Law and Justice - NC

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Law and Justice

The Supreme Court of North Carolina 1819–2019

Large-Print Exhibit Text

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[Title Panel]

Law and Justice The Supreme Court of North Carolina

1819–2019

[INTRO PANEL TO THE LEFT] A Court for the People North Carolina can rightly take pride in its

Supreme Court, an institution that has lasted

for 200 years and produced a remarkable

body of law that is vital to the everyday lives

of its citizens. The Supreme Court of North

Carolina decides issues of life and death,

crime and punishment, marriage and divorce,

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child welfare, public education,

environmental protection, contract and

property rights, statutory interpretation, civil

rights, and constitutional law.

The Supreme Court was founded in the early

years of our nation to solve problems

affecting the quality of justice. The Court—

and through it, our laws—has evolved and

adapted to tremendous historical events: the

Industrial Revolution, the Civil War,

Reconstruction, rapid population growth, the

civil rights era, North Carolina’s integration

into the global economy, and the age of the

computer and the internet.

As the Court begins its third century in

service to the people of North Carolina, its

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justices remain as guardians of ordered

liberty in a constitutional republic.

[IMAGES]

Courtesy of State Archives of North Carolina,

The News & Observer of Raleigh, Chris Mears

Please turn left and begin the exhibit

with the glass wall case of books.

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[ARTIFACTS, GLASS CASE]

Legal Treatises and Other Law Books

Throughout the Court’s history its justices

solved complicated legal questions by

turning to the leading legal treatises of

the day. Published in both America and

Britain, these authoritative works

analyzed criminal law, property,

contracts, fraud, libel, and other topics.

The Supreme Court’s collection includes a

four-volume set of Sir William

Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws

of England. Originally published in 1765–

1770, this edition was printed in 1793

and predates the Supreme Court by 26

years.

Loan, Supreme Court Library

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[PANEL] The Role of the Supreme Court of North

Carolina

• Highest court in North Carolina

• Final word on whether state government

action violates the North Carolina

Constitution

• Discretionary review of unanimously

decided criminal and civil cases from the

Court of Appeals

• Mandatory review, if appealed, of criminal

and civil cases from the Court of Appeals

where there was a dissenting opinion

• Mandatory review, if appealed, of cases

from the Court of Appeals involving a

substantial question under the United

States or North Carolina constitutions

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• Mandatory and exclusive appellate review

of first-degree murder cases tried by the

Superior Court where the defendant

received a death sentence

• Mandatory and exclusive appellate review

of trial court decisions by the North

Carolina Business Court

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[PANEL]

The Work of the Justices

North Carolina Supreme Court justices decide

both criminal and civil cases. By the time a

case reaches the Supreme Court, it has

already been decided at the trial level, and

sometimes at the Court of Appeals. An appeal

to the Supreme Court is the final stop for an

appeal in the state court system.

The justices read briefs submitted by the

parties to the appeal: the appellant, who filed

the appeal, and the appellee, who opposes

the appeal. The briefs state each side’s view

of the facts of the case and the law that

applies to it. The justices, assisted by their

legal clerks, do their own research into the

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law and review the evidence offered to the

trial judge or jury.

Once a case is briefed to the Court, oral

arguments are held. The attorneys for each

side are given the opportunity to argue their

positions and answer questions from the

justices. The justices then vote on which

party should win the appeal. Supreme Court

cases are decided by a majority vote

(typically, four of the seven justices must

agree on the outcome).

One of the justices in the majority drafts a

written opinion and then shares it with the

others, who may offer criticisms and

changes. After revisions, the opinion is

finalized and published. Court opinions are

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published on the internet and bound in a

hardback official reporter. Once published,

the opinion is then the law of the case and

becomes precedent for similar cases in the

future.

[IMAGE CAPTIONS, TOP GROUP]

The justices work closely with their law clerks

to research and analyze the law and write

decisions.

From top to bottom: Justice Anita Earles

(right) and Jean-Paul Jacquet; Justices

Michael R. Morgan (left) and Hunter

Mashburn; and Justice Samuel J. Ervin IV

(left) and Wes Tripp.

Courtesy Chris Mears

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[IMAGE CAPTION, BOTTOM]

The current justices of the Supreme Court.

Back row, left to right: Anita Earles, Samuel

J. Ervin IV, Michael R. Morgan, Mark A.

Davis. Front row, left to right: Paul Newby,

Cheri L. Beasley, Robin E. Hudson.

Courtesy Judicial Branch

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[PANEL]

The Supreme Court, by the Numbers

• 7: Current number of justices on the

Supreme Court, with one chief justice and

six associate justices

• 101: Total number of justices who have

served on the Court since 1819

• 29: Total number of chief justices since

1819

• 4: Total number of women chief justices

• 35 years: Longest-serving justice: Walter

Clark (justice and chief justice), from

1889–1924

• 26: Longest-serving chief justice: Walter

P. Stacy, from 1925–1951

• 7: Total number of African American

justices

• 8: Total number of women justices

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• 113: Number of opinions in 1819

• 114: Number of opinions in 2018

• 49,000+: Total number of published

Court opinions issued since 1819

• 1,360: Number of cases in 2018 that

were dismissed or in which the Court

denied review without opinions

• 165,000+: Number of volumes in the

Supreme Court’s library

• 7: Number of places where the Supreme

Court has held court in Raleigh

• 2.25 percent: The judicial system’s

budget as a percentage of the State’s

General Fund

• $530,000,000: The judicial system’s

budget as funded by the General

Assembly for Fiscal Year 2017–2018

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[PANEL]

Before 1819: A State Without a Supreme

Court

1776–1818

North Carolina has always had courts—but

the State has not always had a Supreme

Court. North Carolina’s Constitution of 1776

declared that “the General Assembly shall . .

