William E. McAnulty, Jr.

William Eugene McAnulty Jr. (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. He served on every level court in Kentucky.

Career 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 African-American 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. McAnulty was elected as a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge in 1983. His sister, Jean McAnulty Smith, 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. 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. After his appointment he won election to a full 8-year term in November 2006. McAnulty was a longtime supporter of the Legal Aid Society of Louisville, he spoke at their office dedication ceremony in December 2006 and advocated in his position of Chair of the Metro United Way board for the establishment of their HIV/AIDS legal advocate program.

Cancer 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 had finally kicked in December 2006, saying, "I'm paying the piper. I ain't a victim, and I ain't going to whine." A bust of Judge McAnulty was unveiled in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, on February 11, 2010. The bust is located in the antechamber to the Supreme Court courtroom in the State Capitol.