Massive resistance was a political strategy created by American politicians Harry F. Byrd and James M. Thomson aimed at getting Virginia officials to pass laws and policies preventing public school desegregation , particularly after Brown v. Board of Education . Many schools and an entire school system were shut down in 1958 and 1959 in attempts to block integration.
129-683: This lasted until the Virginia Supreme Court and a special three-judge panel of federal district judges from the Eastern District of Virginia , sitting at Norfolk , declared those policies unconstitutional. Although most of the laws created to implement massive resistance were overturned by state and federal courts within a year, some aspects of the campaign against integrated public schools continued in Virginia for many more years. After Reconstruction ended in 1877 and
258-588: 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
387-564: A "school choice" program and relying on the Pupil Placement Board to keep desegregation to a minimum. Almond's legislative plan barely passed despite the Byrd Organization's opposition. This earned Senator Byrd's wrath, and after Almond's term expired, Byrd tried to block Almond's appointment as a federal judge by President John F. Kennedy , although Almond was confirmed and served on the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals from June 1963 until his death in 1986. Perrow also paid
516-441: A Republican in 1941 and became a publisher and Washington Post columnist. Using legal challenges, by the 1940s, black attorneys who included Thurgood Marshall , Oliver W. Hill , William H. Hastie , Spottswood W. Robinson III and Leon A. Ransom were gradually winning civil rights cases based upon federal constitutional challenges. Among these was the case of Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County , which
645-590: A black parent, Calvin Green, sued the county school system to implement a more effectual desegregation scheme. This resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Green v. County School Board of New Kent County that freedom of choice plans were unconstitutional. The Richmond City Public Schools had attempted various schemes to avoid integration, including dual attendance zones and the "Freedom of Choice" Plan. After an unsuccessful annexation suit against Henrico County to
774-476: A clerk, an executive secretary, a court reporter, a chief staff attorney, and 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
903-463: 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
1032-719: 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
1161-631: A half century later and some like Hampton Roads Academy , the Fuqua School , Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and Isle of Wight Academy continue to expand in the 21st century. Enrollment at Isle of Wight Academy now stands at approximately 650 students, the most ever enrolled at the school. In 2016 Nansemond Suffolk Academy opened a second campus, that includes an additional 22,000 square foot building for students in pre-kindergarten through grade 3. All of these schools had officially adopted non-discrimination policies and begun admitting non-white students by
1290-653: A member of the Byrd Organization, had appointed a Commission on Public Education, consisting of 32 white Democrats and chaired by Virginia Senator Garland "Peck" Gray of rural Sussex County. This became known as the Gray Commission . Before the commission issued its final report on November 11, 1955, the Supreme Court had responded to segregationists' delaying tactics by issuing the Brown II decision and directing federal district judges to implement desegregation "with all deliberate speed." The Gray Plan recommended that
1419-650: A play by Chris Hannah. It reflects the emotions and tensions in Norfolk during massive resistance in both the political arena and through the eyes of the students of the "Lost Class". On July 16, 2009, the Richmond Times-Dispatch apologized in an editorial for its role and the role of its parent company and its sister newspaper, The Richmond News Leader , in championing massive resistance to human rights, acknowledging that "the Times-Dispatch
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#17327718938321548-565: A price, for he failed to win reelection, losing to a challenger in the next Democratic primary, although Perrow later served as President of the Virginia State Board of Education . Despite Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County being one of the companion cases in Brown v. Board of Education , Prince Edward County schools took even longer to desegregate. The county's board refused to appropriate any money to operate
1677-710: A result, de jure (legalized) racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment , thereby paving the way for desegregation and the Civil Rights Movement . A little more than a month after the Supreme Court's decision in Brown , on June 26, 1954, Senator Byrd vowed to stop integration attempts in Virginia's schools. By the end of that summer, Governor Thomas B. Stanley ,
1806-471: 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,
1935-464: 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 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
2064-526: A series of attendance plans and magnet school programs. By 1986, Judge Merhige approved a system of essentially neighborhood schools, ending Virginia's legal struggles with segregation. In 1970, the Norfolk City Public Schools and several other Virginia communities were also subjected to busing schemes, also returning to more or less neighborhood school plans some years later. Bussing plans were implemented in school districts across