. by joint ballot of both houses, appoint

Judges of the Supreme Courts of Law and

Equity” who were to “hold their offices during

good behavior.”

However, no Supreme Court was established

in 1776, and in the decades that followed,

trial judges served on a “Court of

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Conference.” These trial judges reviewed the

decisions of themselves, other trial judges,

and laws passed by the General Assembly.

Beginning in 1810, they were required to

issue written opinions of their decisions and

announce them in open court. For that they

were paid an additional $50 per year.

1818

In November 1818, the General Assembly

created a separate Supreme Court as

contemplated by the 1776 Constitution. The

Supreme Court held its first session in

January 1819. It was composed of a chief

justice and two judges. Their exclusive role

was to review questions of law arising in

cases from the trial courts.

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[IMAGE CAPTION]

In 1818 William Gaston was a state senator

who led the effort to create the Supreme

Court. In 1833 he became a justice on the

Court and served on it until his death in

1844. He wrote North Carolina’s official state

song, “The Old North State.” Gaston County,

Gastonia, and Lake Gaston are named for

him.

Courtesy North Carolina Museum of History

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[PANEL]

Why North Carolina Needed a Supreme

Court

There were many good and urgent reasons to

create the Supreme Court and not rely on

trial judges to serve as part-time appellate

judges.

“[T]he principal remedy for the ills which we

suffer . . . will be found in the establishment

of a Supreme Court, composed of men of

acknowledged ability & integrity, whose

whole attention shall be devoted to the

business of that Court. . . . A court for the

revision of errors will be formed, whose

decisions shall command respect & produce

uniformity.”

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“Every citizen will have it in his power to

rescue his rights from the mistakes of a

single judge, in a moment of improvidence

and haste; and obtain for them a deliberate

and patient re-examination. A co-ordinate

Branch of the government will be raised from

its present degradation to that dignity to

which the theory of our constitution entitles

it. And the Law’s delay, one of the severest

calamities for the trial of individual fortitude,

and one of the most noxious of public evils,

will receive an effectual check.”

—Report, Senate Select Joint Committee,

William Gaston, Chairman, reprinted in the

Raleigh Register and North-Carolina Gazette,

page 1, December 4, 1818

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[IMAGE CAPTION]

In December 1818, the Raleigh Register and

North-Carolina Gazette published on its front

page the entirety of the Senate report

explaining the need for a full-time appellate

court. It included the law enacted by the

General Assembly that created the Supreme

Court.

[PANEL]

THE COURT’S EARLY YEARS

1819: The Court’s First Year

When the North Carolina Supreme Court

began, its members were not elected directly

by the people. Instead, lawmakers in the

General Assembly chose them, and justices

were appointed for life. The first men

selected to serve as justices were John Louis

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Taylor, Leonard Henderson, and John Hall.

Henderson and Hall chose John Louis Taylor

as the first chief justice.

In its first year, the Supreme Court issued

113 opinions involving both criminal and civil

matters. It analyzed the common law

inherited from England and interpreted and

applied North Carolina statutes and the state

constitution.

[IMAGE CAPTION]

Left to right: John Louis Taylor, John Hall,

Leonard Henderson.


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Criminal Law

In State v. Jim (1819), the Court reversed

the conviction of an enslaved man named Jim

who was sentenced to death for breaking into

a house and stealing a £5 bank note. In State

v. Sparrow (1819), one of the state’s

witnesses was able to listen to the testimony

of the other witnesses, a privilege not given

to any of the defendant’s witnesses. The

Court granted the defendant a new trial on

the murder charge because he was denied

his right to a fair trial under the North

Carolina Constitution.

Civil Law

In the civil case of Dark v. Bagley (1819), the

Court enforced a verbal contract for the sale

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of land. The General Assembly disagreed with

the Dark decision, so in the same year, it

passed a law requiring contracts for the sale

of land to be in writing.

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[PANEL]

How North Carolina Has Changed

1819

In 1819 North Carolina was the fourth largest

state in the United States, with a population

of approximately 638,000. Most people lived

on farms. New Bern was the largest North

Carolina city, with about 3,600 people.

Fayetteville had about 3,500 people. Raleigh

and Wilmington each had a population of

about 2,500.

In 1819 there were 62 counties in North

Carolina, and only nine Superior Court judges

for the entire state.

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In 1819 no paved highways or railroads

existed. It took a lawyer about four days to

travel by horse the 115 miles from New Bern

to Raleigh to argue a case at the Supreme

Court.

[IMAGE CAPTION]

Images, top to bottom: Courtesy NC Maps;

Library of Congress. Bird’s-eye map of New

Bern, 1849.

Courtesy Library of Congress

2019

In 2019 North Carolina is the ninth largest

state in the United States, with a population

greater than 10,000,000. Many of its people

live in and around large cities. The Charlotte

metropolitan area has more than 2,500,000

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people, and the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill

metropolitan area has more than 2,000,000.

North Carolina now has 100 counties. In

2019 there are 107 Superior Court and 272

District Court judges serving the State of

North Carolina.

Today, a lawyer can make the 115-mile trip

from New Bern to Raleigh by car in only two

hours.

[IMAGE CAPTIONS]

Top to bottom: Courtesy Yellow Maps;

Charlotte Skyline, 2019, courtesy Scott

Miskimon

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[PANEL]

Slavery and the Court

The Supreme Court functions in a social,

economic, and historical context that it both

shapes and is constrained by.

