Collection is open to research.
Because the library is not open to the general public, researchers should contact the library to arrange access to the collection.
Clerk's Correspondence and other Records, 1918-2006, Accession #00028513, Supreme Court of Virginia Archives, Virginia State Law Library, Richmond.
These records were transferred from the Clerk's office to the State Law Library in 2006.
Portions of the collection were found in other files after the collection was initially processed and interfiled or added in 2012 and 2013.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia was created by an act of the new General Assembly in 1779. Its jurisdiction was primarily appellate, and its members were elected by the legislature. The Constitution of 1870 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.
By Constitutional amendment in 1928, the number of justices was increased from five 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 by permitting the Court to prescribe forms and to regulate the practice of Virginia's courts. The Constitution of 1971 changed the name of the Court to its present title of Supreme Court of Virginia.
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. Virginia does not allow an appeal to the Supreme Court as a matter of right except in cases involving the State Corporation Commission, certain disciplinary actions against an attorney, and review of the death penalty.
The Court's original jurisdiction is limited to cases of habeas corpus (ordering one holding custody to produce the detained person before the Court for the purpose of determining whether such custody is proper), mandamus (ordering the holder of an office to perform his duty), prohibition (ordering a public official to stop an action), and actual innocence (based on biological testing). The Supreme Court also has original jurisdiction in matters filed by the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission relating to judicial censure and retirement, and removal of judges.
The Supreme Court of Virginia Clerk's Office receives, processes, and maintains permanent records of all appeals and other official documents filed with the Court. The Clerk also maintains records of qualified attorneys and other administrative records.
Maury B. Watts was appointed Clerk in 1933 and served until his death in 1952. Howard G. Turner served from 1952 to 1977, Allen L. Lucy from 1977 to 1984, and David B. Beach from 1984 to 2003. Patricia Harrington was appointed in 2003.
The Special Court of Appeals was established by the General Assembly to relieve congestion of the high court docket by adjudicating cases assigned to it by the state Supreme Court. It met from 1924 to 1928.
The Judicial Council was established by the General Assembly in 1928. It was relatively inactive between 1936 and 1947, when Chief Justice Hudgins revitalized it.
The collection contains correspondence files of the Office of the Clerk, Supreme Court of Virginia, documenting the Clerk's role in managing the records of the Court, maintaining communication with justices in their offices across the state, and managing administrative issues, especially during the period 1933 to 1952. The collection also contains records documenting the ceremonial history of the court.
The collection is organized into the following series: Special Court of Appeals records, 1924-1928; Judicial Council correspondence, 1930-1935; 1946; clerk's correspondence with justices, 1917-2005; clerk's general correspondence, 1929-1981; subject files documenting court ceremonies (investitutures, portrait presentations, memorials), anniversaries, and building dedications, 1925-2006; justices' speeches, 1931-1975; court publications, 1983; clippings, 1972; and miscellaneous records, 1936-2005.
Special Court of Appeals records contain correspondence, 1924-1928; recommendations and endorsements, 1924; a draft order designating the first session of the court, 1924; and argument dockets, 1926-1927.
Correspondence regarding the organization of a Special Court of Appeals, 1924-1928, is comprised of the correspondence of Justice Frederick Walker Sims, Court President, 1924-1925, and Justice Robert Prentis, Chief Justice, 1925-1931, with other justices, judges, and legislators. It documents the establishment of a Special Court of Appeals in Virginia and selection of candidates for the Court. Correspondents include state Senators Robert J. Noel, Alfred C. Smith, and W. Worth Smith, Jr., Delegates George A. Bowles, Charles Henry Smith, and Thomas W. Ozlin, Speaker of the House of Delegates; Louis S. Epes, State Corporation Commission; Eppa Hunton, Jr., and Richmond Judge Beverley T. Crump.
Chronological.
This folder contains recommendations and endorsements from bar associations for judges nominated to serve on the Special Court of Appeals: Judge A.T. Browning; Judge Douglas Dabney; Edward W. Hudgins; and Judge Howard W. Smith.
This folder contains two argument dockets, 1926-1927; and three letters pertaining to instructions for correcting and printing the dockets, 1924 and 1926. One docket lists the style of cause, appellants' counsel, and appellees' counsel; one docket lists style of cause, court, and judge.
Judicial Council correspondence contains correspondence of Chief Justice Prentis, President of the Judicial Council and M.B. Watts, Clerk of the Supreme Court and Secretary of the Judicial Council, 1930-1935; 1946.
