Burley Bayard Mitchell Jr. (born December 15, 1940) is an American jurist and former Chief Justice of the

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

Education and early career

He received his bachelor's degree from

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

and his J.D. degree from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. A veteran of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, Mitchell served as an Assistant Attorney General of North Carolina from 1969 to 1972 and as a

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

from 1972 to 1977. He was a judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals from 1977 to 1979, when Governor

Jim Hunt James Baxter Hunt Jr. (born May 16, 1937) is an American politician and retired attorney who was the List of governors of North Carolina, 69th and 71st governor of North Carolina (1977–1985, and 1993–2001). He is the longest-serving governo ...

appointed Mitchell as his Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety.

Supreme Court service

Mitchell served as an associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1982 to 1994 and as chief justice from 1995 to 1999. Gov. Hunt appointed Mitchell to the office of chief justice in late 1994 to take the place of the retiring James G. Exum. In

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, Mitchell was elected to the post in the general election, defeating Republican

Ray Warren Raymond Warren (born 11 June 1943) is an Australian retired sports commentator, known for his coverage of televised professional rugby league matches on the Nine Network. He is known as the "Voice of Rugby League", and called 99 State of Ori ...

. As a judge, Mitchell wrote 484 decisions, including the landmark ''Leandro v. State of North Carolina'' case regarding educational opportunities for all North Carolina children. He was also well known for reducing the court's backlog. Mitchell was also known for securing additional resources for the court system for technology and personnel through appropriations at the state level as well as projects for the criminal justice system at the federal level. Mitchell's staff at the Administrative Office of the Courts included North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Jack L. Cozort, who took leave to work for Mitchell as acting AOC director, and deputy director Jeanne Milliken Bonds, who was serving on the Knightdale Town Council at the time.

Electoral history

1996

1984

Post-Supreme Court activities

Mitchell retired and joined the law firm of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC. He has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for

, as a member of the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

system board of governors, and as chairman of U.S. Senator

Kay Hagan Janet Kay Hagan (née Ruthven; May 26, 1953 – October 28, 2019) was an American lawyer, banking executive, and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from North Carolina from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democr ...

's advisory panel on federal judicial nominees. In 2006, Mitchell helped found a so-called

527 group A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat ...

called FairJudges.net, which aimed to educate North Carolina voters about state appellate judicial candidates. In 2007, Mitchell received the North Carolina Award for public service.News & Observer: Mitchell and Frye recognized

References

External links

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice Biography
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Burley North Carolina State University alumni University of North Carolina School of Law alumni State cabinet secretaries of North Carolina North Carolina Court of Appeals judges Chief justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court Living people Needham B. Broughton High School alumni 1940 births