Human bondage characterized North

Carolina’s early social and economic fabric. In

the Court’s decisions before the Civil War era

ended, an enslaved person’s status as

property often clashed with considerations of

humanity.

Cases on Slavery

An assault and battery of one enslaved man

produced constrictive judicial reasoning. The

struggle between a judge’s human feelings

and his duty as a magistrate was

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acknowledged. The Court concluded,

however, that “[t]he power of the master

must be absolute to render the submission of

the slave perfect.” State v. Mann (1829).

But there were limits. An enslaved man who

killed his overseer in self-defense was

entitled to raise that defense just as a free

man would be. State v. Will (1834). Nor

could the owner kill the man with impunity.

An enslaved person was “a human being . . .

within the protection of the law.” Therefore,

killing him with malice aforethought was

common-law murder. State v. Reed (1823).

Extended barbarous treatment resulting in

the enslaved person’s death “did not belong

to a state of civilization,” and nothing could

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“palliate such a course.” State v. Hoover

(1839).

[IMAGE CAPTION]

Sarah Gudger was born into slavery in

McDowell County in September 1816, two

years before the Supreme Court was

established. She died on October 19, 1939, in

Buncombe County. This photo was taken of

her in 1937 at age 121. Of the Supreme

Court’s 101 justices, 47 served on the

Supreme Court during her lifetime.

Courtesy Library of Congress

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[PANEL]

Life and Death

Since its start in 1819, the Supreme Court

has always faced the difficult decision:

Should a criminal defendant given a death

sentence at trial be executed? Or should the

defendant receive a new trial or sentencing

hearing due to mistakes when tried,

convicted, and sentenced?

Once a death sentence is appealed, the case

does not go to the North Carolina Court of

Appeals. Instead, all death penalty cases

bypass the Court of Appeals and go directly

to the Supreme Court. If the North Carolina

Supreme Court affirms the conviction and

death sentence, the defendant will usually

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seek to overturn the ruling by going to

federal court.

There are many reasons why the Supreme

Court might reverse a conviction or a death

sentence and require a new trial or new

sentencing hearing. Most of these reasons

involve a mistake that the judge made at

trial. For example, the judge may have

incorrectly allowed certain evidence to be

admitted or may have improperly instructed

the jury about the law.

[IMAGE CAPTION]

In 1990 Michael Sexton murdered Kimberly

Crews in Wake County. In 1994 the Supreme

Court unanimously determined no reversible

error took place during his trial. In November

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2000, protesters marched on the eve of his

execution by lethal injection.

Courtesy Associated Press, photo by Gerry

Broome

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[ARTIFACT]

Shank

Walter Hightower used this knife to kill a

fellow prisoner in a Wilkes County prison

in 1945. In front of 20 other prisoners,

Hightower stabbed him more than six

times. Hightower was found guilty of first-

degree murder. The Supreme Court

affirmed the conviction, finding no error

in the judge’s instructions to the jury.

State v. Hightower (1946). Two weeks

later Hightower was executed in the gas

chamber at Central Prison. The trial

judge, William H. Bobbitt, later served on

the Supreme Court from 1954–1974.

Museum Collection

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[PANEL]

Imposing a Death Sentence

The death penalty itself is not

unconstitutional, but the way a death penalty

case was conducted at trial may violate the

United States or North Carolina Constitution.

For example, the defendant may not have

received effective legal counsel at trial.

Historically, the General Assembly decided

what criminal offenses were capital crimes for

which the defendant could be executed. By

the 1830s there were dozens of capital

crimes, including murder, dueling, arson,

stealing a slave, forgery, bigamy, horse

stealing, and robbery on the highway. Today,

based on rulings from the United States

Supreme Court, the only capital crime that

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could result in a death sentence is first-

degree murder.

Originally, hanging was the method of

execution in North Carolina. In 1910 hanging

was replaced by the electric chair. In 1938

the gas chamber became the only method of

execution. Beginning in 1983, lethal injection

became an option for carrying out a death

sentence, and in 1998 the General Assembly

made injection the exclusive method of

execution.

The last execution in North Carolina occurred

in 2006. Since then, some criminal

defendants convicted of first-degree murder

have received a death sentence, but they

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have appealed their convictions or sentences

and remain on death row.

[IMAGE CAPTION]

The death chamber at Central Prison in

Raleigh (right) is where prisoners are

executed via lethal injection.

Courtesy Associated Press, photo by Gerry

Broome

Previously the gas chamber was used, and

sometimes two prisoners were executed

simultaneously (above).

Courtesy State Archives of North Carolina

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[PANEL]

Home Court

The Supreme Court always has always been

located in Raleigh and close to the State

Capitol on Union Square.

[IMAGES ON MAP]

1. The original courtroom for the Supreme

Court was inside the State Capitol Building

itself. The Court held its sessions there from

1819–1888.

2, 3. When a fire destroyed the State Capitol

Building in 1831, the Court temporarily met

at the First Presbyterian Church and then a

private home in Raleigh, both across from

Union Square.

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4. When a new Capitol building was

completed in 1840, the Court moved into it.

5. In 1888 the Supreme Court moved into a

new building located on West Edenton Street

in Raleigh (now the Labor Building), north of

and immediately across the street from the

Capitol.

