Justice A.A. Birch Jr. left imprint on state judiciary

Quietly motivated by the injustices of racism and segregation, Adolpho A. Birch Jr. toppled barriers as a Nashville prosecutor, as Tennessee’s highest-ranking judge and in several positions in between.
A tall and lanky man with a distinctive white beard, Tennessee’s first and only black chief justice was known for his private nature and for downplaying the significance of his own accomplishments — even as others counted Birch as a priceless mentor, a beloved friend and one of the most important figures in state history.
Early in his career, Birch was among the Nashville lawyers who voluntarily represented black activists who were arrested during sit-ins at whites-only lunch counters in the 1960s. Decades later, as a member of the state Supreme Court, he challenged death sentences — at great political risk — and was instrumental in a decision to open the state’s courtrooms to cameras.
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