Fred Lee Banks Jr. (born September 1, 1942) is an American lawyer, civil rights activist, politician, and former Presiding Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi.
[6][2] Banks, along with Representatives Horace L. Buckley and Douglas L. Anderson, also from Jackson, fought to preserve records from the pro-segregation Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission.
The records documented how white supremacists had used state taxpayer money and resources to suppress civil rights activists and supporters, conducting a campaign of police harassment, boycotts, and economic discrimination against them.
[7] Also during this period, on September 24, 1979, President Jimmy Carter announced his appointment of Banks as one of nine members of the National Advisory Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children.
[3] In January 1991, following Anderson's resignation from the Mississippi Supreme Court, Governor Ray Mabus appointed Banks to serve until the November election.
[3][2] In 1993, Banks was mentioned as a potential nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, during the administration of President Bill Clinton.