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91-619: The Commission on Public Education , known as the VPEC or Gray Commission (after its chair, Virginia state senator Garland Gray ), was a 32-member commission established by Governor of Virginia Thomas B. Stanley on August 23, 1954 to study the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Brown v. Board of Education issued on May 17, 1954 and May 31, 1955, and to make recommendations. Its counsel were David J. Mays (until December 1957) and his associate Henry T. Wickham. Even before establishing

182-588: A voucher program, which allowed creation of so-called " segregation academies " in many Virginia localities. After educator Blake T. Newton was elected to the state senate from the Northern Neck region after a 1955 campaign which advocated allowing localities to desegregate schools after Brown v. Board of Education , the Byrd Organization selected Gray to replace him on that state board, in what many considered retaliation. Gray thus served on

273-597: A "friendly" lawsuit against comptroller Sidney C. Day, seeking the Virginia judiciary's approval of the school voucher plan after the constitutional changes (after he was elected Governor in 1957, his successor as Attorney General, former Gray Commission member Albertis Harrison was substituted in the legal proceeding captions). On January 19, 1959, both the Virginia Supreme Court in Harrison v. Day and

364-691: A case which denied black children admission to a school in Old Fort, North Carolina using a pupil placement system (and without the school closure provisions of the Stanley Plan). That spring, the NAACP also challenged various aspects of the new Virginia plan which were directed against it and similar to new legislation in other southern states. Those reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1958 as Scull v. Virginia ex rel. Committee on Law Reform and Racial Activities and Harrison v. NAACP . Meanwhile, Almond brought

455-416: A case. Attorneys for each side are usually allowed fifteen minutes each to present their arguments. The justices often interrupt the attorneys to ask questions on some issue in the case. Typically, the justices hear oral arguments each morning and meet that afternoon for private deliberation of the cases heard that morning. The member designated to write the in a case opinion directs discussion of it by asking

546-514: A first-class grading, packaging and cold storage facility for preparing the loblolly tree seedlings for shipment. Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia . It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts , as well as the criminal law , family law and administrative law cases that are initially appealed to

637-463: A foremen, had been arrested at the mill and jailed for allegedly attacking a white woman and stealing a pistol. An armed mob had descended on the jail and seized Jordan and marched him through the main street in Waverly to the railroad depot where he was strung up a tree and shot multiple times, before his corpse was set on fire in full view of passengers on a Norfolk and Western train that pulled into

728-719: A group of thirty Virginia politicians who urged defiance and met monthly thereafter in a Petersburg firehouse (in Gray's district). Soon, Gray was appointed chairman of a committee, colloquially named after him (the Gray Commission ), which developed a plan in November 1955 (six months after the Brown II decision) so no white Virginia child would have to attend a desegregated public school. This plan, which suspended Virginia's compulsory school attendance law and also established

819-505: A higher profile for the court outside of Richmond. By constitutional amendment in 1928, the number of justices was increased to seven and the title of the presiding officer of the court was changed from President to Chief Justice. At the same time, the amendment significantly increased the power given the Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court of Virginia possesses both original and appellate jurisdiction , its primary function

910-427: A legislative commission would be better because legislators would have to consider and act upon its proposals. Republican Ted Dalton had also called for a nonpartisan biracial commission to work out a desegregation program for Virginia. State superintendent of public instruction Dowell Howard expressed his hope that the problem could be solved gradually. Stanley's appointees were weighted towards those districts with

1001-555: A member of the Virginia State Bar for at least five years but these qualifications have been waived by statute. The chief staff attorney supervises the court's permanent staff attorneys and paralegals, who primarily assist the court with research on petitions for appeal and include specialists in the court's original jurisdiction, such as habeas corpus petitions and review of capital sentences. The court reporter and his staff assist with editing opinion drafts and supervise

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1092-681: A model for the United States Supreme Court , first convened in Williamsburg on August 30, 1779. Shortly thereafter, the Court was moved to Richmond and held its sessions in the Henrico County Courthouse. Its jurisdiction was primarily appellate, and its members were elected by the legislature. Among the court's first members were several distinguished legal scholars and jurists as well as leaders of