These letters document the organization and administration of the Judicial Council and the Council's work in seeking recommendations from lawyers and judges for changes to statues regulating the practice of law in Virginia. Correspondents include individuals invited to join the Council, representatives of Judicial Councils from other states, and Virginia attorneys and judges proposing changes in laws. The correspondence includes an exchange between Herbert G. Cochran, Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge, and Chief Justice Prentis, 1931, regarding a request for the Council's help with the Virginia State Bar Association's Committee on Organization of the Bar; and a letter from Chief Justice Campbell to Governor Peery, 1935, requesting re-appropriation for the Council in the Governor's budget for 1936.
Chronological.
Correspondence with justices pertains mostly to day-to-day administrative issues, suggestions for editing and copy-editing opinions, and management of court documents. Some letters from justices to the Clerk include rationales for decisions or opinions, references to court policies, concerns about declining health, and personal matters. The largest correspondence files in the collection contain correspondence between the Clerk and Chief Justice Holt, 1928-1947; Chief Justice Edward Hudgins, 1930-1958; Justice Gregory, 1933-1951; and Justice C. Vernon Spratley, 1936-1977.
Alphabetical.
One letter to Judge Stafford G. Whittle accepting appointment to the court, and several letters to Judge Robert Riddick Prentis, 1917-1928. A photograph of Judge Burks found with the letter was separated and cataloged with other photographs of justices.
Correspondence includes references to plans for a new state library and supreme court building, 1938; acqusition of a portrait of Judge Frederick W. Sims, who served on the court from 1916 to 1925; an exchange about Chief Justice Campbell's preference for employing his wife as his stenographer, at no charge to the state, 1936; about the organization of the Virginia State Bar, 1937; and the state art commission and its jurisdiction over the court's acceptance of portraits, 1941.
Includes references to the law library in Staunton, 1959-1960.
Contains correspondence among justices and between Chief Justice Preston Campbell and Governor John Garland Pollard's about reductions in staff due to the state budget shortfall in 1933.
Includes a broadside from Harrison's campaign for Attorney General and a postcard from his campaign for Governor in 1961.
The series includes one file of correspondence pertaining to portraits of St. George Tucker and Justice Joseph Chinn, a memorial plaque for Judge Paul Carrington, and a portrait of St. George Tucker. Also included are three folders of Chief Justice Holt's personal correspondence with his children and friends, 1936-1947.
This correspondence includes letters regarding the Judicial Council of Virginia, 1947-1958, including letters from Chief Justice Hudgins protesting legislation pending in 1954 to require the General Assembly's approval of rules adopted by the Judicial Council affecting the practice of law in Virginia. Also included are Hudgins' letters regarding the admission of foreign attorneys, i.e., not members of the Virginia Bar, to practice in Virginia, 1937-1957; a folder of letters and petitions protesting the Court's decision against a petition to appeal, on the basis of racial prejudice, the verdict in the Martinsville Seven case, 1949, and one letter in support of the Court's decision; and a letter, 1947, from Chief Justice Hudgins to Maury B. Watts, recommending that Margaret Webb, his law clerk, be allowed to take the full state bar examination.
A file of personal correspondence, 1941-1950, includes a letter from Senator A. Willis Robertson, 1947, responding to Hudgins' inquiry about legislation to help tobacco farmers and protect archaeological findings in the section of the Roanoke River Basin to be flooded by construction of the Buggs Island Dam. The collection also contains correspondence (4 items) between the Clerk's office and Margaret Hudgins, wife of Chief Justice Hudgins, about his portrait, in 1934; and his health, in 1944.
Includes Justice Miller's copy of a program from the memorial service for John Johnston Parker, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 1958 Apr. 22.
The correspondence includes two letters from Judge Frederick Sims elaborating on recent opinions; correspondence pertaining to Justice Prentis' appointment to the U.S. Board of Mediation, 1929; and letters about legal opinions.
The file contains letters pertaining to Snead's appointment to the Court in 1956 and his departure in 1974. Also is a personal letter from Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell thanking Justice Snead for a dinner given in his honor by the Court in 1972. The correspondence includes biographical information about Justice Snead forwarded by the Clerk's office to the Virginia Law Review, 1974.
Correspondence between M.B. Watts, Clerk, and Justice C. Vernon Spratley, 1936-1969, pertains mostly to Watts' editorial suggestions, research questions, and research advice, and some correspondence about Justice Spratley's law clerks in the early 1940s. Correspondence between Howard G. Turner, Clerk, and Justice Spratley, 1953-1978, pertains mostly to management of court documents, hiring of law clerks, and court ceremonies.
The files contains Justice Staples' petition for retirement in 1951.
