This is a list of past and present judges of the Supreme Court of Virginia. The court's name was the Supreme Court of Appeals until it was changed in 1971.[1] Members were titled Judge until a 1928 constitutional amendment changed the title to Justice and designated the presiding member Chief Justice.[2]
The court presently is made up of seven justices,[3] each elected by a majority vote of both houses of the General Assembly for a term of twelve years.[4] To be eligible for election, a candidate must be a resident of Virginia and must have been a member of the Virginia State Bar for at least five years.[4] Vacancies on the court occurring between sessions of the General Assembly may be filled by the Governor for a term expiring thirty days after the commencement of the next session of the General Assembly.[4] The Chief Justice presently is chosen by a vote of the seven justices for a term of four years.[5] There is no statutory limit to the number of four-year terms to which a Chief Justice may be elected. However, the Court has stated that the justices internally adopted a two-term limit.[6]
State law requires justices, like all Virginia jurists, to retire no later than twenty days after the commencement of the next regular session of the General Assembly following their seventy-third birthday.[7] The court may designate up to five retired justices to serve as senior justices, each for a renewable one-year term.[8] Senior justices may sit with the court either to hear petitions for appeal or to hear cases on the merits, particularly to replace any of the seven active justices who may be recused from hearing a specific case. In addition, a retired justice who has not been designated as a senior justice may sit with the court by special designation.[8]
The Constitution of 1776 provided for a Supreme Court of Appeals but did not specify its structure, leaving the General Assembly to organize the court by statute.[27] The first such statute was enacted at the October 1778 legislative session. From that time until 1788, no one was appointed or elected specifically to serve on the Supreme Court of Appeals. Rather, the court was made up of the three judges of the High Court of Chancery, the five judges of the General Court, and the three judges of the Court of Admiralty, each of whom was elected by the General Assembly to life terms on those courts and served on the Supreme Court of Appeals ex officio.[28]
The following judges were members of the court by virtue of having been elected judges of the High Court of Chancery, the General Court, and the Court of Admiralty, in the courts' order of precedence under the statute.[28] The terms listed below run from each member's accession to those respective courts, which were created in 1776 and 1777, before the Supreme Court of Appeals was created. Ex officio membership ended on December 24, 1788, when the Supreme Court of Appeals became a separate body with five judges.[29]
In December 1788, within the broad authority provided by the Constitution of 1776, the General Assembly re-organized the Supreme Court of Appeals as a separate court with five judges elected by the legislature to life terms.[29] The General Assembly elected two incumbent judges of the High Court of Chancery and three incumbent judges of the General Court as the first judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals in their own right.[31] While the court has remained separate ever since, the number of seats has varied. In January 1807, while one of the five seats was vacant, the General Assembly reduced the number to four with the provision that it be further reduced to three upon the next vacancy.[34] The number was restored to five in January 1811.[35]
The next significant alteration to the court came with the Constitution of 1851. It provided for the popular election of judges to the court, one from each of five districts, and imposed a twelve-year term.[36] As the Emancipation Proclamation became effective in Virginia during the American Civil War (particularly after the Commonwealth surrendered in April 1865 and 13th Amendment became effective in December 1865), the 1851 Constitution's authorization of slavery became illegal under federal law. Thus, Virginia needed a new Constitution.
