Wade Hampton McCree Jr. (July 3, 1920 – August 30, 1987) was an American legal scholar and judge. He was the first African American appointed as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the second African-American United States Solicitor General in the history of the United States. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School after leaving government service in 1981, and taught there until the time of his death.
Education and career
McCree was born on July 3, 1920, in Des Moines, Iowa. He was the son of Wade Hampton McCree Sr., a graduate of Fisk University who had worked his way through college as a butler and who became the first African-American pharmacist and pharmacy owner in Iowa. McCree senior was later employed as first African-American narcotics inspector for the Food and Drug Administration. McCree grew up mainly in Boston, and attended the prestigious Boston Latin School.
McCree was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 16, 1966, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 80 Stat. 75. He was confirmed by the Senate on September 7, 1966, and received his commission on September 7, 1966, becoming the first African-American on that court.
Later career
McCree resigned his commission as Solicitor General after the end of the Supreme Court's Term in June 1981, after Republican President Ronald Reagan took office. Chief Justice Burger had privately signaled his preference that McCree not be replaced until the end of the Term. McCree then became the Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, where he taught until his death. During these years he also consulted on various cases and served as Special Master for United States Supreme Court cases of original jurisdiction.
Death
McCree died on August 30, 1987, at age 67 of bone cancer and a heart ailment at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.
His son, Wade Harper McCree III, served as a 3rd Circuit Court judge in Wayne County, Michigan, from 2006 until May 2013. He was suspended without pay in May 2013 for multiple counts of misconduct. He was officially removed from office on March 26, 2014.
See also
- List of African-American jurists
- List of African-American federal judges
- List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States