Blast From The Past

Well, my past, anyway.

You know you’re getting older when your classmates are being appointed to Supreme Courts:

Gov. Sonny Perdue named his top legal adviser to the state Supreme Court in the first appointment by a Republican governor to Georgia’s highest court in 137 years.

Harold D. Melton, 38, becomes the third African-American on the seven-member court. He will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Justice Norman Fletcher at the end of the month.

…

State House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) applauded the appointment. “He exemplifies the kind of common sense, conservative values that reflect the core beliefs of Georgians,” the speaker said.

The appointment is expected to have a lasting impact on the court. No Georgia justice has ever lost a re-election bid. Justices serve six-year terms, but the term Melton will fill expires at the end of 2008, when he can stand for election to a full term.

Harold David Melton was born in Washington in 1966 when his father worked as an airport inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration. His parents moved to East Point when he was 5 and later moved to Marietta, where he attended Wheeler High School. Melton was the first black student body president at Auburn University. He now lives in Atlanta.

I didn’t know Harold all that well (Auburn is a big school), but I can safely say that he was one of the most widely-liked and respected students of his (our) day. I had no idea that he’d moved so far up in the world, but I’m certainly not surprised. Congratulations to him.

Here’s an anonymous login for the Atlanta paper, if needed.