6. In 1913 the Supreme Court moved again,

this time into a new building on Morgan

Street, just south of and across the street

from the Capitol. That building now houses

the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

7. In 1940 the Supreme Court moved into its

current location, known as the Justice

Building, which is located at 2 East Morgan

Street in Raleigh. Oral arguments are heard

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in the Supreme Court’s wood-paneled

courtroom on the third floor. Here, attorneys

argue their appeals and answer questions

from the seven justices, all surrounded by

portraits of former chief justices.

The Justice Building was built in 1940 at a

cost of $750,000, paid for with both state

and federal funds. Adjusted for inflation, if

built in 2019, the same building would cost

more than $13 million.

Courtesy State Archives of North Carolina,

Library of Congress, and Scott Miskimon

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[PANEL]

A Court Reformed

The 1776 state constitution authorized a

Supreme Court, but the General Assembly

did not establish one until 1818, effective

January 1, 1819. After the Civil War, reforms

significantly altered the state’s prewar

structure of laws, government, and society.

In 1868 North Carolina adopted a new

constitution that changed the Supreme Court.

It became a true “constitutional court”

created by the state’s fundamental charter

rather than by legislative act. There would

now be five justices rather than three.

Justices would no longer be elected by the

General Assembly for lifetime positions.

Instead, they would be elected by the state’s

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voters for eight-year terms. Finally, the

courts of law and equity would no longer

function as separate entities but rather as a

single merged court system.

[IMAGE CAPTION]

The State Capitol housed the Supreme Court

until 1888. This photo shows the Capitol as it

appeared in the 1880s.


[IMAGE CAPTION, BOTTOM]

The Supreme Court in an undated photo,

before the justices began to wear robes.


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[PANEL]

Qualifications to Be a Justice of the

Supreme Court

All judges and justices in North Carolina must

be licensed attorneys and must be under the

age of 72.

Until the 20th century, lawyers often did not

go to a modern type of law school to earn a

law degree. Many justices who served on the

Supreme Court became licensed as attorneys

without first going to a law school, or they

attended but did not graduate.

Before law schools became common, young

people who wanted to be lawyers served as

apprentices and worked in the offices of

licensed attorneys. There they “read the

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law,” learned through self-study, and went to

court to watch lawyers try cases. They would

have to pass a verbal examination, given by

the Supreme Court, to become licensed to

practice law.

In 1979 the General Assembly submitted,

and the voters later approved, a

constitutional amendment requiring all

judges to be licensed attorneys, which

requires first earning a law degree from a law

school.

[IMAGE, TOP]

The newest member of the court, Justice

Mark A. Davis, was appointed by Governor

Roy Cooper and sworn into office in April

2019.

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Courtesy North Carolina Judicial Branch,

photo by Charles Keller.

[IMAGE, MIDDLE]

Early graduates from a modern law school

were (left to right) justices R. Parker Hunt

(University of Virginia, 1915) and Sam J.

Ervin Jr., (Harvard, 1922).

[IMAGE, BOTTOM]

A law license issued by the Supreme Court in

1853.


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[ARTIFACT]

Book Awarded for Clark Prize

In the early 20th century, the Supreme

Court examined applicants to become

licensed lawyers and awarded the Clark

prize to the applicant with the best

examination. UNC law school graduate

Ernest Grant Mick of Weaverville won the

Clark prize in 1916 and was awarded this

law book as part of a 15-volume set of

Modern American Law. This book is

signed by Chief Justice Walter Clark.

Loan, Supreme Court Historical Society

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[PANEL]

Choosing and Retaining Justices

The voters of North Carolina elect justices of

the Supreme Court in partisan elections.

Candidates seeking a seat on the Supreme

Court are identified on the ballot by their

political party, usually Democratic or

Republican, and candidates campaign

statewide to try to win the seat.

Advocates for the current system do not want

it changed because they believe elections

hold the justices accountable to the voters.

North Carolina has used this method to select

its justices since 1868. Only a few other

states choose their highest-level judges

through partisan elections.

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For many years legislators, lawyers, and the

public have debated the merits of our elective

system. The North Carolina Bar Association

has long advocated an appointive or “merit

selection” system. Proposals for changing the

current system include having an

independent panel propose someone to be

appointed by the governor. Advocates for an

appointive system believe it enhances judicial

independence and encourages justices to

make legally correct decisions even if they

would be politically unpopular.

Not all justices first come to the Supreme

Court by winning an election. When a justice

dies, resigns, or retires during a term, he or

she is initially replaced by someone whom

the governor appoints. To remain on the

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Supreme Court, the appointee must then be

elected to the position at the next judicial

election.

[IMAGE]

A sample ballot and a newspaper article

regarding the 1994 election, in which

candidates were seeking to fill two seats on

the Supreme Court.

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[PANEL]

Thomas Ruffin (1787–1870)

As a lawyer, Ruffin was considered at the

head of his profession. Prior to his Supreme

Court service, he was a member of the North

Carolina House of Commons and a Superior

Court judge. In 1829 he became a justice on

the Supreme Court, and he served as chief

justice from 1833 to 1852. He later returned

for brief service on the Court.

Harvard Law School Dean Roscoe Pound

considered Ruffin one of the 10 foremost

American common-law judges. His decisions

not only established North Carolina law; they

were also followed by other southern and

western judges. Ruffin’s decisions in eminent

domain cases—where the state is allowed to

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seize private property for the public good—

led to the growth of railroads in North

Carolina, which transformed the state.


William Gaston (1778–1844)

Gaston was a leader among lawyers. He

served in the North Carolina House of

Commons and was its Speaker in 1808. He

also served in the North Carolina Senate and

the United States House of Representatives.

Gaston’s 1818 bill established the state

Supreme Court.

In 1833 the Court was new, unpopular with

the General Assembly, and facing abolition.

