NASHVILLE (AP) — A memorial service will be held today for Adolpho A. Birch, the first black chief justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court and consistent challenger of death sentences in Tennessee.

Birch will lie in repose from 2 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday at the historic Metro Courthouse in Nashville. A memorial service will follow at 6 p.m. at War Memorial Auditorium.

Birch died Thursday at the age of 78. Birch began his judicial career in 1969 as a judge in Davidson County. He was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 1993 by then-Gov. Ned McWherter and served there until retiring in August 2006. He was chief justice in 1996 and 1997.