Rhoda Billings | |
---|---|
Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court | |
In office 1986 | |
Preceded by | Joseph Branch |
Succeeded by | James G. Exum |
Personal details | |
Born | Rhoda Bryan September 30, 1937 Wilkesboro, North Carolina, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Donald R. Billings |
Children | 2 |
Education | Berea College (BA) Wake Forest University (JD) |
Profession | Lawyer, judge |
Rhoda Bryan Billings (born September 30, 1937) is an American lawyer and a former justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.[1]
Life
Billings is a native of Wilkesboro, North Carolina.[2] She earned her Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1966. She served four years as a state District Court judge (1968–1972).[3] From 1982 to 1984 Billings served on the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association.[2] Governor James G. Martin, a fellow Republican, appointed her to the North Carolina Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1985, after the resignation of Justice Earl W. Vaughn. When Chief Justice Joseph Branch retired, Martin then appointed her Chief Justice in 1986, making her the second woman to head the Court.[3] She was defeated by James G. Exum in the election for chief justice in November of that year.
Justice Billings became a law professor at Wake Forest University, retiring in 2003[4] as Professor Emeritus. Billings was named in 2008 to the National Committee on the Right to Counsel established by the Constitution Project of Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Who's who in American Law. November 1977. ISBN 9780837935010.
- ^ a b "Rhoda Bryan Billings ('66) receives John J. Parker Award from North Carolina Bar Association". Wake Forest University. June 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
- ^ a b "Rhoda Billings Sworn In As State's New Chief Justice". Wilmington Morning Star. September 4, 1986. p. 3C.
- ^ Mansell, Sarah (May 19, 2003). "WFUs retiring faculty recognized during commencement". Wake Forest University News Service. Archived from the original on July 7, 2003. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
- ^ Gibbs, Ann (August 26, 2004). "Law School Faculty News". Wake Forest University Law School. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
External links
- Wake Forest University School of Law alumni
- Wake Forest University faculty
- Chief justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court
- Living people
- 1937 births
- Women chief justices of state supreme courts in the United States
- People from Wilkesboro, North Carolina
- Constitution Project
- American women academics
- 21st-century American women
- 20th-century American women judges
- 20th-century American judges
- American state court judge stubs
- North Carolina stubs