Gaston’s membership alone, it was believed,

could save it. He agreed to serve and

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remained on the Court until his death in

1844. Gaston is also known as the author of

the state song, “The Old North State.”


[IMAGE, BOTTOM]

Elmwood is a house in Raleigh located at 16

North Boylan Avenue. It was built around

1810 by the Court’s first chief justice, John

Louis Taylor, who ran a law school from it. He

willed it to his brother-in-law, Justice William

Gaston, who later rented it to Justice Thomas

Ruffin.

Courtesy Scott Miskimon

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[PANEL]

Pioneers on the Court

The Supreme Court has always benefited

from the breadth and uniqueness of its

justices’ personal experiences in deciding the

cases that come before it. Over the course of

its history, the Court has shown its

adaptability to changing times through the

justices who bear the distinction of being the

“first” in certain notable categories.

[TOP ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT]

John Louis Taylor (1819–1829): The first

foreign-born immigrant to serve on the

Supreme Court

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William Gaston (1833–1844): The first

Roman Catholic to serve on the Supreme

Court

Susie M. Sharp (1962–1979): The first

woman to serve on the Supreme Court, and

the first woman to serve as chief justice

Daniel K. Moore (1969–1978): The first and

only North Carolina governor to serve on the

Supreme Court

[BOTTOM ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT]

Henry E. Frye (1983–2000): The first African

American to serve on the Supreme Court,

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and the first African American to serve as

chief justice

Patricia Timmons-Goodson (2006–2012): The

first African American woman to serve on the

Supreme Court

Cheri L. Beasley: (2014–present): The first

African American woman to serve as chief

justice of the Supreme Court

Mark A. Davis: (2019–present): The first

Jewish justice of the Supreme Court

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Since 1975 the Supreme Court has had four

women chief justices: Susie M. Sharp, Rhoda

B. Billings, Sarah E. Parker, and Cheri L.

Beasley (the current chief justice).


and North Carolina Judicial Branch

Please turn and continue the exhibit on

the wall behind you that includes the tall

artifact case.

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[PANEL]

Prominent Supreme Court Justices

Walter Parker Stacy (1884–1951)

At the age of 31, Stacy became a Superior

Court judge. Four years later, he was elected

to the Supreme Court. In 1925, when he was

the Court’s senior associate justice, he

became chief justice. He held that position

for more than 26 years, which is still a

record.

Stacy developed a national reputation as an

arbitrator of industrial disputes. Four

presidents of the United States (Calvin

Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D.

Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman) requested

his help as an arbitrator, and he settled

numerous controversies between

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management and labor. During World War II,

he was a member of the National Defense

Mediation Board and the War Labor Board.

Stacy also lectured at law schools.

[IMAGE]

Courtesy North Carolina Judicial Branch

Susie Marshall Sharp (1907–1996)

In 1949 Susie Sharp became the first woman

judge in North Carolina. Governor Kerr Scott,

for whom she had served as a county

campaign manager, appointed her. In 1962

she became the first woman justice of the

North Carolina Supreme Court. In 1974 she

was elected as chief justice, making her the

first woman chief justice elected in the United

States. The next year, Time magazine

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designated her one of 12 “Women of the

Year.”

Sharp’s opinions made significant new law,

including abolishing charitable immunity for

hospitals and limiting sovereign immunity

(which bans lawsuits against the

government). This allowed more people to

recover money damages in lawsuits.

Sharp was considered for an appointment to

the United States Supreme Court. She retired

in 1979, and two years later, President

Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day

O’Connor as the first woman United States

Supreme Court justice.

[IMAGE]


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[ARTIFACT CASE]

Artifacts, left to right:

Typewriter

When Chief Justice Susie Sharp was a

trial judge, she received this 1952 Royal

manual typewriter as a gift so she could

stay in touch with friends and family

through letters while presiding at trials all

over the state.

Loan, Campbell University Law School

Robe

Chief Justice Susie Sharp wore this robe

during a portion of her 17-year term on

the North Carolina Supreme Court, 1962–

1979.

Loan, Campbell University Law School

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Quill Pens

In the Court’s earliest years, the justices

handwrote their opinions with quill pens.


Supreme Court Library Book Bag

In the early 20th century, this book bag

was used to transport heavy law books

from the Supreme Court’s law library to

the Wake County Courthouse via trolley

car down Fayetteville Street.


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[PANEL]

Richmond Mumford Pearson (1805–

1878)

Pearson entered public life as a member of

the North Carolina House of Commons.

Pending his election to the Supreme Court in

1849, he won acclaim as a Superior Court

judge. Ten years later, he was named chief

justice upon the death of Frederick Nash.

During the Civil War, Pearson was known for

issuing writs of habeas corpus to men

seeking release from conscripted military

service.

Pearson is best known, however, for the

Richmond Hill law school he operated in

Yadkin County for more than three decades.

He claimed to have instructed more than a

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thousand law students, many of whom

attained distinction in legal and political life.

[IMAGE]


Walter McKenzie Clark (1846–1924)

Clark is the longest serving member of the

Supreme Court, from 1889 to 1924. He was

chief justice from 1903 to1924 and wrote

3,235 opinions. A progressive, Clark made

the law more humane, especially as it relates

to women and children.

An advocate for “socialized democracy,” Clark

opposed trusts, exposed railroad corruption,

and decried the control over government by

those interests and banks. He was a scholar,

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with a deep interest in North Carolina’s

history, government, and laws. He published

extensively in history and law and annotated

more than 100 volumes of the North Carolina

Reports.