1183-710: A retired judge, an active district court judge, or an active circuit court judge, with his/her consent, to assist with a congested workload in any district. Other responsibilities of the Chief Justice include presiding over the various committees charged with improving the administration of justice in Virginia. The Virginia judicial system comprises the Supreme Court, a Court of Appeals , circuit courts in thirty-one judicial circuits, general district and juvenile and domestic relations district courts in thirty-two districts, and magistrates in offices in thirty-two districts. Three advisory/administrative bodies have been created by

1274-419: A seated female figure looking at a balance which she holds up in her left hand, her other hand resting on the neck of an ostrich. In ancient Egypt, the hieroglyph for justice was an ostrich tail feather. The origin of the seal is not known. It was adopted by court order on October 11, 1935. There were many prints made of this image over the centuries. During a ceremony to celebrate the Court's 225th anniversary,

1365-862: A three judge federal panel in James v. Almond found the Stanley Plan unconstitutional. Garland Gray Gray was born in the rural community of Gray, in Sussex County, Virginia to Elmon Lee Gray and his wife Ella Virginia Darden Gray. His grandfather Alfred L. Gray had moved to Virginia from Sussex County, Delaware and established a lumber company to harvest the local swamp pines. The family-owned Gray Lumber Co. once owned over one hundred thousand acres of forested land in Prince George County , Surry County , Sussex County , Southampton County and neighboring areas, as well as several of

1456-686: Is made up of seven justices, each elected by a majority vote of both houses of the General Assembly for a term of twelve years. 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. Vacancies on the court occurring between sessions of the General Assembly may be filled by the Governor for a term expiring thirty days after

1547-550: Is to review decisions of lower courts, including the Court of Appeals, from which appeals have been allowed. The court's original jurisdiction is limited to cases of habeas corpus , mandamus , prohibition , and writs of actual innocence based on DNA or other biological evidence. It also has original jurisdiction in matters filed by the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission relating to judicial censure, retirement, and removal of judges. Appeals are taken directly to

1638-687: The Court of Appeals of Virginia . Established in 1779 as the Supreme Court of Appeals , the Supreme Court of Virginia is one of the oldest continuously active judicial bodies in the United States . The Supreme Court of Virginia has its roots in the seventeenth century English legal system , which was instituted in Virginia as part of the Charter of 1606 under which Jamestown, Virginia ,

1729-563: The Defenders of State Sovereignty and Individual Liberties , which would radicalize their response. The commission's first meeting was held on September 13, 1954; members elected Gray chairman. Gray then selected an eleven-member executive committee. The full commission decided that all its sessions, as well as those of the executive committee would be closed to the public, although it could hold public hearings. The Commission held only one public hearing. That eleven hour session occurred after

1820-746: The James River Plantations including Bacon's Castle , Swann's Point and Eastover . Gray graduated from Waverly High School in 1917 (age 16) and received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Richmond in 1921 (age 19) and a master's degree in Southern history from Washington and Lee University the following year (age 20). He was also a Mason , member of the Congregational Church (and taught Sunday School), local Ruritan and Rotary Clubs, and of

1911-804: The New Deal . Gray became President of the Bank of Waverly in April, 1941, following the death of his uncle Horace. That year, the Gray Lumber Company bought 15,000 acres from the failed Surry Lumber Company, in Dendron, Virginia . Gray also served on the board of directors of the First and Merchants Bank in Richmond. Gray began his political career on the county school board (1925-1928), then served on

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2002-650: The Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. In 1923 Gray married Agnes E. Taylor of Suffolk . The couple had four children: Elmon T. , Florence E., Agnes E. and Mary Wingate Gray. Their Surry County summer home, at Swann's Point, overlooked the James River , but was destroyed by fire and not rebuilt. It is now an archeological site owed by the National Park Service . Beginning in 1952, the Grays lived at

2093-602: The Stanley Plan laws would be declared unconstitutional by the courts (as they later were). Gray finally acceded to requests for party unity and deferred to attorney general J. Lindsay Almond (who had segregationist credentials for representing the losing Prince Edward County in a companion case to both Brown decisions). Almond refused Byrd's offer of a position on the Virginia Supreme Court conditioned upon his endorsing Gray. After Gray withdrew from