2193-512: 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. Garland Gray Garland Gray (November 28, 1901 – July, 1977, nicknamed "Peck" after Peck's Bad Boy ) was a long-time Democratic member of the Virginia Senate representing Southside Virginia counties, including his native Sussex . A lumber and banking executive, Gray became head of
2322-472: A student would attend. The decisions of these Boards were based almost entirely on race. These laws also created tuition grant structures which could channel funds formerly allocated to closed schools to students so they could attend private, segregated schools of their choice. In practice, this caused the creation of " segregation academies ". On January 11, 1957, U.S. district judge Walter E. Hoffman , in consolidated cases concerning Norfolk's schools, declared
2451-483: Is dismissed with prejudice, the appeal ends and the judgment of the lower court is affirmed.) Otherwise, 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
2580-524: Is known as the Fuqua School . Public schools in the Commonwealth's western counties that lie outside the Black Belt , and have much smaller black populations, were integrated largely without incident in the early 1960s. By the fall of 1960, NAACP litigation had resulted in some desegregation in eleven localities, and the number of at least partially desegregated districts had slowly risen to 20 in
2709-686: 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
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#17327718938322838-585: Is not going to be accepted in the South." Within a month, Senator Byrd and 100 other conservative Southern politicians signed what became known as the " Southern Manifesto ", condemning the Supreme Court's decisions concerning racial integration in public places as violating states' rights . Before the next school year began, the NAACP filed lawsuits to end school segregation in Norfolk, Arlington, Charlottesville and Newport News. To implement massive resistance, in 1956,
2967-400: Is responsible for the second, ninth, and sixteenth cases, and so on until all cases are assigned. During session, the court customarily sits with 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
3096-446: 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 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
3225-512: 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 the Court of Appeals of Virginia . Established in 1779 as the Supreme Court of Appeals , the Supreme Court of Virginia is one of
3354-560: 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 , 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
3483-746: 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
3612-804: 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
3741-650: 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
3870-528: 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
3999-422: The death penalty . Discretionary appeals make up 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
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4128-557: 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 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
4257-724: The Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School in Little Rock to prevent the attendance of the black students who became known as the Little Rock Nine . In November 1957, Virginians elected Attorney General J. Lindsay Almond , another member of the Byrd Organization, to succeed Stanley as governor. Governor Almond took office on January 11, 1958, and soon matters had come to a head. Federal courts ordered public schools in Warren County ,
4386-705: 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
4515-545: The Byrd Organization-controlled Virginia General Assembly passed a series of laws known as the Stanley Plan , after Governor Thomas Bahnson Stanley . One of these laws, passed on September 21, 1956, forbade any integrated schools from receiving state funds, and authorized the governor to order closed any such school. Another of these laws established a three-member Pupil Placement Board that would determine which school
4644-526: 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
4773-517: 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
4902-508: The City of Norfolk. Warren County (Front Royal) and Charlottesville cobbled together education for their students with the help of churches and philanthropic organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee . The larger and poorer Norfolk school system had a harder time—one-third of its approximately 10,000 students did not attend any school. A group of families whose white children were locked out of
5031-421: The Commonwealth and allowed the tuition grant program to continue through local authorities. Shortly thereafter, Edward R. Murrow aired a national TV documentary titled The Lost Class of '59 that highlighted the Norfolk situation. Nonetheless, Norfolk's government, led by Mayor Duckworth, attempted to prevent the schools' reopening by financial maneuvering, until the same three-judge federal panel found again for
5160-609: The Democratic Caucus in the Virginia Senate, and vehemently opposed school desegregation after the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and 1955. Although Senator Harry F. Byrd himself supported Massive Resistance , and preferred Gray over other candidates, the Byrd Organization refused to wholeheartedly support Gray's bid to become the party's gubernatorial candidate in 1957, so J. Lindsay Almond won that party's primary and later
5289-505: 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,
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5418-666: 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
5547-815: 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