[IMAGE]


Please continue the exhibit on the right-

hand wall of the final hall.

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[PANEL]

Symbols of the Court

The statue on top of the Justice Building is a

robed figure symbolizing law and

justice. Next to it is an ancient Roman

symbol of judicial power known as a fasces, a

bundle of sticks from which protrudes an ax

blade. The statue was created in the late

1930s by sculptor Charles Bradley Warren of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Carved from

granite quarried in North Carolina, it weighs

12 tons and stands more than 12 feet high.

The seal of the North Carolina Supreme Court

depicts Lady Justice, derived from the Roman

mythological goddess of justice, Justitia. A

similar figure has been used for centuries by

American and British courts to depict the

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ideal of justice. She carries scales and a

spear, which symbolize weighing the

evidence in each case and the power of a

court. Lady Justice is blindfolded to show the

impartiality of the legal system: justice is

blind to the status, wealth, or power of those

who appear in court.

The motto on the seal is the Latin phrase

Suum Cuique Tribuere, which means “To give

each his own.” This conveys the idea that the

Supreme Court is to protect the rights and

property of everyone.

The seal of the Supreme Court is affixed to

the wall in the lobby of the Judicial Building.

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[PANEL]

THE CONSTITUTION AND THE COURT

Many of the cases in the post–World War II

era (1945–present) involve rights and

obligations under the North Carolina

Constitution. The Supreme Court has the

final word on whether an action by North

Carolina’s state, county, or city officials

violates the state constitution.

Unconstitutional actions can occur by the

governor, the General Assembly, state

agencies, schools, or police officers.

“[W]e remain the ultimate arbiters of our

state’s constitution, and vigorously attend to

our duty of protecting the citizenry from

abridgments and infringements of its

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provisions. . . .” Hoke County v. State

(2004).

In the modern era, the General Assembly has

passed sweeping laws affecting many fields

of life, from crime and punishment to how

businesses operate. The General Assembly

also delegates power to state agencies to

make regulations. The Supreme Court then

decides many criminal and civil cases based

on its interpretation of these statutes and

regulations, often confronting the question of

whether they are constitutional.

In the past 75 years, the Supreme Court has

decided many cases involving civil rights,

public education, environmental protection,

and the proper exercise of power by the

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executive, legislative, and judicial branches

of government.

[IMAGE]

Governor Terry Sanford before a joint session

of the General Assembly in June 1961.

[IMAGE, INSET]

Protestor with his flag and Bible being

arrested during a Ku Klux Klan march in

Greensboro in June 1987.

Courtesy Associated Press, Bob Jordan

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[PANEL]

Civil or Constitutional Rights

As in the slavery cases, the Court’s decisions

in racial discrimination cases have arisen

within a specific historical context.

State v. Clyburn (1958)

Prior to the 1960 “sit in” cases, African

American citizens requested service in the

“white” section of a Durham business. They

were denied service and refused to leave.

The Court upheld their convictions for

trespassing. The Court stated that “[t]he

owner-operator’s refusal to serve defendants,

except in the portion of the building

designated by him, impaired no rights of the

defendants.” State v. Clyburn (1958).

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[IMAGE]

Civil rights protestors at a sit-in at the

Woolworth’s lunch counter in Durham in

February 1960.

Courtesy The News & Observer of Raleigh

State v. Cofield (1987)

The 1971 state constitution prohibited

“discrimination by the state because of race

[or] color,” including when serving on a jury.

The Supreme Court enforced this

constitutional ban on racism in the justice

system.

The Court stated, “The people of North

Carolina have declared . . . that they will not

tolerate the corruption of their juries by

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racism.” Racial exclusion from jury service

“impairs the confidence of the public in the

administration of justice.” The Court viewed

such racism as harmful to both the accused

and “to society as a whole.” State v. Cofield

(1987).

[IMAGE]


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[PANEL]

The Court and Public Education

The Supreme Court has ruled that the state

constitution guarantees every child in North

Carolina an opportunity to receive a “sound

basic education.” Leandro v. State (1997).

Leandro v. State (1997)

Leandro was a landmark case, and the

Supreme Court followed it in later cases. In

one case, the court ruled that the state failed

to meet its constitutional duties in the way

the state spent money for education. The

Court then compelled the state to remedy

this problem. Hoke County Board of

Education v. State (2004).

72

Under Leandro a sound basic education

comprises many things, including a sufficient

• ability to read, write, and speak English

• knowledge of fundamental mathematics

and physical science to enable the

student to function in a complex and

rapidly changing society

• fundamental knowledge of geography,

history, and basic economic and political

systems

• academic and vocational skill to let a

student successfully compete on an equal

basis with others in further formal

education or gainful employment in

contemporary society

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Hutchins v. Durham (1904)

The right to a free public education is subject

to reasonable regulations. These regulations

allow schools to protect the morals and

health of the students and enforce discipline

by expelling disorderly students. Hutchins v.

Durham (1904).

The courts and a governor’s commission

continue to define and refine the

constitutional guarantee of “a sound basic

education.”

[IMAGE]

A 1955 photo of a boy living in a Raleigh

neighborhood known as Southside.


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[PANEL]

The Court and Environmental Protection

The Supreme Court has protected North

Carolina’s natural environment long before

the modern environmental protection

movement began in the 1960s and 1970s. In

the Court’s first hundred years, cases came

before it regarding challenges to laws that

the General Assembly passed in the 19th and

early 20th centuries.