2184-660: The revolutionary period . Edmund Pendleton , who served Virginia as a delegate to the First Continental Congress , was selected by the judges as its first president. George Wythe , the mentor of Thomas Jefferson and signer of the Declaration of Independence , and John Blair Jr. , who later served on the United States Supreme Court, were also members of Virginia's first Supreme Court. Other notable members were William Fleming ,

2275-634: The Arlington and Norfolk public schools, Governor Almond allowed those school boards to comply on February 2, 1959, despite much criticism and years of political fallout. After passage of the Voting Rights Act , Gray faced his first political challenge in years in 1965. Newly graduated University of Virginia physicist and civil rights activist Carey E. Stronach , who would later become a professor at Virginia State University for decades and resided in Prince George County , challenged Gray in

2366-415: The Chief Justice and the court in the administration of the judicial system. This includes oversight of the magistrate system, as well as fulfilling the public relations, legislative affairs, training, purchasing, payroll and human resources, information technology, and technical support needs of the judicial system. Prior to 2005, the executive secretary was required to be a resident of the Commonwealth and

2457-517: The City of Emporia (which he had represented for decades) were combined with Suffolk, Southampton, Isle of Wight, Nansemond and Dinwiddie Counties into the new 15th District, and came to be represented by his former colleague of the 5th District, William V. Rawlings of Franklin, Virginia until his death 4 years later (only to be succeeded by J. Lewis Rawls, Jr. of Suffolk County after a special 1975 election). Sussex, Surry and Prince George Counties and

2548-505: The Democratic primary, Almond easily won the Democratic nomination for Governor of Virginia. A month after Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered federal troops into Little Rock, Arkansas to support desegregation of those schools, Almond was elected governor over Republican candidate Ted Dalton . As Virginia's federal courts attempted to enforce desegregation) in 1958 over the vocal opposition of Gray and his supporters,

2639-666: The Democratic primary. Redistricting had added more liberal constituents from Williamsburg and James City County . Moreover, the SCOPE Project of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference had sent community organizers from California into Southside Virginia, although their efforts were somewhat thwarted by short monthly voter registration hours established by Southside county clerks. Gray won every precinct in his senatorial district, handily defeating Stronach 8,086 notes to 1,894, and in

2730-815: The Fourth Congressional District Democratic Committee. In 1945, Gray and fellow businessman and state senator Thomas H. Blanton chaired Senator Harry F. Byrd 's re-election campaign. Widely considered one of the top lieutenants in the Byrd Democratic Organization, Gray was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1944 and 1948. In 1947 Gray announced he would seek the seat left vacant by Goodwyn's retirement, and Sussex County clerk William B. Cocke Jr. (acclaimed with Gray for helping elect Watkins Abbitt to

2821-522: The General Court with original and appellate jurisdiction in both civil and criminal matters. It was a court of last resort for the Virginia colonists except in those rare circumstances when an appeal could be made to the king in England. Its members were appointed by the king on the basis of social standing, property, and the proximity of their estates to the colonial capital, Williamsburg . Though

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2912-531: The Petersburg firehouse meeting, but about two months before announcing this commission's membership), Stanley had vowed, "I shall use every legal means at my command to continue segregated schools in Virginia". Section 140 of the State Constitution had specifically provided for racial segregation in public schools. Stanley now proposed repealing Section 129 of the State Constitution, which required

3003-723: The State Board of Education from 1957 until 1961. His successor was Anne Dobie Peebles of Sussex County, who served nearly three decades and succeeded future U.S. Supreme Court justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. as chairman in 1968, becoming that agency's first female leader. As the Massive Resistance crisis escalated, Gray introduced legislation mandating closure of schools which desegregated (even pursuant to court order), while he also advocated increased funding for scientific and technical studies after Russia's successful Sputnik satellite. Gray also used his influence to cause

