Robert N. C. Nix, Jr.

For the first African American congressman from Pennsylvania, see Robert N.C. Nix, Sr.

Former Chief Justice Robert N.C. Nix, Jr. was the first African American to be elected to statewide office in Pennsylvania. He served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for 24 years, 12 as chief justice, and was a prominent figure in Pennsylvania law and public service for more than three decades.

Nix was the son of Robert N.C. Nix, Sr., the first of Pennsylvania's African Americans in the United States Congress and a powerhouse among city Democrats. He was the grandson of a man who was born into slavery but managed to become a minister and dean of South Carolina State College.

Nix was a 1946 graduate of Central High School, 1950 valedictorian of Villanova University, and a second-generation graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He gained prominence in some of Philadelphia's civil-rights battles of the 1960s.

After stints as a U.S. Army instructor and the state attorney general’s office, Nix built a practice largely devoted to criminal law and didn't shy away from politics.

His represented John R. Gilbert, who was accused of killing North Philadelphia grocer Bernard Simmons in 1963; Nathaniel Duff, a physician convicted in 1963 of performing an abortions; and Joseph E. Scoleri, a convicted murderer accused in a 1961 uprising by inmates at Eastern State Prison.

He also defended Magistrate Earl Lane in a 1966 case with political and racial overtones. Lane was accused of collecting $2 to $20 fees for signing copies of charges that released people accused of crimes, a procedure that was supposed to be free or, if bail was required, cost a dollar. Nix unsuccessfully sought a new judge and a change of venue for the trial, contending that Lane, a former Pullman porter and Democratic committeeman, had been unfairly singled out for prosecution on charges far more minor than those the other magistrates faced. After Lane was convicted and sentenced to 11 to 23 months in prison, Nix said Lane was "the first man in the history of the state charged with this crime" and that at least 19 other magistrates did the same thing but had not been charged.

Mr. Nix was known as a solid, organization Democrat, taking a special interest in the plight of the city's poor, especially its impoverished black residents.

In the early 1960s, he represented the United Neighbors, a citizens' group pushing for improvements in a blighted section of West Philadelphia. In 1963, as a member of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Civil Rights, he raised questions about racial discrimination in city hiring and pushed for aggressive action against landlords accused of renting out apartments unfit for human habitation.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Nix continued to be outspoken even after his election as a judge of the Common Pleas Court in 1967. After the assassination of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for instance, Judge Nix warned publicly that unless the nation made a commitment to racial justice, it faced “an internal conflagration that will reduce it to ashes.” He pushed for measures to reduce tension between police officers and residents in black neighborhoods.

Nix was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1971, an era when it was difficult for any Democrat and any Philadelphian to do so.

Judge Nix didn't refrain from joking about the symbolism of his quest. He liked to say that he was "a dark horse, figuratively and literally" in the contest. Political observers wondered aloud whether midstate Pennsylvanians would elect a black man to the Supreme Court.

He had some key support, such as that of outgoing Philadelphia Mayor James H.J. Tate. Ironically, he may have benefited from being on the same ticket as Democratic mayoral candidate Frank Rizzo, who as police chief was a frequent target of criticism from many in the black community.

He won handily, and he welcomed the message he saw in his victory about how America was changing.

“It debunks the myth that in America a black man will not be received," he told a reporter at the time. “It shows that the people want ideas, that they are not interested in race, creed or color. I'm particularly impressed by the vote in the central counties. It is just unbelievable that a Philadelphia candidate won there. And a black man!”

On the high court, Justice Nix quickly developed a reputation as a voice for individual rights. A champion of the broader rights accorded by the state constitution, Justice Nix believed states should not “just follow blindly" the dictates of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Justice Nix led the court to interpret the Pennsylvania Constitution to ensure more individual rights than the U.S. Constitution, especially in the areas of search and seizure and sovereign immunity. He was also an early voice against prosecutors using their power to exclude African Americans from juries.

In contrast to his more liberal views, the former defense lawyer was known as being tough on defendants. And in 1977, he was the lone voice for upholding Pennsylvania's death penalty.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has a reputation for political turmoil, and Justice Nix got caught in his share of it. This was particularly true after the 1977 election to the court of Pittsburgh lawyer Rolf Larsen. Both Larson and Nix filed court documents against each other alleging misconduct and bias. A federal judge and Appeals Court concluded in 1995 that Nix had improperly intervened in a trial.

After stepping down in 1996, Justice Nix said his difficulties with Larson were "regrettable, but we were able to eliminate that and restore confidence in the judicial system," he said.