The Court’s early cases principally involved

the constitutionality of state laws protecting

rivers and streams, and drinking water for

local communities, from human sewage or

pollution caused by factories or logging. For

example, in City of Durham v. Eno Cotton

Mills (1906) and State v. Perley (1917), the

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Court ruled that the statutes were

constitutional and a proper exercise of the

state’s police power to regulate public health.

A guiding principle for the Court is the legal

maxim Salus populi suprema lex—“the safety

of the people is the highest law.”

[IMAGE]

Courtesy Scott Miskimon

In the modern era, the Supreme Court ruled

that, if the state’s Coastal Area Management

Act is violated and wetlands are dredged or

filled in without prior approval, the private

landowner is not entitled to a jury trial. He or

she can also be compelled to completely

restore the wetlands to their pre-violation

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condition. State v. Simpson (1990) and

(1992).

The Supreme Court has decided cases

controlling lawsuits that challenge the

selection of sites for disposing of hazardous

waste and low-level radioactive waste.

Granville County v. North Carolina Hazardous

Waste Management Commission (1991);

Richmond County v. Low-Level Radioactive

Waste Management Authority (1993). The

Court has also ruled that more stringent

regulations unique to aircraft-based

applicators of pesticides do not violate the

constitution’s equal protection clause. In re

North Carolina Pesticide Board (1998).

[LARGE IMAGE]

Courtesy David Oppenheimer

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[PANEL]

Judicial Review

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the

judicial branch of state government. The

state constitution gives it powers

independent of the executive and legislative

branches. A fundamental part of the Court’s

work is deciding whether a statute passed by

the General Assembly is constitutional. This

is called “judicial review.”

When a statute is challenged as

unconstitutional, the Supreme Court closely

analyzes the language of the statute and the

constitution, the purposes of both, and prior

decisions of the Supreme Court and other

courts. Depending on these factors, the

statute may be upheld or struck down. When

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engaged in judicial review, the Court

presumes that the statute is constitutional.

The Court will invalidate a statute only if it

violates the constitution beyond a reasonable

doubt.

Bayard v. Singleton (1787)

North Carolina’s judiciary pioneered the use

of judicial review. Bayard v. Singleton

(1787). This case was decided 16 years

before the United States Supreme Court first

endorsed the doctrine of judicial review.

Marbury v. Madison (1803).

Bayard v. Singleton grew out of the American

Revolution and the postwar confiscation of

property owned by North Carolina loyalists

who had supported Britain. William

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Richardson Davie fought on the patriot side in

the Revolution, but as a lawyer he argued

that a statute confiscating loyalist property

without a jury trial violated the state

constitution. Davie’s political enemies had

him criminally indicted for making this

argument in court. The indictment was

quashed, and Davie won the case. Later he

became a founder of the University of North

Carolina, and then governor.

[IMAGE, PORTRAIT]

Portrait courtesy University of North Carolina,

Wilson Special Collections Library.

[IMAGE, MURAL]

This mural depicts William Richardson Davie’s

argument to the Superior Court judges in

80

Bayard v. Singleton. Painted in 1938 by

David J. Silvette, the mural is in the

courtroom of the federal courthouse in New

Bern.

Courtesy Eric Blevins

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[PANEL]

The Supreme Court and the General

Assembly

The General Assembly and the Supreme

Court each play a role in developing the law.

Sometimes one branch of government

overrides the other in the exercise of its

constitutional power.

Under the doctrine of judicial review, the

Supreme Court has the final say on whether

a law passed by the General Assembly is

constitutional under the North Carolina

Constitution. The Court has exercised this

power to strike down numerous statutes

because of their unconstitutionality.

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For example, a state law giving a property

tax exemption to a religious organization

operating an assisted living facility for the

elderly violated the state and federal

constitutions’ clauses that prohibit the

establishment of religion. In re Springmoor

(1998). A statute setting a below-market

interest rate that the State was to pay when

it condemned privately owned land was

unconstitutional because it did not give the

landowner just compensation. Lea Company

v. North Carolina Board of Transportation

(1986).

Sometimes the Court decides a case by

developing a new rule based on the facts,

human experience, logic, and what seems

reasonable under the circumstances.

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Judicially created rules make up the

“common law.” The General Assembly has

not always accepted new common-law rules

and has sometimes passed new laws in order

to change or repeal certain rules created

through court decisions.

For example, the General Assembly has

overturned common-law rules through

statutes that: control the amount of punitive

damages that can be recovered in a civil

lawsuit; impose time limits for filing a lawsuit

over a defective and unsafe product; and

require contracts for the sale of land to be in

writing.

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[IMAGE, TOP]

The North Carolina General Assembly, 1993.


[IMAGE, BOTTOM]

The North Carolina General Assembly building

in Raleigh in 2019.

Courtesy Steve Elizondo

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TECHNOLOGY AND THE SUPREME

COURT: FROM QUILL PENS TO

COMPUTERS

[PANEL]

Constitutional Separation of Powers

The North Carolina Constitution makes the

judicial branch a coequal branch of state

government, along with the executive

branch, headed by the governor, and the

legislative branch, in the form of the General

Assembly. When there are legal disputes

between the General Assembly and the

governor over their powers, the Supreme

Court resolves those disputes.

The state constitution establishes three

branches of government. Each has separate

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and distinct powers that are exclusive to that

branch. This is known as the “separation of

powers.” To protect the liberties of the

people, the powers of the three branches of

government are kept separate so that no one

branch becomes too powerful, and each

branch limits the powers of the other two

branches. This constitutional protection is

violated when one branch exercises a power

that exclusively belongs to another branch.