3094-593: The State Law Librarian, each of whom serves at the pleasure of the court. The clerk maintains records of qualified attorneys, the decisions of the court, and other administrative records. The clerk's office also receives, processes, and maintains permanent records of all appeals and other official documents filed with the court. The executive secretary serves as secretary to the Judicial Council and Judicial Conference and provides assistance to

3185-502: The Supreme Court are discretionary, meaning the court has the authority to decide whether to hear the appeal. Appeals of right, meaning the court must consider the appeal, are available only in cases involving the State Corporation Commission , disciplinary action against attorneys for violations of Virginia's Rules of Professional Conduct , and imposition of the death penalty . Discretionary appeals make up

3276-552: The Supreme Court in most civil cases tried by circuit courts. However, the Court of Appeals has intermediary jurisdiction over appeals in domestic relations cases, including divorce and annulment, child custody, and child and spousal support; the Court of Appeals also has intermediary jurisdiction over appeals from administrative agencies and the Workers' Compensation Commission. The Court of Appeals has intermediary jurisdiction over all appeals in traffic and criminal cases except where

3367-652: The Supreme Court told school districts to desegregate public schools "with all deliberate speed" was issued on May 31, 1955. Six months later the Gray Commission issued its 18-page final report, on November 11, 1955, four days after the Virginia Supreme Court in Almond v. Day (which concerned other vouchers) held that Section 141 of the state Constitution barred appropriating public funds to support private schools. The commission's final suggestions included, but were not limited to: Even Gray withdrew support because

3458-508: The Sussex County school board to refuse to renew teaching contracts for two veteran and respected teachers who refused to sign a statement opposing racial desegregation. His relative Frances Stringfellow Gray sat on the Sussex County school board during this time, and in 1964 established Tidewater Academy as a segregation academy , resigning from the public school board the following year. Another participant in Massive Resistance

3549-424: The U.S. Congress the previous year) decided not to run. Gray promoted pine as a farm product and served as State Ruritan president, as well as national President in 1948-1949. He also worked with fellow lumber industry officials who also served as state officials, including future governor Thomas B. Stanley of Stanley Furniture and Hugh Camp of Camp Manufacturing Company . By 1949, the newly elected Senator Gray

3640-495: The United States government. While library staff respond to public inquiries, the library is not open to the public. Each justice also personally appoints an administrative assistant and two law clerks who serve at the pleasure of the appointing justice and work under his or her direction. Assigned duties typically include assistance with legal research, editing opinion drafts, and reviewing petitions for appeal along with

3731-419: The arrangement. In 1971, Garland Gray announced his retirement, before census redistricting split and relocated what had been his district. The revamped 6th district came to represent Norfolk, as did the reconstructed 5th and 7th districts (instead of the 3-senator 2nd district that represented Norfolk during the previous decade). Thus, arguably Stanley C. Walker succeeded Gray. However, Greensville County and

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3822-437: The assistance of the memorandum prepared by the law clerk or staff attorney. A single justice may grant an appeal, even if the other two justices do not concur. If the petition is denied, the appeal ends and the judgment of the lower court is affirmed. If the petition is granted, the second phase of the appeal leads to the case being argued on the merits to the full court. The court sits in six, week-long sessions to hear cases on

3913-474: The bulk of the court's docket. A discretionary appeal begins when a petition for appeal is filed with the clerk of the court. Petitions are assigned to a law clerk or staff attorney for initial research, culminating in a memorandum summarizing the pertinent facts and evaluating the legal issues raised by the petition and any brief in opposition filed in response to the petition. If the law clerk, staff attorney, or brief in opposition identify any procedural defects in

4004-421: The business, his son left for VMI and military service overseas, and a devastating forest fire broke out during his mother's funeral on April 5, 1943 and burned 12,000 acres of timberland. Edward Everard Goodwyn of Emporia, Virginia filled his unexpired term. However, Gray's political stature grew, as he led various campaigns for the U.S.O. and war bonds, liaised with several wartime agencies, and worked with

4095-493: The case is then placed on the docket for consideration by a panel of three justices. When each panel sits, the petitioner may present up to ten minutes of oral argument. Alternatively, in a limited number of cases, the petitioner may present oral argument to the Chief Staff Attorney, who then presents the case to the panel for decision. The justices on each panel review the petition and the brief in opposition with

