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Macon Bolling Allen was an American attorney who is believed to be the first African American to become a lawyer and to argue before a jury, and the second to hold a judicial position in the United States. Allen passed the bar exam in Maine in 1844 and became a Massachusetts Justice of the Peace in 1847. He moved to South Carolina after the American Civil War to practice law and was elected as a judge in 1873 and again in 1876. Following the Reconstruction Era, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he continued practicing law.
The history of the American legal profession covers the work, training, and professional activities of lawyers from the colonial era to the present. Lawyers grew increasingly powerful in the colonial era as experts in the English common law, which was adopted by the colonies. By the 21st century, over one million practitioners in the United States held law degrees, and many others served the legal system as justices of the peace, paralegals, marshals, and other aides.
References
- ↑ Hornby, D. Brock (Spring 2020). "History Lessons: Instructive Legal Episodes From Maine's Early Years — Episode 1: Becoming a Lawyer." Green Bag 2d. 23: 195.
- ↑ Contee, Clarence G. (February 1976). Macon B. Allen: "First" Black in the Legal Profession. The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc.
- ↑ "Maine was first in the nation to admit an African American to the bar in 1844 – University of Maine School of Law". Faculty. June 2, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 Douglas, Thomas; Ibonwa, Deborah; Bailey, Shamara (2021). "BIPOC Lawyers in Maine: Past, Present and Future" (PDF). Maine Bar Journal. 36.
- ↑ Allen relocated to Massachusetts a year after becoming certified in Maine.
- 1 2 3 Smith, J. Clay Jr. (1999). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1685-1.
- ↑ Landman, Isaac; Cohen, Simon (1942). The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia ...: An Authoritative and Popular Presentation of Jews and Judaism Since the Earliest Times. Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Incorporated.
- ↑ The Jewish Tribune: The American Jewish Weekly. Mosessohn. 1927.
- ↑ Peck, Abraham J.; Peck, Jean M. (March 7, 2007). Maine's Jewish Heritage. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781439634578.
- 1 2 Maxwell, Trevor (2016). "Stellar debut for PLUS Program" (PDF). Maine Law Magazine.
- 1 2 "Summary and Analysis of Racial Discrimination in Criminal Prosecution and Sentencing in Maine" (PDF). Maine Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. December 7, 2017.
- 1 2 "Maine Senate confirms state's first black judge". Archive. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
- 1 2 "Judge Lawrence to become first Black justice on Maine Supreme Judicial Court". WMTW. April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- ↑ Hill is known as the second African American male lawyer in Maine. He relocated to West Virginia, where he became the first African American male lawyer in the state.