5676-452: The General Assembly met, it soon found that the state would not allow localities to determine their own positions on racial matters. The legislature dismantled Arlington's elected public school board, instead allowing the conservative Arlington County Board to appoint school board members. This—with other aspects of massive resistance—delayed Arlington's public school integration for years. County voters (95% white) had voted in early 1956 against
5805-456: The General Assembly pass legislation and allow for amendment of the state constitution so as to repeal Virginia's compulsory school attendance law, to allow the Governor to close schools rather than allow their integration, to establish pupil assignment structures, and finally to provide vouchers to parents who chose to enroll their children in segregated private schools. Virginia voters approved
5934-520: The General Assembly, retaining the term of twelve years. The constitution also required that annual sessions be held away from Richmond in 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
6063-459: The General Assembly. These men were commissioned by the Governor and appointed for life on good behavior. This resulted in placing 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
6192-646: The Governorship. 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
6321-598: The Gray Commission's proposals, although that referendum passed statewide. However, the American Nazi Party at that time maintained its headquarters in Arlington, and it, with the Defenders of State Sovereignty and Individual Liberties (a segregationist group), disrupted school board meetings and distributed tracts against integration. Arlington's new appointed school board delayed integration, so
6450-549: The Gray Plan Amendment on January 9, 1956. On February 24, 1956, Byrd declared a campaign which became known as "massive resistance" to avoid implementing public school integration in Virginia. Leading the state's conservative Democrats, he proclaimed "If we can organize the Southern States for massive resistance to this order I think that in time the rest of the country will realize that racial integration
6579-555: The Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission relating to judicial censure, retirement, and removal of judges. Appeals are taken directly to 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
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#17327718938326708-467: The NAACP filed another lawsuit in May 1956 demanding desegregation, similar to lawsuits filed in three other Virginia counties. Arlingtonians also formed a Committee to Preserve Public Schools to keep their schools open against threats of massive resistance proponents. This time, Judge Bryan, on July 31, 1956, ordered Arlington's school integrated. However, his injunction lacked teeth. He did not try to circumvent
6837-674: The Pupil Placement Act passed that summer, aware that not only had the Commonwealth again appealed his ruling to the Fourth Circuit (which was also considering desegregation lawsuits from Southside Virginia), the Virginia Supreme Court would soon rule on challenges to the Pupil Placement Act's validity based on Virginia's constitution. Meanwhile, Arlington parents hoped for peaceful desegregation, but believed strongly that northern Virginians should not lead
6966-545: The Pupil Placement Act unconstitutional. However, this decision was on appeal as the next school year started. Nonetheless, Virginians could see that President Eisenhower was willing to use the US military to enforce federal court orders to desegregate after he federalized the National Guard and sent the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock, Arkansas , to enforce a similar decision after Governor Orval Faubus ordered
7095-723: 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
7224-404: The Supreme Court agreed to hear the county's appeal, supervisors gave in rather than risk prison. Then 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County , and segregationists could appeal no longer. However, when Prince Edward County's schools opened on September 8, 1964, all but 8 of the 1500 students were black, and observers noted the difference between
7353-812: 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 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
7482-439: 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
7611-424: 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
7740-470: The Workers' Compensation Commission. The Court of Appeals has intermediary jurisdiction over all appeals in traffic and criminal cases except where 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
7869-445: 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 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
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#17327718938327998-514: The appeal involves a substantial constitutional question as a determinative issue or matters of significant precedential value. Most appeals to 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
8127-438: 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 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,
8256-419: 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
8385-413: The black children sent elsewhere for education by the American Friends Service Committee, and those who remained unschooled through the hiatus and became the "crippled generation." During the county's public school closure, white students could attend Prince Edward Academy , which operated as the de facto school system, enrolling K-12 students at a number of facilities throughout the county. Even after
8514-421: 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
8643-417: The case to the panel for decision. The justices on each panel review the petition and the brief in opposition with 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