[IMAGE]

The North Carolina Constitution declares that

“[t]he legislative, executive, and supreme

judicial powers of the State government shall

be forever separate and distinct from each

other.”

87

Courtesy University of North Carolina, Wilson

Special Collections Library

Cooper v. Berger (2018)

In North Carolina the General Assembly

creates certain executive positions to oversee

state agencies, and the governor nominates

persons to fill those positions. In Cooper v.

Berger (December 2018), the governor filed

a lawsuit against the leaders of the General

Assembly, challenging a statute that gave the

state senate the right to confirm members of

the governor’s cabinet. The Supreme Court

ruled that the statute did not violate the

constitution’s requirement for separation of

powers.

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The Court’s decision in Cooper was based in

part on the Court’s power to determine

whether a statute is constitutional, a judicial

power recognized by North Carolina’s

judiciary in 1787 in Bayard v. Singleton.

[IMAGES, BOTTOM]

Governor Roy Cooper

Courtesy Associated Press

Left to right: Speaker of the House Time

Moore, and Senate President Pro Tem Phil

Berger

Courtesy Associated Press

State v. Bone (1982)

In State v. Bone (1982), the General

Assembly passed a law that required some of

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the members of an executive agency to be

members of the General Assembly. The Court

ruled that the law was unconstitutional.

Because the law would allow legislators to

wield executive power, the statute violated

the constitution’s separation of powers

clause.

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[PANEL]

Law and Society Transformed by

Technology

In the Court’s earliest years, most civil cases

dealt with disputes over title to land or

inheriting property through a will. But as the

Industrial Revolution transformed North

Carolina from farmlands to factories,

technology changed—and so did the types of

civil cases decided by the Court and the kind

of evidence that was admissible in court.

19th Century

In 1837 the Court decided its first case

involving a railroad and the right of eminent

domain to take private land for its

construction. Raleigh and Gaston Rail Road

Company v. Davis. In 1854 the Court dealt

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for the first time with a telegram, where the

plaintiff claimed it contained words that

slandered him. Banks v. Richardson.

In 1890 a telegraph company was held

responsible for causing mental anguish for

negligently failing to deliver a telegram

regarding the dangerous illness of a spouse.

Young v. Western Union Telegraph Company.

The first case dealing with the legal

significance of a conversation conducted

using a telephone was in 1895. State v.

Wernwag.

20th Century

New means of transportation created many

cases involving personal injuries, a trend that

started at the beginning of the 20th century.

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In 1908 the Court decided its first case

involving injuries blamed on the use of a

motorcycle. Long v. Warlick. In 1910 the

Court decided for the first time issues

regarding injuries caused by the negligent

use of an automobile. Tudor v. Bowen.

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[PANEL]

The Court in the Computer Age

The prevalence of computer technology today

is reflected in a number of the Court’s

decisions, including a criminal case involving

digital manipulation of photographs. State v.

Fletcher (2017). In another case an

employee was denied unemployment benefits

because she improperly claimed the

copyright in her employer’s website. Binney

v. Banner Therapy Products Inc. (2008).

The Court often decides cases at the

crossroads of computers and the state

constitution. A statute banning cyberbullying

was ruled an unconstitutional violation of free

speech. State v. Bishop (2016). A city’s

extremely high tax on internet cafés offering

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cyber gaming was unconstitutional as an

“unjust and inequitable tax.” IMT Inc. v. City

of Lumberton (2013). A statute banning

sweepstakes games displayed on a computer

or video screen was constitutional. Hest

Technologies Inc. v. State (2012).

Throughout its history, the Court has adopted

new technologies as part of its administration

of justice. Attorneys file briefs and motions

with the Court through the internet. Supreme

Court opinions are posted on the Court’s

website as soon as they are issued. This

allows lawyers and the public to see opinions

long before they are published in a

hardbound official court reporter.

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On May 29, 2019, as part of its bicentennial

celebration, the Supreme Court returned to

its original home in the State Capitol Building

and held oral argument in the old Senate

chamber. Oral arguments were livestreamed

via Facebook.

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[PANEL]

Admissible Evidence?

The heart of a trial is the evidence presented

to a jury. Evidence can be in the form of

witness testimony; documents like a will,

contract, letter, or email; or physical items

like a murder weapon or bloodstains.

Technologies that are familiar to us today

were once cutting edge or even

revolutionary. The Supreme Court must

decide whether a new technology is reliable

enough to be used as evidence at a trial. This

often happens when an expert gives an

opinion in court based on a device or a

scientific method used by the expert.

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Some noteworthy Supreme Court decisions

regarding new technologies and scientific

methods include the following:

• Ballistics, where a bullet’s markings

determine its source: State v.

Outerbridge (1880) (admissible)

• Matching a typed document to a

particular typewriter: Coleman v.

Hedgepeth (1922) (admissible)

• Fingerprinting: State v. Combs (1931)

(admissible)

• Photograph of a victim in a murder case:

State v. Cade (1939) (admissible)

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• Blood-alcohol testing to prove

intoxication: State v. Moore (1956)

(admissible).

• Lie detector: State v. Foye (1961) (not

admissible)

• DNA: State v. Pennington (1990)

(admissible)

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Acknowledgments

This exhibit was produced by staff at the

North Carolina Museum of History in

collaboration with the Supreme Court of

North Carolina.

The museum gratefully acknowledges the

support and contributions of the following

individuals and institutions:

North Caroliniana Society (In Memory of Dr. H. G. Jones)

Smith Anderson Law Firm

The North Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society

North Carolina Legal History Inc.

Justice Willis Whichard

Scott Miskimon, Curator

Law and Justice - NC

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