4186-543: The citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia with the best possible judicial system. Though it is seldom used except on the admissions certificates issued to members of the Virginia State Bar, the Supreme Court has its own seal which is distinct from the Seal of Virginia . The Court's seal is remarkably similar to the mural Justice, Raphael and Giovanni da Udine, in the Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace, Rome, 1519-1520. It depicts

4277-571: The city of Hopewell (the rest of Gray's long-time 6th district) were combined with Colonial Heights (which had been in the 29th district) and Petersburg (formerly in the 7th district) as the new 16th district , and his son Elmon T. Gray was elected to that district (and would be re-elected numerous times). Gray died in July, 1977 in Richmond, Virginia, survived by his wife, son Elmon and four daughters. His first wife, Agnes Taylor Gray had died on October 7, 1962. Continuing his and Agnes' philanthropy in

4368-425: The commencement of the next regular session of the General Assembly following their seventy-third birthday. The court may designate up to five retired justices to serve as senior justices, each for a renewable one-year term. 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

4459-447: The commencement of the next session of the General Assembly. The Chief Justice presently is chosen by a vote of the seven justices for a term of four years. 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. State law requires justices, like all Virginia jurists, to retire no later than twenty days after

4550-562: The commission, Stanley had announced his opposition to the Brown decision. Stanley was allied with U.S. Senator, Harry F. Byrd , head of the Byrd Organization that had long dominated politics in the state, and who as time passed would become more and more staunchly against racial integration, which he rationalized on anti- miscegenation grounds. The day after Brown I , Stanley had called for "cool heads, calm study, and sound judgment" and said he would write to Byrd, who at first

4641-509: The company. Gray advocated sustainable forestry, planting young seedlings to replace cut timber. He eventually became chairman of the Board of Gray Products Company. In 1930, the Gray lumber company was one of the first in the South to establish a pension plan for its workers. In 1931, Gray advocated unemployment insurance (and even financed a study for the state). Four years earlier, the closing of

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4732-697: The compilation, indexing, printing, and publication of the written opinions of the court in the Virginia Reports . The State Law Librarian supervises the State Law Library for the use of the court, judges and judicial staff, state officials, and attorneys. The library includes legislative and judicial materials from all 50 states, as well as the court's archives and most Virginia law schools' legal periodicals; as an official Federal Depository Library, it also receives official publications and legislative, administrative, and judicial materials from

4823-452: The constitution to allow private school vouchers), but little legislation was passed in the regular legislative session which began two days later and ended on March 12. Meanwhile, on March 6, 1956 the constitutional convention approved a tuition voucher amendment. The Gray Commission met again in May 1956, but made no additional recommendations. Both segregationists and moderates had come to oppose

4914-548: The county Public Welfare Board (1934-1940) and state ports authority beginning in 1935 and becoming its chairman in late 1939 until resigning to assume a seat in the State Senate. His cousin "Red" Gray represented Sussex and Greensville Counties from 1938-1942 and also preceded him as president of the national Ruritan Club. Despite many demographic changes in Virginia; Sussex and Greenville Counties had been represented jointly in Virginia's House of Delegates since 1879, and

5005-473: The court and the Court Reporter. The court meets again before the next session to review and revise the circulated drafts until they receive final approval. Opinions are made public on the last day of each session, usually the very next session after argument, and are published in the Virginia Reports . The court appoints a clerk, an executive secretary, a court reporter, a chief staff attorney, and

5096-516: The court's permanent staff attorneys. Article VI, Section 4, of the Constitution of Virginia places upon the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia the responsibility of supervising the administration of the entire court system of the Commonwealth. The Chief Justice may temporarily assign any judge of a circuit court to any other circuit court and may recall a retired circuit court judge to active duty. The Chief Justice may also designate

5187-468: The death penalty has been imposed. The decision of the Court of Appeals is final in domestic relations appeals, administrative and workers' compensation appeals, and traffic and criminal appeals where no incarceration is imposed; the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction in these cases unless it initially determines that the appeal involves a substantial constitutional question as a determinative issue or matters of significant precedential value. Most appeals to