8772-407: The cases heard that morning. The member designated to write the in a case opinion directs discussion of it by asking 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
8901-457: The cities of Charlottesville and Norfolk and Arlington County to integrate, but local and state officials appealed. Local authorities also tried delaying school openings that September. When they opened late in the month, Almond ordered various schools subject to federal court integration orders closed, including Warren County High School , two City of Charlottesville schools ( Lane High School and Venable Elementary School), and six schools in
9030-442: 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
9159-520: 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
9288-659: The closed Norfolk schools also sued in federal court on the grounds that they were not being granted equal protection under the law, since they had no schools. Ironically, a Norfolk parochial school, Blessed Sacrament, had accepted its first black pupil in November 1953, even before Brown . Moderate white parents throughout Virginia that fall formed local committees to Preserve our Schools, as well as conducting letter writing and petition campaigns. When Almond refused to allow Norfolk's six previously all-white junior and senior high schools to open in September, that local parents' group
9417-425: 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
9546-447: 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
9675-457: 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
9804-548: 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
9933-839: The county's financial limitations; black students were still sent to segregated and inferior schools, including Hoffman-Boston School for the small number of black middle and high school students. A federal lawsuit was initially dismissed by U.S. District Judge Albert V. Bryan , but in June 1950 the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit had ordered the county to provide equal facilities for blacks, and equal pay for black teachers. Arlington's Catholic schools integrated almost immediately after Brown v. Board of Education , with no disorder or public outcry. However, when Arlington's elected school board announced in January 1956 that it planned to begin integration in selected schools, shortly before
10062-497: 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 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
10191-668: 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 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
10320-499: The court. The executive secretary serves as secretary to the Judicial Council and Judicial Conference and provides assistance to 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
10449-470: The early 20th century, Harry Flood Byrd (1887–1966), a Democrat who served as Governor of Virginia U.S., led the Byrd Organization . Continuing a legacy of segregationist Democrats, from the mid-1920s until the late 1960s the Byrd Organization was a political machine that effectively controlled Virginia politics through a network of courthouse cliques of local constitutional officers in most of
10578-450: The end of the 1980s and like other private schools, are now eligible for federal education money through what are known as Title programs that flow through public school districts. However, few blacks can afford the high cost of tuition to send their children to these private schools. In some cases their association with " old money " and past discrimination still cause some tension in the community, especially among non-whites and students of
10707-534: The fall of 1961, 29 in the fall of 1962, and 55 (out of 130 school districts) in 1963. However, by 1963, only 3,700 black pupils or 1.6% of Virginia's black student population attended integrated schools. For example, Warren County High School re-opened as a de facto all-black school after no white students enrolled. Their parents had opted instead to send their children to the John S. Mosby Academy , one of many segregation academies — private schools opened throughout
10836-677: The following school year, thousands of white students did not go to the city's schools, but instead began attending existing and newly formed private schools and/or moving outside the city limits. A forced consolidation of the Richmond City, Chesterfield County and Henrico County public school districts was proposed and approved by Judge Merhige in 1971, but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned this decision, barring most busing schemes that made students cross county/city boundaries. Richmond City Schools then went through
10965-464: 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
11094-428: 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
11223-485: The judicial system. Prior to 2005, the executive secretary was required to be a resident of the Commonwealth and 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
11352-428: 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 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
11481-504: The justices. Once a justice has completed a draft of his opinion, copies are circulated to the other members of 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
11610-557: 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 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
11739-563: 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
11868-610: The local Readjuster Party fell in the 1880s, Virginia's conservative Democrats actively worked to maintain legal and cultural racial segregation in Virginia through the Jim Crow laws. To complete white supremacy , after the U.S. Supreme Court 's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), Virginia adopted a new constitution in 1902 effectively disenfranchising African Americans through restrictions on voter registration and also requiring racially segregated schools, among other features. In
