Austin LeCount Fickling (May 11, 1914 – March 6, 1977) was the first African-American judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the highest court for the District of Columbia.
Fickling was born and raised in Washington, D.C., graduating from Dunbar High School.
[4] In 1944 and 1945, for example, he unsuccessfully challenged the composition of condemnation juries in eminent domain actions in the District of Columbia; although the court acknowledged that "neither a person of the colored race nor any female member of the white race has ever sat on a condemnation panel," it held that no illegal discrimination had occurred.
[1] Fickling was the first African-American ever nominated to an appellate court in the District of Columbia.
He was the second-longest serving member of that court when he died of cancer in 1977.