5278-516: The elections, on November 14, 1954 in Richmond, and included testimony from over a hundred persons. The Commission then issued a preliminary report in January 1955, as the next legislative session began, noting popular opposition to integration and pledging to design a program to prevent enforced integration in Virginia's public schools. Basically, it proceeded from an assumption that Brown was both bad law and bad social policy. Brown II , in which

5369-415: The firehouse lay) and declared themselves "unalterably opposed" to racial integration in the schools. They included U.S. Congressmen Watkins Abbitt and Bill Tuck , as well as state senators Gray, Mills Godwin and Albertis Harrison . Four days later many fourth District citizens descended onto the state capitol. On June 25, 1954, after meeting with other Southern governors in Richmond (and learning about

5460-602: The first permanent English settlement in North America, was established. In 1623, the Virginia House of Burgesses created a five-member appellate court , which met quarterly to hear appeals from the lower courts . Meeting on the first day of March, June, September, and December, it became known as the Quarter Court. The June term became unnecessary over the years, and in 1661, the Quarter Court became

5551-464: The former home on Coppahaunk Avenue in Waverly of his uncle Horace Gray. His second wife was Frances Bage. He adopted her daughter, Mary Frances, after their marriage. Gray was a farmer, industrialist, and later a banker. He joined his father's Gray Lumber Company business in 1922 and operated small lumber mills in Southampton and Sussex counties from 1922 until 1927, when he was made a partner in

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5642-550: The full commission's approval the following day. However, the commission passed a redrafted version by a 19–12 vote on August 22. Governor Stanley had called a special legislative session, which began meeting on August 27. It ultimately passed the Stanley Plan. However, that defiance produced more litigation, and the existing desegregation lawsuits dragged on. On March 26, 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld lower court orders for desegregation of Arlington and Charlottesville schools, but gave segregationists some hope by denying certiorari

5733-428: The general election defeated civil rights activist Rev. Curtis W. Harris of Hopewell. In 1968, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on substandard company owned housing at the Gray's Lumber Mill in Waverly. The article stated that volunteers with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference complained that the living conditions endured by employees of the Gray lumber mill living in company owned housing were among

5824-456: The judges beyond control of the legislature once on the bench, and the court continued to function in this manner for more than half a century. The Reform Convention of 1850–51 again reorganized the judiciary by limiting the terms of the justices to twelve years and providing for their election by popular vote. The state was divided into five judicial sections, and each candidate was required to be at least thirty-five years old and to reside within

5915-683: The judges were generally most capable, the majority possessed no formal legal training. At the close of the Revolutionary War, the court system was reorganized. An act of the new General Assembly in 1779 created four superior courts, including the Supreme Court of Appeals, to be composed of judges of the other three existing courts: the Admiralty, the General, and the Chancery Courts. The Supreme Court of Appeals, which served as

6006-402: The justice seated at the conference table to the right for comments. The justices then comment in turn with the member designated to write the opinion speaking last. This discussion and debate provide the opinion writer guidance to prepare an opinion reflecting the views of a majority of the justices. Once a justice has completed a draft of his opinion, copies are circulated to the other members of

6097-399: The justices seated in order of seniority. The Chief Justice is seated in the center with the justice next in seniority on his or her right, the justice third in seniority on his or her left, and so on in alternating order such that the newest justice is seated on the far left. This arrangement may be disrupted if a senior justice replaces an active member of the court who is recused from hearing

6188-703: The largest black communities by percentage, which thus would be most affected by the Supreme Court's rulings. Thus, the 4th and 5th U.S. Congressional districts (Abbitt's and Tuck's) accounted for ten members and the 1st U.S. Congressional district (then represented by ex-football coach Edward J. Robeson Jr. ) had five members. All three of those districts were Byrd Organization stronghold and had many counties with more black than white residents, although poll taxes, Jim Crow laws and other tactic restricted blacks' voting power (sometimes those southern and eastern Virginia counties were referred to as "Black Belt"). By that autumn white leaders in those affected communities had formed