11997-989: The local public schools . Their racist past may cause black parents who can afford the tuition to be reluctant to enroll their children in these schools. The abandonment of public schools by most whites in Virginia's rural counties that lie within the Black Belt and white flight from inner cities to suburbs after the failure of "Massive Resistance" has ultimately led to increasingly racially and economically isolated public schools in Virginia. In total, as of 2016 there were 74,515 students in these isolated schools, including 17 percent of all black students in Virginia’s public schools and 8 percent of all Hispanic students. Many of these isolated schools are inner city schools in Richmond, Norfolk, Petersburg, Roanoke, and Newport News. In contrast, less than 1 percent of Virginia's non-Hispanic white students attended these isolated schools. Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia
12126-578: 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
12255-440: The massively prepared-for event, "The Day Nothing Happened". Having lost James v. Almond and Harrison v. Day , Governor Almond publicly reversed his defiant stance within a few months. The special legislative session formed a commission led by Mosby Perrow Jr. of Lynchburg , which issued a report backing acceptance of limited desegregation, leaving the burden on black parents, repealing the compulsory attendance law in favor of
12384-516: 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
12513-853: The north and south as well. White women, specifically mothers, who were pro-integration staunchly opposed bussing. Evidently, the racist beliefs that upheld massive resistance were not isolated in the south. Massive resistance was formed in response to legislation yet the racist motive behind the movement persisted across the country as displayed by protests against bussing plans. Virginia experienced no incidents which required National Guard intervention. In 1969, Virginians elected Republican A. Linwood Holton Jr. , who had opposed massive resistance and labeled it "the state's pernicious anti-desegregation strategy," as governor. The following year, Gov. Holton placed his children (including future Virginia First Lady Anne Holton ) in Richmond's mostly African-American public schools , to considerable publicity. He also increased
12642-418: The north, the city successfully annexed 23 square miles (60 km) of neighboring Chesterfield County to its south on January 1, 1970 in what the federal court later determined to be an attempt to stem white flight , as well as dilute black political strength. In 1970, District Court Judge Robert Merhige Jr. , ordered a desegregation busing scheme established to integrate Richmond schools. However, beginning
12771-595: The number of blacks and women employed in the state government and in 1973 created the Virginia Governor's Schools Program . Furthermore, when Virginia revised its state constitution in 1971, it included one of the strongest provisions concerning public education of any state in the country. In 2009, as part of their "American Soil Series", the Virginia Stage Company featured Line in the Sand ,
12900-493: 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
13029-715: 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 , 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
13158-432: 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 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
13287-401: The petition. If the law clerk, staff attorney, or brief in opposition identify any procedural defects in 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
13416-694: The plaintiffs. Massive resistance in Charlottesville was prompted when Federal Judge John Paul ordered the Charlottesville School Board to end segregation commencing when schools were to open in September 1956. Twelve students, whose parents had sued for the right to transfer, were to attend two all-white schools: three Burley High School students would attend Lane High School and nine Jefferson School elementary students would attend Venable Elementary School. The students became known as "The Charlottesville Twelve." The decree
13545-466: 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 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
13674-495: The power given the Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court of Virginia possesses both original and appellate jurisdiction , its primary function 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
13803-459: The re-opening of the public schools, the Academy remained segregated, although it briefly lost its tax-exempt status in 1978 for its discriminatory practices. White students gradually drifted back to the public schools as tuition at the Academy crept higher. In 1986, Prince Edward Academy changed its admission policies and began accepting black students, but few non-whites attend the school. Today it
13932-509: 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
14061-518: The schools, which closed rather than comply with the federal desegregation order effective September 1, 1959. It was the only school district in the country to resort to such extreme measures. White students took advantage of state tuition vouchers to attend segregation academies (as discussed below), but black students had no educational alternatives within the county. Edward R. Murrow brought such students' plight to national attention. Finally, in 1963, Prince Edwards' schools were ordered to open, and when
14190-493: 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
14319-410: 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
