Isaac Beverly Lake Jr. (January 30, 1934 – September 12, 2019) was an American jurist and politician, who served as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
I. Beverly Lake Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Lake in 2015 | |
| Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court | |
| In office January 1, 2001 – January 30, 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Frye |
| Succeeded by | Sarah Parker |
| Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court | |
| In office January 1, 1995 – January 1, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Sarah Parker |
| Succeeded by | G. K. Butterfield |
| In office February 5, 1992 – January 1, 1993 | |
| Appointed by | James G. Martin |
| Preceded by | Harry Martin |
| Succeeded by | Sarah Parker |
| Member of the North Carolina Senate from the 14th district | |
| In office January 1, 1977 – January 1, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | William Wayne Staton Bobby Louis Barker |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Edward Johnson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Isaac Beverly Lake Jr. January 30, 1934 Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | September 12, 2019 (aged 85) Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican (1979-2019) Democratic (before 1979) |
| Alma mater | Wake Forest University (BS, JD) |
Early life
editI. Beverly Lake Jr. was born on January 30, 1934, in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States to I. Beverly Lake Sr. and Gertrude Bell. He attended Wake Forest Grammar and High School from 1940 to 1951.[1] He earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1949. He received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2006.[2][3] Lake also served briefly in the United States Army from 1956 to 1958.[citation needed] He got a Bachelor of Science degree from Wake Forest University in 1955, and secured a Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1960.[1]
Political career
editEarly activities
editIn the late 1960s, Lake entered politics. Between 1969 and 1976, Lake served as an appointed deputy attorney general for the state of North Carolina. He served two terms in the North Carolina Senate as a Democrat.[citation needed] A conservative, in his last session in the legislature he convinced the body to remove segregation academies from state oversight.[4]
1980 gubernatorial election
editIn October 1979 Lake announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination in the upcoming 1980 North Carolina gubernatorial election. A few days later he officially switched his partisan registration from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.[4] He ran as the unsuccessful nominee against incumbent Governor Jim Hunt. While not campaigning on segregation, he refused to eschew his father's politics, saying that he was "proud of his public record".[5]
Judicial career
editFrom 1985 to 1986 Lake served as Governor James G. Martin's legislative liaison.[6] Lake ran for the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1990 but lost to incumbent John Webb, who he had attacked as being "soft on crime".[7] In 1992 Martin appointed Lake to the Supreme Court. He ran for election later that year but lost to Sarah Parker. In 1994 Lake re-contested the seat and defeated Parker with 55 percent of the vote. Along with Robert F. Orr, he became one of the first two Republicans elected to the bench.[8]
He was elected as the court's chief justice in 2000, defeating incumbent Henry Frye.[citation needed] The two maintained cordial relations and occasionally golfed together.[5] In April 2002 the court ruled that legislative districts drawn by Democratic legislative leaders violated North Carolina's constitution for not respecting county boundaries. Lake authored the majority opinion, writing that "Enforcement of the [whole counties provision] will, in all likelihood, foster improved voter morale, voter turnout, and public respect for state government, and specifically, the General Assembly, as an institution."[9]
While serving as chief justice, a series of high-profile wrongful convictions in North Carolina came to his attention. He reviewed several of the cases with his clerk and resolved that the criminal justice system required reform. In 2002, he convened a commission including defense attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement officers to review how innocent people were convicted and how to exonerate them. The body released a study which led to the creation of a new government agency, the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission, in 2006. It was designed to review convictions and release persons found innocent.[10] By North Carolina law, he had to step down in 2006, after his 72nd birthday. He was succeeded by then-Associate Justice Sarah Parker.
Electoral history
edit2000
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | I. Beverly Lake Jr. | 1,453,039 | 51.36% | |
| Democratic | Henry Frye (incumbent) | 1,375,820 | 48.64% | |
| Total votes | 2,828,859 | 100% | ||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||
1994
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | I. Beverly Lake Jr. | 757,870 | 54.78% | |
| Democratic | Sarah Parker (incumbent) | 625,656 | 45.22% | |
| Total votes | 1,383,526 | 100% | ||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||
1992
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sarah Parker | 1,277,057 | 53.27% | |
| Republican | I. Beverly Lake Jr. (incumbent) | 1,120,479 | 46.73% | |
| Total votes | 2,397,536 | 100% | ||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||
Later life
editLake died on September 12, 2019, at the retirement home where he lived[14] following a rapid decline in his health.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b Cheney 1977, p. 318.
- ^ "Distinguished Eagle Scouts" (PDF). Scouting.org. Boy Scouts of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2019. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
- ^ "Distinguished Eagle Scout award". National Eagle Scout Association. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- ^ a b Bryant, Pat (October 13, 1979). "Some Black Support In Gubernatorial Bid". The Carolina Times. Vol. 57, no. 40. p. 1.
- ^ a b Christensen 2010, p. 199.
- ^ Fleer 1994, p. 218.
- ^ Christensen, Rob; Ruffin, Jane (September 19, 2008). "Former state Supreme Court Justice John Webb dies". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on September 23, 2008.
- ^ Kritzer 2020, p. 36.
- ^ "N.C. Supreme Court rejects redistricting". UPI Archives. United Press International. April 30, 2002. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
- ^ a b Waggoner, Martha (September 13, 2019). "Chief Justice who pushed for innocence process dies". WRAL-TV. Capitol Broadcasting Company. Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019.
- ^ "NC Chief Justice". Our Campaigns. June 19, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
- ^ "NC - Asc Justice of Sup Ct". Our Campaigns. April 18, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
- ^ "NC - Asc Justice of Sup Ct - Special Election". Our Campaigns. April 18, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
- ^ "Former Chief Justice Who Pushed For Innocence Process Dies". WUNC North Carolina Public Radio. September 12, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
Works cited
edit- Cheney, John L. Jr., ed. (1977). North Carolina Manual. Raleigh: North Carolina Secretary of State. OCLC 1245537.
- Christensen, Rob (2010). The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics : The Personalities, Elections, and Events That Shaped Modern North Carolina (second ed.). Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-7151-5.
- Fleer, Jack D. (1994). North Carolina Government & Politics. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803268852.
- Kritzer, Herbert M. (2020). Judicial Selection in the States: Politics and the Struggle for Reform. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108496339.