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10 unusual facts about North Carolina Supreme Court


Atlantic and Yadkin Railway

In 1924, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the sale and reorganization was legal.

Elreta Melton Alexander-Ralston

Judge Alexander was unable to run for election to the North Carolina Supreme Court after losing the Republican Primary in 1974 to a man without any legal background; however, her loss prompted a later-adopted constitutional amendment requiring judges be attorneys licensed in North Carolina.

Gambling in North Carolina

The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that the Currituck racing law violated the state constitution by granting a monopoly and giving special privileges to a private entity (the racing association).

James Iredell, Jr.

He moved to Raleigh, practiced law, and served as court reporter for the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1840 to 1852.

North Carolina Highway 10

The case was finally decided in the North Carolina Supreme Court, which ruled that NC 10 must pass by the Newton courthouse.

Reidsville, North Carolina

Susie Marshall Sharp was an American jurist who served as the first female Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court

Rusty Duke

Russell "Rusty" Duke is a judge of the North Carolina Superior Court in Pitt County, North Carolina for the past fourteen years, who unsuccessfully ran for the office of Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court in November 2006.

South Carolina Pacific Railway

For three decades ownership of the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley changed hands repeatedly, until a North Carolina Supreme Court decision in 1924.

Tabitha Ann Holton

Her brothers, John Holton and Samuel Holton were licensed to practice law by the North Carolina Supreme Court on January 7, 1878, but Tabitha’s admission occurred several days later after the Court heard arguments for and against admitting her to the bar.

William S. Robards

Following a single term as Treasurer, at the end of which he declined to run for re-election, Robards served for many years as clerk of the North Carolina Supreme Court.


David Lowry Swain

Swain left his university studies in 1821 after only 4 months to study law with Chief Justice John Louis Taylor of the North Carolina Supreme Court; he was admitted to the bar in 1823.

Nathaniel Boyden

He unsuccessfully contested the election of Francis E. Shober to the 41st United States Congress, and afterwards resumed the practice of law until elected associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1872.