14448-631: The state as part of the massive resistance plan. Over the course of the 1960s, white students gradually returned to Warren County High School, with the Mosby Academy eventually becoming the county's middle school. Multiple school systems replaced massive resistance with " Freedom of Choice " plans, under which schools allowed families and students to opt to attend the public schools of their choice. This way, schools were able to comply with court rulings against segregation, while remaining partially or fully segregated in practice. In New Kent County ,
14577-421: The state constitution by closing schools, despite the other provision which had required segregation, and which was invalid after Brown . While the Virginia Supreme Court found that funneling local school funds through the new state agency violated another state constitutional provision, it condemned the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown decision as showing lack of judicial restraint and respect for the sovereign rights of
14706-517: The state's counties. The Byrd Organization's greatest strength was in the rural areas of the state. It never gained a significant foothold in the independent cities , nor with the emerging suburban middle-class of Virginians after World War II. One of the Byrd Organization's most vocal, though moderate, long-term opponents proved to be Benjamin Muse , who served as a Democratic state senator from Petersburg, Virginia , then unsuccessfully ran for Governor as
14835-463: The statewide movement of moderates, but instead jointly resolve their situation with those in Norfolk, Charlottesville and Front Royal. After the federal and state court decisions of January 19, 1959, struck down the new Virginia mandatory closing law, Arlington integrated its Stratford Junior High School (now called H-B Woodlawn ) on February 2, 1959, the same day as Norfolk integrated its schools. The Arlington County Board's new chairman proudly called
14964-585: 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
15093-474: The suburban city/county combination with a burgeoning population of federal civil servants had petitioned a special session of Virginia's General Assembly for the right to hold a referendum to become the only Virginia community with an elected school board. In October 1948, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld that new board against a challenge raised by the old appointed board. However, even the new board's policy of building and improving schools proved inadequate given
15222-430: The summer. These sessions are held for the convenience of the attorneys who would otherwise have to travel to Richmond and also to provide 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
15351-545: 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
15480-478: 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
15609-470: Was complicit" in an "unworthy cause": "The record fills us with regret, which we have expressed before. Massive Resistance inflicted pain then. Memories remain painful. Editorial enthusiasm for a dreadful doctrine still affects attitudes toward the newspaper." At the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia 's service of Repentance, Reconciliation & Healing on November 2, 2013, specific mention
15738-592: Was divided into five judicial sections, and each candidate was required to be at least thirty-five years old and to reside within 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
15867-512: 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
15996-406: Was heard in November 1958, and the three-judge panel of federal district judges gave their decision on January 19, 1959, Virginia's traditional holiday celebrating Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson , declaring for the plaintiffs and ordering that the schools be opened. On the same day the Virginia Supreme Court issued Harrison v. Day and found that Governor Almond had violated
16125-489: Was initiated by students to protest poor conditions at R. R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia . Their case became part of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954. That decision overturned Plessy and declared that state laws that established separate public schools for black and white students denied black children equal educational opportunities and were inherently unequal. As
16254-469: Was made of the actions of C. G. Gordon Moss , Dean of Longwood College in attempting to heal the divisions in Prince Edward County in 1963, and the retaliation he experienced. Several months earlier, the vestry of Johns Memorial Episcopal Church in Farmville, Virginia issued a similar apology during the 50th anniversary commemoration of the school closings. Most segregation academies founded in Virginia during Massive Resistance are still thriving more than
16383-495: 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 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
16512-405: Was received in Charlottesville on August 7, 1956. City Attorney John S. Battle indicated their intent to appeal the decree. While campaigning in Arlington before his election, Almond had said that he favored a more flexible approach to school desegregation than Byrd's massive resistance. In 1946, when the nearby District of Columbia schools started charging fees for black children from Arlington,
16641-581: Was renamed the Norfolk Committee for Public Schools. In December 1958 various similar committees statewide combined under an umbrella organization called the Virginia Committee for Public Schools. Furthermore, 29 prominent businessmen met with Governor Almond in that same month and told him that massive resistance was hurting Virginia's economy. Almond responded by calling for a "Pilgrimage of Prayer" on January 1, 1959. James v. Almond
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