In 1970 , Tolliver became the only African American attorney involved in the defense of the students charged in the Kent State shootings . Together with other Ohioans , Tolliver also led the call for the Cleveland Public Schools to desegregate . In 1977 he was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court . After state and local boards of education were found guilty of operating a segregated school system , Tolliver was appointed to the Committee on the Office of School Monitoring and Community Relations in 1978 . From its inception , Tolliver 's law practice was characterized by an audacious defense of underdogs . Sometimes Tolliver met with failure , as with Melvin Bay Guyon , who killed FBI Agent Johnnie Oliver , or Mark DiMarco , who kidnapped and murdered Mary Jo Pesho in the 1990s . In 1981 he was elected to membership on the Cleveland Board of Education and in his twelve years of service , was elected board President twice . Beginning with this appointment , he often spoke on the value of more parental involvement in the lives of Cleveland schoolchildren and was firmly entrenched in the issues of civil rights in the community . He was also a lifelong member of the NAACP
Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
Stanley Tolliver