Justice Harry Martin And Students Honored At Law Day

Article Date: Friday, May 07, 2010

Alex Lew (left) and Nicholas Liu with Chief Justice Sarah Parker.

The North Carolina Bar Association observed Law Day on May 7 as students from across the state gathered in Raleigh for the event. The students were honored for their efforts in the annual Law Week competitions as was Justice Harry C. Martin of Asheville who received the Liberty Bell Award.

The Liberty Bell award is presented annually by the Young Lawyers Division on behalf of the NCBA in recognition of an individual who has “who has strengthened the American System of freedom under law.”

The students were recognized for their efforts in essay writing, photography, poster art and moot court. The finals of the moot court competition were conducted Friday morning before a panel of N.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals justices and judges, respectively, in the Supreme Court courtroom.

For the third straight year the finals of the moot court were contested between Highland School of Technology in Gastonia and the N.C. School of Science and Math from Durham. The team from Science and Math won the competition for the second straight year, defeating Highland School of Technology in a rematch of the last three finals.

 

Alex Lew and Nicholas Liu of the N.C. School of Science and Math successfully argued their case to the

Sage Corzine

Ryker Andrews

Laura Amanda Walker

Moli Eddins

 

moot court panel. Monique Kreisman returned to the finals for the second straight year representing Highland Technology where she was joined by Logan Wyont.

 

The moot court panel was comprised of Chief Justice Sarah Parker, Justice Robert H. Edmunds, Jr. and Justice Robin E. Hudson of the North Carolina Supreme Court, and Judge Ann Marie Calabria and Judge Linda Stephens of the N.C. Court of Appeals.

 

The moot court teams were joined by other honorees, including the 2009 recipients of the NCBA’s Citizen Lawyer Awards, for an awards luncheon at the Cardinal Club in Raleigh. NCBA President John R.

Wester presented the Law Day Proclamation issued by Gov. Beverly Perdue.

 

Student winners in the essay, poster art and photo/essay contests are as follows (links to winning essays are included):

 

Junior High (grades 6-8) Essay Contest: 1^st – Sage Corzine, Perry Harrison School, Pittsboro; 2^nd – Luke Hayek, Shelby Middle School, Shelby; 3^rd – Maggie Coe Roberts, First Flight Middle School, Kitty Hawk.

 

Senior High (grades 9-12) Essay Contest: 1^st – Ryker Andrews, Lincoln Charter High School, Denver; 2^nd – Tyler Hayes, Lincoln Charter High School, Denver; 3^rd – Summer McIntyre, Rowan County Early College, Salisbury.

 

Poster Art Contest (grades 3-5): 1^st – Laura Amanda Walker, Sparta School, Sparta; 2^nd – Kayla Lenz, Brier Creek Elementary, Thomasville; 3^rd – Rachel Chludzinski, Topsail Elementary School, Hampstead; and honorable mention – Amy Lin Zhang, Topsail Elementary School, Hampstead, and Jacob Andrew Luchansky, Topsail Elementary School, Hampstead.

 

Photo-Essay Winners (grades 6-8): 1^st – Moli Eddins, Perry Harrison School, Pittsboro; 2^nd – Hailey Saraney, The Learning Center, Murphy; 3^rd - Kayla Parks, Perquimans Middle School, Winfall.

 

Justice Harry C. Martin graduated from Harvard Law School before he practiced law in Asheville as a solo general practitioner. Martin then practiced law with Gudger, Elmore & Martin. After being appointed and reappointed by Governors Sanford and Moore, Martin was a Buncombe County Superior Court judge from 1962 to 1978. Gov. Hunt appointed Martin to the N.C. Court of Appeals from 1978 to 1982. In 1982, Gov. Hunt appointed Martin to the N.C. Supreme Court.

 

During his 10-year tenure on the N.C. Supreme Court, Martin wrote many important opinions, including Corum v. UNC and State v. Carter. Martin served from 1994-1999 as the Chief Circuit Mediator for the 4^th Circuit.

 

From 2000-2006, Martin served as the Chief Justice of the Cherokee Supreme Court, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, where he was integral in the creation of the new Tribal Court System. In recognition of his work, he is an honorary member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.

 

In June of 1942, six months after the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor, Martin left the University of North Carolina and volunteered to serve in the Army as an enlisted soldier. After training in Colorado for six months, Martin was shipped out to Guadalcanal, the first major offensive in the Pacific. Martin stayed in the Solomon Islands for eighteen months and was later involved in the invasions of Saipan, Tinian and Guam before returning home in June of 1945. He attended Harvard Law school before returning to Asheville to start his career in law.

 

He was honored in 2002 by the NCBA as the recipient of the John J. Parker Award. The award was established in 1959 by the NCBA as “the highest honor of this association bestowed in recognition of conspicuous service to the cause of jurisprudence in North Carolina,” and recipients are chosen as merited, not annually.

 

Martin joined a distinguished list of Liberty Bell honorees that includes Janice McKenzie Cole, Stacy C. Eggers Jr., E. Maurice Braswell, Herbert L. Richardson, William Joslin, Henry Frye, Robert R. Browning, Lacy Thornburg, James B. Hunt Jr., William C. Friday, Sam J. Ervin III, Terry Sanford, Herbert H. Taylor Jr., James Dickson Phillips Jr., Wade E. Brown, Hiram H. Ward, Kathrine Everett, L. Richardson Preyer, J. Frank Huskins, McNeill Smith, Franklin T. Dupree Jr., Thad Eure, Joseph Branch, Dr. Robert E. Lee, William B. Aycock, Susie Sharp and Sam Ervin Jr.

 

The national observance of Law Day was first proclaimed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on February 3, 1958, and is celebrated annually by the NCBA on the first Friday in May. Funding for Law Day and Law Week events is provided by the Beverly C. Moore Justice Fund of the NCBA Foundation.

 

Harry C. Martin (right) Judge J. Matthew Martin, and Cindy Harbon Holman.

The YLD Law Week Committee is chaired by Bethany Burgon and Guy Milhalter, who also served as moot court coordinator. Also serving on the committee are Rufus C. Allen, essay chair; Susannah B. Cox, poster art chair; Nancy R. Dunn, Eastern Regional moot court chair; Jennifer C. Henson and Amie C. Sivon, luncheon and ceremony co-chairs; Tenisha S. Jacobs, photo essay chair; Chara M. Moore and Shalanna L. Pirtle, Western Regional moot court co-chairs; Jonathan D. Shaw, Liberty Bell Award chair, Melissa K. Walker, moot court finals chair; Ward A. Zimmerman, moot court problem chair; and at-large committee members Tod M. Leaven, Eryn E. Linkous, Aulica L. Rutland and Meredith Specht.

 

Jacquelyn L. Terrell, director of sections and divisions, coordinates Law Week and Law Day activities as NCBA staff liaison to the Young Lawyers Division.

 

Some biographical information on Justice Harry C. Martin is courtesy of Tod M. Leaven from his article in The Advocate, April 2010.