Morris L. Overstreet (July 10, 1950 – March 3, 2024) was an American judge. He was the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

elected to a statewide office in the history of the State of Texas. He was twice elected to serve on the state's highest criminal appellate court, the

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in Texas. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a presiding judge and eight judges. Article V ...

, serving from 1991 through 1998. As a member of the court, he authored over 500 opinions.

Education

Overstreet was a graduate of

Amarillo High School Amarillo High School is a school located in the city of Amarillo, Texas, United States and is one of four high schools in the Amarillo Independent School District and classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). In 20 ...

in Amarillo. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

with minors in Biology and Chemistry from

Angelo State University Angelo State University is a public university in San Angelo, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1928 as San Angelo College. It gained university status and awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1967 and graduate degrees in 1969, the s ...

San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...

. He earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

Degree from Texas Southern University School of Law in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

in 1975.

Career

Before joining the Court of Criminal Appeals, Overstreet served for five years as a prosecutor in the 47th Judicial District at the District Attorney’s Office in Amarillo, where he advanced to first assistant district attorney. He also presided over the Potter County Court at Law Number 1 in Amarillo for four years. As a prosecutor and trial judge involved in hundreds of jury trials and thousands of non-jury trials, Overstreet never had a criminal conviction reversed on appeal because of any error committed by him. Overstreet chose not to seek re-election to the court in 1998, and ran for

attorney general of Texas The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer
of the

that year instead. He lost the Democratic primary to former attorney general

Jim Mattox James Albon Mattox (August 29, 1943 – November 20, 2008) was an American lawyer and politician from Texas who served three terms in the United States House of Representatives and two four-year terms as Texas Attorney General, but lost high-pr ...

. In January 1999, he qualified as a certified contract advisor with the

National Football League Players Association The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) is the labor unions in the United States, labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by executive directo ...

and was authorized to negotiate contracts between players and NFL clubs. He was a life member of the National Bar Association and was also a member of the American Bar Association, and served as a former chair of the Judicial Council Division. Overstreet was also the president of the Auxiliary to the

National Medical Association The National Medical Association (NMA) is the largest and oldest organization representing African Americans, African American physicians and their patients in the United States. As a 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) national professional and sc ...

. From August 1999 to May 2000, he served as the distinguished visiting professor of law at his alma mater,

Thurgood Marshall School of Law The Thurgood Marshall School of Law (TMSL) is the ABA-accredited law school of Texas Southern University, a historically Black public university in Houston, Texas. It awards Juris Doctor and Master of Law degrees. Thurgood Marshall School of L ...

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

. In September 2002, Overstreet returned to Texas Southern University, where he served as the director of the Legal Clinic and professor of evidence and criminal procedure for four years. In private practice, Overstreet served as

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

to the Texas State Baptist Convention and chair of its statewide Bible Drill Competition. He also served as the national legal counsel for

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1914. The fraternity's founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to ...

fraternity and was a former chair of the State Bar Crime Victims Committee.

Memberships

Overstreet was a member of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas, and attended Windsor Village United Methodist Church. He was also a life member of both the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

and

fraternity. He was also a member of

Sigma Pi Phi Sigma Pi Phi (), also known as The Boulé, is an African American professional fraternity. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1904, it is the oldest Greek lettered fraternity for African Americans. The fraternity does not have collegiate ...

fraternity. He was a frequent lecturer and public speaker and had taught continuing legal educational classes statewide for justices of the peace, Constitutional county judges, municipal court judges, local bar associations, the State Bar of Texas Advance Criminal Law Seminar, and the National Bar Association.

Death

Overstreet died of prostate cancer on March 3, 2024, at the age of 73.

References

External links