Fellow in 1993. Palmore died on July 4, 2017, at age 99.