Cheri Beasley
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Cheri Lynn Beasley (born February 14, 1966) is an American attorney and jurist who served as the 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 ...
from 2019 to 2020 as well as an associate justice from 2012 to 2019. She was defeated by Paul Martin Newby in 2020. Beasley previously served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and as a district court judge in
Cumberland County, North Carolina Cumberland County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 334,728, making it the List of counties in North Carolina, fifth-most populo ...
. Beasley was the Democratic nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina. She lost to Republican nominee
Ted Budd Theodore Paul Budd (born October 21, 1971) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator for North Carolina since 2023. A member of the Republica ...
.


Education

Beasley earned a Bachelor of Arts in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
and
economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
at Douglass College of Rutgers University–New Brunswick in 1988 and a
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from the
University of Tennessee College of Law The Winston College of Law is the law school of the University of Tennessee located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1890, the College of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and is a charter member of the Association of Ame ...
in 1991. She also earned a
Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...
from Duke University School of Law in 2018.


Judicial career

Beasley spent her first years after law school as an assistant public defender in
Cumberland County, North Carolina Cumberland County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 334,728, making it the List of counties in North Carolina, fifth-most populo ...
. She was first appointed to the bench as a state
district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...
judge by 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 ...
in 1999, and then elected in a 2002 election. She was reelected without opposition in 2006. She served as a Judge in District 12 (Cumberland County) until her election to the Court of Appeals.


Appellate court

In
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, Beasley was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, defeating incumbent Douglas McCullough by a 15-point margin. In that election, she became the first Black woman to win election to statewide office in North Carolina without first being appointed by a governor. In December 2012, after four years on the Court of Appeals, Beasley was appointed to 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 ...
by Governor
Beverly Perdue Beverly Marlene Eaves Perdue (née Moore; January 14, 1947) is an American businesswoman, politician, and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 73rd governor of North Carolina from 2009 to 2013. She was the first female governor o ...
, filling the vacancy created by Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson's retirement. She was elected to a full eight-year term in
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
. On February 12, 2019, Governor
Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III ( ; born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 75th List of governors of North Carolina, governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...
appointed Beasley to the position of chief justice after
Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver. He most notably drove the No. 6 Ford Motor Company, Ford for Roush Racing for the majority of his career. From 1989 to 2009, Martin wo ...
retired, making her the first African-American woman to serve as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Beasley ran for a full term as chief justice in the 2020 election, losing by 401 votes to
Associate Justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...
Paul Martin Newby. After leaving office, she joined McGuireWoods as a partner in the law firm's Raleigh office.


2022 U.S. Senate campaign

In February 2021, various media outlets reported that Beasley was considering running in the 2022 U.S. Senate election in North Carolina. ''
The News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...
'' reported in March 2021 that Beasley had decided to enter the race for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator
Richard Burr Richard Mauze Burr (born November 30, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from North Carolina from 2005 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Burr was previously a member of the United Stat ...
. She launched her campaign on April 27, 2021, and on May 17, she won the Democratic primary election. She lost the general election on November 8 to Republican nominee
Ted Budd Theodore Paul Budd (born October 21, 1971) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator for North Carolina since 2023. A member of the Republica ...
. Beasley became the second black nominee who lost a seat in the U.S. Senate since Harvey Gantt who was defeated on the other senate seat by
Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the Conservatism in the United States, conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the ...
twice in
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
and
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 ...
.


Personal life

Beasley is married to Curtis Owens, a scientist. They have twin sons. In 2014, Beasley was the featured speaker at Saint Augustine's University's Lyceum Leadership Speaker Series. She was the commencement speaker to the 2018 class of
University of Tennessee College of Law The Winston College of Law is the law school of the University of Tennessee located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1890, the College of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and is a charter member of the Association of Ame ...
. Beasley was also the keynote speaker at
Samford University Samford University is a Private university, private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama, United States. It was founded by Baptist Church, Baptists in 1841 as Howard College and located until 1887 in Marion, Alabama. It is governed by an in ...
’s
Cumberland School of Law The Cumberland School of Law is an American Bar Association, ABA-accredited law school at Samford University in Homewood, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law sch ...
Black Law Students Association's 24th Annual Thurgood Marshall Symposium. In 2019, she was the undergraduate commencement speaker for nearly 900 graduates at Fayettesville State University, for the 133rd graduate commencement of
North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliati ...
, and the commencement speaker for Elon University's School of Law.


See also

* Joe Biden Supreme Court candidates * List of African-American jurists * List of female state supreme court justices * List of justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court * Black women in American politics * List of African-American United States Senate candidates


References


External links


Cheri Beasley for North Carolina
campaign website * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Beasley, Cheri 1966 births 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges African-American judges Chief justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court Living people North Carolina Court of Appeals judges North Carolina Democrats Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court Rutgers University alumni University of Tennessee College of Law alumni Women chief justices of state supreme courts in the United States Public defenders 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American lawyers 20th-century African-American lawyers 20th-century African-American women Duke University School of Law alumni Candidates in the 2022 United States Senate elections African-American candidates for the United States Senate