6279-506: The legislature to aid in the operation of the court system: the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, the Judicial Council, and the Committee on District Courts. The aim of the Virginia judicial system is to assure that disputes are resolved justly, promptly, and economically through a court system unified in its structures and administration. A competent staff of judges and court personnel, uniform rules and practices, and adequate funding are necessary to accomplish this function and to provide

6370-450: The local school board in Prince Edward County closed its schools for what ultimately became five years. That fall Governor Almond ordered schools in Arlington , Norfolk , Charlottesville and Warren County to close pursuant to various Byrd-Organization-supported Massive Resistance laws rather than comply with federal court orders. However, when the federal courts and Virginia Supreme Court jointly issued decisions ordering integration of

6461-465: The localities of Wytheville , Staunton , and Winchester . This mandate from the days of horse and buggy travel continued into the twentieth century, with sessions being held in Staunton as late as September 1970. In recent years, however, the court has held panels to hear petitions for appeal outside of Richmond during the summer. These sessions are held for the convenience of the attorneys who would otherwise have to travel to Richmond and also to provide

6552-559: The merits each year. The term begins the week after Labor Day in September and ends in mid-June. All sessions are held in Richmond and generally fall six weeks apart, although the recess between the November and January sessions is longer to accommodate the intervening holidays. During each recess, the justices research the cases awaiting argument, draft and review opinions in cases already heard, consider petitions for appeal, and attend to administrative duties. Cases docketed for argument on

6643-403: The merits include those discretionary appeals for which a petition for appeal was granted, appeals of right for which no petition was necessary, and cases within the court's original jurisdiction. The justice who will prepare the opinion for the court in any given case is determined by lot before each session begins. Seven slips of paper are prepared by the clerk of the court with one slip bearing

6734-516: The neighboring community, a foundation was created by Elmon Gray, as well as a professorship in forestry at Virginia Tech. The Virginia Historical Society has the family's scrapbook from the 1940s (until 1950). The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) Garland Gray Forestry Center is named for Senator Gray. The center is located next to the Nottoway River , which provides irrigation for 80 acres of loblolly pine seed beds. The sandy soils at

6825-406: The number "I"; the other slips are blank. The slips are placed in a hat, and the member of the court drawing the marked paper writes opinions in the first, eighth, and fifteenth, etc., cases on the docket. The justice immediately below him/her in seniority is responsible for the second, ninth, and sixteenth cases, and so on until all cases are assigned. During session, the court customarily sits with

6916-493: The nursery are ideal for pine seedling production. The Loblolly pine seedlings produced here are the result of rigorous Tree Improvement Program (TIP) testing and are proven high performers for Virginia conditions. A 213-acre tree seedling nursery was established within the boundaries of the Garland Gray Forestry Center in 1984. The Garland Gray Forestry Center has state-of-the-art harvesting equipment and

7007-495: The original Gray Commission plan, especially after extensive press criticism led by James J. Kilpatrick and after federal judges in July 1956 ordered integration of schools in Norfolk, Arlington and Charlottesville. Meanwhile, the Gray Commission's executive committee met, and with the assistance of then-attorney general J. Lindsay Almond crafted the more radical Stanley Plan . An initial draft of July 25, 1956 failed to receive

7098-401: The petition, it is referred to a panel of two justices who may dismiss it with or without prejudice depending on the nature of the defect. (When a petition is dismissed without prejudice, the petitioner has an opportunity to correct the procedural error and file a new petition. When a petition is dismissed with prejudice, the appeal ends and the judgment of the lower court is affirmed.) Otherwise,

7189-480: The plan Mays drafted included a local option. Many segregationists wanted any public school allowing segregation to be closed. On November 14, 1955, Governor Stanley called an extra session of the Virginia General Assembly which began on November 30, 1955 and adjourned on December 3, 1955. Virginia's voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional convention on January 9, 1956 (necessary to amend