Federal authorities in occupied areas called a convention with delegates from occupied areas only, which proclaimed the Constitution of 1864. Although voters statewide never were asked to authorize it in a referendum, it came into (disputed) effect, until a new state Constitution was adopted by popular referendum, then undisputedly came into effect in 1870. Federal military authorities allowed voters statewide to elect delegates to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868. Virginia voters overwhelmingly ratified that document the following year, except for certain provisions penalizing former Confederates, which failed. The Constitution of 1864 had ended popular election of judges, instead providing (for the first time) that the General Assembly would elect the judges from candidates nominated by the Governor.[37] It also reduced the court to three judges.[38] On June 3, 1869, during Congressional Reconstruction, Major General John Schofield (who governed Virginia as Military District No. 1 and also led efforts to allow separate votes on the proposed Constitution and anti-Confederate provisions), dismissed all three elected judges because a new federal law required removal of officials in Texas and Virginia with any record of service to the Confederacy. On June 9, Schofield appointed three Union sympathizers (whom he had previously appointed judges of lower courts, where they had performed satisfactorily) as their replacements. Those three judges served (and issued binding rulings) until the new state Constitution came into effect and legislators elected replacements.[39]
The post-Reconstruction Constitution of 1870 eliminated the short-lived provision for gubernatorial nominations, as well as restored the court to five judges.[40] None of the three Union men was elected to the Court by the General Assembly. Legislators did elect two of the three judges elected by voters, and three additional judges. Legislation also allowed the court's members to elect their President, and in March 1870, the new Court elected R.C.L. Moncure (who had the most seniority) their President (the third man to hold that title).[39]
The Constitution of 1902 staggered the five seats by requiring that at the next election of judges, one judge would be elected to a term of 4 years, one to a term of 6 years, one to a term of 8 years, one to a term of 10 years, and one to a term of 12 years.[41] It perpetuated this staggering by providing that any new judge elected to fill a vacancy would serve only the unexpired portion of his predecessor's term.[42]
In 1906, the General Assembly re-elected each of the five incumbent judges, whose terms were all due to expire the following January 1, to fill the newly staggered seats. An amendment ratified in 1928 increased the number of seats to seven but it did not stagger the two new seats. The Constitution of 1971 eliminated the staggering of seats by providing that any new judge elected to fill a vacancy serve a full twelve-year term.[4]
These are the former members of the court from 1788, in order of their accession to office. Those who served as presiding officer are designated by italics.
In 1895, for the first time, the General Assembly elected a full bench of five new judges.[115] Consequently, any line of succession between a specific justice of the current court and a judge elected before 1895 necessarily would be arbitrary. However, when the General Assembly re-elected the incumbent judges in 1906 to fill the staggered seats created by the Constitution of 1902, it elected a specific judge to each seat: it re-elected Judge Cardwell for 4 years, Judge Whittle for 6, Judge Buchanan for 8, Judge Keith for 10, and Judge Harrison for 12.[116] It therefore was possible to trace the line of succession of each of these seats, and the two new seats created in 1928, to its successive occupants.
^"House Resolution 286, 2019 Regular Session". Retrieved September 26, 2019. Justice Chafin will reach the mandatory retirement age before the expiration of her term; she will have to retire or take senior status no later than January 30, 2029.
^ abHening, William Waller, ed. (1821), "October Session, 1778 ch. XII", The Statutes at Large, vol. 9, Richmond, Virginia: J. & G. Cochran, pp. 522–525. This statute was repealed and replaced the following year but the material provisions of the replacement statute were the same. Hening, William Waller, ed. (1822), "May Session, 1779 ch. XXII", The Statutes at Large, vol. 10, Richmond, Virginia: George Cochran, pp. 89–92.
^ abHening, William Waller, ed. (1823), "October Session, 1788 ch. LXVIII", The Statutes at Large, vol. 12, Richmond, Virginia: George Cochran, pp. 764–766. This statute was superseded in 1791, Hening, William Waller, ed. (1823), "October Session, 1792 ch. XI", The Statutes at Large, vol. 13, Philadelphia: Thomas Desilver, p. 405, and 1818, Leigh, Benjamin Watkins, ed. (1819), "ch. 64", Revised Code of 1819, vol. 1, Richmond, Virginia: Thomas Richie, p. 184, but the material provisions were unchanged.
^Hening, ed. (1821), "October Session, 1778 ch. XV", The Statutes at Large, vol. 9, pp. 388–399.
^Hening, ed. (1821), "October Session, 1778 ch. XVII", The Statutes at Large, vol. 9, pp. 401–419.
^Hening, ed. (1821), "October Session, 1776 ch. XV", The Statutes at Large, vol. 9, pp. 202–206.