7280-509: The rival Surry Lumber Company mills (caused in part by their decades-long failure to replant after cutting) devastated the local economy, and the Sussex, Surry and Southampton Railway established by the same owners went bankrupt in mid-1930, worsening the situation. Governor John Garland Pollard appointed Gray to a commission to study unemployment insurance, but that proposal did not need to be adopted in Virginia because of its adoption as part of

7371-493: The seal was used for the first time in many years on the cover of the programs given to guests, and also appears on certificates of admission and other ceremonial documents issued by the Court. An engraved image of the court seal has hung in the courtroom opposite the state seal since 2015. The lesser state seal is also depicted on the Justices' chairs and on a medallion over the entrance to the main courtroom. The court presently

7462-601: The section he wished to represent. The resulting Constitution of 1851 also required the court to state in writing its reasons for reversing or affirming a judgment or a decree. Following the turmoil of the Civil War , the Constitution of 1870 altered the method of selecting judges and reestablished election by joint vote of both houses of the General Assembly, retaining the term of twelve years. The constitution also required that annual sessions be held away from Richmond in

7553-475: The state Senate district had not changed since 1893. In November 1941, Peck Gray was elected to the Virginia Senate representing the 6th District (a part-time position), to replace Robert Williams Daniel , who had died in office. He would serve for thirty years, with only a brief gap during World War II when he resigned citing family business obligations after he bought out his brother's interest in

7644-404: The state provide free public schools. Radical segregationists proposed to close public schools to avoid integration, which upset other Virginians. Because all 32 of Governor Stanley's appointees on August 30, 1954 were legislators (13 senators and 19 delegates), all were male Caucasians. The Virginia Council of Churches had urged Stanley to appoint commissioners of both races, but he announced that

7735-585: The station during the macabre proceeding. In 1948, Gray was appointed to a state commission concerning teaching history in the public schools, which later proved controversial for adopting history texts for 4th and 7th graders as well as high school students which presented the American Civil War through the Lost Cause viewpoint. During Massive Resistance , a month after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education , Gray led

7826-408: The tenth day of April and met for twenty-four days unless they were able to complete their business sooner. A legislative act of 1788 provided that the court should be entirely separated from the other courts with five judges to be elected by joint vote of both houses of the General Assembly. These men were commissioned by the Governor and appointed for life on good behavior. This resulted in placing

7917-401: The third governor of Virginia and Paul Carrington . Until 1788, the judges did not render written opinions or give reasons for their decisions. Pendleton felt that the policy of no written opinions preserved a semblance of unity for the court and lent more credence to their decisions. Thomas Jefferson disagreed and began recording the decisions of the court in his reports. The court convened on

8008-545: The worst in Virginia. “The Wye community, in which about 200 persons live, is directly behind the lumber company owned by State Sen. Garland Gray. Gray also owns the houses in Wye, which he provides rent-free to their occupants,” SCLC volunteer Laurayne F. James was quoted as saying in The Times-Dispatch report. “ This particular section feeds him with cheap labor, It has not changed in over 100 years” Mrs. James said of

8099-478: Was also vehemently advocating fiscal responsibility. Despite his family's northern roots in Delaware, Gray's views on race mirrored those of most of his white constituents in the rural Southside Virginia community he represented. One of the last lynchings in Virginia had happened in Gray's hometown, Waverly, in 1925. The victim, James Jordan, was a black employee at Gray's lumber mill who after being identified by

8190-512: Was fellow Virginia Democratic state senator Frederick Thomas Gray (no relation) of Culpeper and the 11th District. Because of Gray's fiery segregationist rhetoric, he was Byrd's preferred candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1957. However, the Byrd Organization refused to support him wholeheartedly. Lieutenant Governor Gi Stephens said he would run for the governorship if Gray ran. Gray's radicalization had also disturbed Commission Counsel David J. Mays , who thought many of

8281-525: Was neither defiant nor conciliatory. But within days, the governor's office was deluged with letters expressing fears about communist plots (this being the McCarthy era and early Cold War ) and race mixing. Stanley assured those citizens that schools would remain segregated for the 1954–1955 school year. On June 20, 1954, twenty legislators from Southside Virginia met in a Petersburg firehouse, called together by state Senator Garland Gray (in whose district

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