^Hening, William Waller; Munford, William, eds. (1808), "ch. CII", Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia since 1801, vol. 2, Richmond, Virginia: Samuel Pleasants, p. 127.
^Munford, William; Hay Jr., William, eds. (1812), "ch. LVIII", Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia since 1807, Richmond, Virginia: Samuel Pleasants, p. 64. This statute was superseded in 1791, Hening, William Waller, ed. (1823), "October Session, 1792 ch. XI", The Statutes at Large, vol. 13, Philadelphia: Thomas Desilver, p. 405, and 1818, Leigh, Benjamin Watkins, ed. (1819), "ch. 64", Revised Code of 1819, vol. 1, Richmond, Virginia: Thomas Richie, p. 184, but the material provisions were unchanged.
^ abJudges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 22 Va. (1 Rand.) unpaginated front matter (1823).
^ abJudges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 48 Va. (7 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1851).
^ abcdJudges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 50 Va. (9 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1853). This records the judges popularly elected under the Constitution of 1851 but does not specify the date on which the terms of Judge Cabell and Judge Baldwin, who were not elected, expired, or that on which the terms of Judge Lee and Judge Samuels, who were newly elected, began.
^Judges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 29 Va. (2 Leigh) unpaginated front matter (1831).
^ abJudges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 32 Va. (5 Leigh) unpaginated front matter (1835).
^ abJudges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 35 Va. (8 Leigh) unpaginated front matter (1838).
^Judges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 30 Va. (3 Leigh) unpaginated front matter (1833).
^ abJudges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 39 Va. (12 Leigh) unpaginated front matter (1843). This records that Judge Tucker resigned in summer of 1841 and was replaced by Judge Baldwin, but does not specify when the vacancy was created or filled.
^Judges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 36 Va. (9 Leigh) unpaginated front matter (1840).
^ abJudges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 38 Va. (11 Leigh) unpaginated front matter (1842).
^Judges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 37 Va. (10 Leigh) unpaginated front matter (1841).
^ abJudges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 44 Va. (3 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1847).
^ abcdefgJudges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 58 Va. (17 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1867). This records the judges elected by the General Assembly under the Constitution of 1864 following the reduction of the court from five judges to three but does not specify the date on which the terms of Judge Allen, Judge Daniel, Judge Lee, and Judge Robertson expired, or that on which the terms of Judge Joynes and Judge Thompson, who were newly elected, began. It likewise records that Judge Rives replaced Judge Thompson but not the specific date.
^ abJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 76 Va. unpaginated front matter (1883).
^Judges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 55 Va. (14 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1859).
^Judges of the Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 56 Va. (15 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1860).
^Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 62 Va. (21 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1872).
^ abcdJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 61 Va. (20 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1871). This records the judges elected under the Constitution of 1870 but does not specify the date on which the term of Judge Rives, who was not elected, vacated his seat. The constitution provided that the terms of judges elected under it would begin the following January 1. Article VI, Section 22 of the Constitution of Virginia (July 6, 1869)
^ abcdefghJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 77 Va. unpaginated front matter (1883).
^Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 63 Va. (22 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1873).
^Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 68 Va. (27 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1877).
^Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 69 Va. (28 Gratt.) unpaginated front matter (1878). This records that Judge Burks was a member of the court when it sat in November 1876 but does not specify the date he succeeded Judge Bouldin.
^ abcdeJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 90 Va. unpaginated front matter (1895).
^ abcdeJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 91 Va. unpaginated front matter (1896).
^ abJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 98 Va. unpaginated front matter (1900).
^ abJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 117 Va. unpaginated front matter (1915).
^ abJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 119 Va. unpaginated front matter (1916).
^ abcdJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 120 Va. unpaginated front matter (1917).
^ abJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 99 Va. unpaginated front matter (1901).
^ abJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 126 Va. unpaginated front matter (1920).
^ abJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 138 Va. unpaginated front matter (1924).
^ abcJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 141 Va. unpaginated front matter (1925).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 157 Va. unpaginated front matter (1932).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 150 Va. unpaginated front matter (1928).
^ abJudges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 132 Va. unpaginated front matter (1922).
^ abcJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 153 Va. unpaginated front matter (1930).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 185 Va. unpaginated front matter (1947).
^Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 142 Va. unpaginated front matter (1925).
^ abcdJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 186 Va. unpaginated front matter (1947).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 163 Va. unpaginated front matter (1933).
^ abcJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 154 Va. unpaginated front matter (1930).
^ abcdJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 192 Va. unpaginated front matter (1951).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 200 Va. unpaginated front matter (1959).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 166 Va. unpaginated front matter (1936).
^ abcdJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 210 Va. unpaginated front matter (1970).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 208 Va. unpaginated front matter (1968).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 202 Va. unpaginated front matter (1961).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 198 Va. unpaginated front matter (1957).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Appeals During the Time of These Reports, 205 Va. unpaginated front matter (1965).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 215 Va. unpaginated front matter (1975).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 221 Va. unpaginated front matter (1986).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 265 Va. v (2003).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 213 Va. unpaginated front matter (1973).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 220 Va. unpaginated front matter (1980).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 233 Va. v (1987).
^ abcJustices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 238 Va. iii (1989).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 259 Va. v (2000).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 225 Va. iii (1983).
^ abJustices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 254 Va. v (1997).
^Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia During the Time of These Reports, 239 Va. front matter (1990).
^Under the Constitution of Virginia, Justice Roush's original interim appointment by Governor Terry McAuliffe was to expire thirty days after the commencement of the next session of the Virginia General Assembly, unless the legislature elected her to a full twelve-year term. "Article VI, Section 7". Constitution of Virginia. November 3, 1970. Retrieved July 27, 2015. On August 17, 2015, the General Assembly convened in special session but failed to elect anyone to the full twelve-year term before the Senate of Virginia purported to adjourn sine die. Portnoy, Jenna (2015-08-20). "Virginia Republicans escalate fight with McAuliffe over Supreme Court judge". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk, Virginia. Retrieved August 20, 2015. The Constitution prohibits one chamber of the legislature from adjourning for more than three days without the consent of the other chamber. "Article IV, Section 6". Constitution of Virginia. November 3, 1970. Retrieved September 15, 2015. The Senate and the governor claim that this provision applies only to regular sessions of the General Assembly; the House of Delegates and most Senate Republicans claim it applies to special sessions as well, and that the Senate's adjournment was invalid because the House did not consent. Because there is legal uncertainty about whether the legislature was still in session, it is unclear whether the governor could fill the vacancy created when Justice Roush's original interim appointment expired on September 16, 2015. Nevertheless, the governor announced his view that the legislature was not in session and purported to reappoint her for a second interim term. Cain, Andrew (2015-09-15). "McAuliffe to reappoint Roush today". The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. Retrieved September 15, 2015. Whether this second interim appointment was valid or invalid has not been determined. If valid, the second interim appointment expired on February 12, 2016, thirty days after the regular session of the General Assembly began on January 13, because the legislature did not elect her to a full twelve-year term.
^ abAlthough Cochran and Harman each joined the Court on the same day, Governor Godwin reported to the General Assembly that he had appointed Cochran to succeed Eggleston and Harman to succeed Buchanan. Senate Journal, 1970 Regular Session. p. 45.
^ abAlthough McClanahan and Powell each joined the Court on the same day, only Powell was interviewed for the vacancy created by the unexpected death of Justice Hassell. "Judicial Interviews, House Judicial Panel Schedule, April 5, 2011"(PDF). Division of Legislative Services. Retrieved September 26, 2013. The vacancy created by the mandatory retirement of Justice Koontz had been widely anticipated and McClanahan had already been interviewed for it. "Judicial Interviews, House Judicial Panel Schedule, December 10, 2010"(PDF). Division of Legislative Services. Retrieved September 26, 2013.