Clerk's general correspondence, 1926-1989, contains administrative correspondence, 1925-1989; correspondence regarding court anniversaries, 1979-1980; regarding portraits, 1926-1978, and integration of the Virginia State Bar, 1938-1948.
This series includes a folder of letters of application for the position of clerk, 1933, and a letter from Maury Watts about the position, 1933 (Box 13, folder 1); an exchange with Newport News attorney William Davis Butts asking about access to the State Law Library for African Americans, 1950; and correspondence, 1979-1980, from the Virginia State Bar about unauthorized practice of law.
Chronological.
Smales was the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Staunton.
Chronological.
Smales was the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Staunton.
Chronological.
Pertains mostly to procedural issues; includes a booklet, "Rules of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State of Virginia," 1928, with the signature, "M.B. Watts" on the cover.
Chronological.
This correspondence pertains to applications for admission to the bar, certificates of good standing, filing of court records.
Chronological.
These records Document the assignment of costs for filing of court documents.
Includes one folder of "monies usually paid to clerk paid to L.S. Epes, 5/16/33 to 7/15/33" (box 13, folder 2).
Chronological.
Correspondence pertains to plans for celebrating the bicentennial of the court's establishment in 1779 and the court's first session in 1780. Included is a copy of the proceedings of the 1979 celebration, and letter from Justice Lewis Powell with corrected galley proofs of his remarks for publication.
Chronological.
Correspondence pertains to commissioning of portraits of justices and copies of portraits for the Court, restoration of portraits, loans, gifts and provenance of portraits, and protocol for the commissioning and hanging of portraits.
The correspondence documents the Court's acquisition of portraits who served before the Virginia Bar Association began donating portraits of each justice to the Court. It pertains to acquisition of portraits of George Wythe (served 1779-1788); James Mercer (served 1781-1788, 1789-1793); Spencer Roane (served 1795-1822), Drury Hinton (served 1883-1894); Joseph Kelly (served 1915-1924; 1925); Jessie West (served 1922 to 1929); Robert R. Prentis (served 1916-1931); and Louis Epes (served 1929-1935). Correspondence also documents the commissioning and presentation, in 1963, of copies of portraits by artist Robert Nurnberger of portraits of John Blair (served 1779-1789), William Fleming (served 1781-1824), William T. Joynes (served 1866-1882), Francis T. Brooke (served 1811-1851), and Robert Stanard (served 1839-1846).
Correspondents in this series include Violet McDowell Pollard, Division of the Budget, State Capitol; William Young, conservation and restoration specialist; Robert L. Nurnberger, Chief Justices Edward Hudgins, C. Vernon Spratley, and John W. Eggleston; Philip N. Stern, Chairman and Secretary of the Art Commission of Virginia; Governor Mills E. Godwin, William M. Blackwell, Chairman, Virginia Bar Association Committee on Portraits, Judge John N. Kenna, West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals; D.V. Chapman, Jr., and H.E. Gassman, Superintendents, Grounds and Buildings, Commonwealth of Virginia; and Leo Fox, alias Charles J. Fox. Fox was a purveyor of portraits copied from photographs by an anonymous painter and sold as originals.
Chronological.
Primarily correspondence between Howard G. Turner, Clerk, and Margaret Archer, Librarian of the State Law Library in Staunton. Includes an inventory of the furnishings and books in the offices and library of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Staunton, 1953.
Chronological.
Includes lists of books loaned to the Wythe County Circuit Court and transferred to the State Law Library in Richmond; and a copy of the contract, 1902, for rent of the Courthouse at Wytheville.
Chronological.
Contains memos, letters, reports, and proposed legislation pertaining to the integration of the Virginia State Bar. Includes a stenographic report (transcript) of a meeting of the Committee of Forty on Bar Integration at Sweetbriar College, July 1938, and a "meeting before the meeting." Alson contains the printed report of the Committees on Integration of the Virginia State Bar, September 8, 1938; and recommendations and suggestions from members of the bar in response to the report, October 1938.
Maury B. Watts, Clerk of the Supreme Court of Virginia from 1933 to 1954, was associated with Appeals Press, in Richmond, which published Carrington's book, A History of Halifax County, in 1924. The correspondence pertains to marketing and sales of the book.
This series contains subject files documenting swearing-in ceremonies and investitures. It contains invitations, programs, oaths of office, transcripts of ceremonies, speeches and remarks, and sometimes seating charts and ceremony planning notes.
Alphabetical.
This series contains materials documenting portrait presentations and memorial ceremonies honoring justices and other officers of the Supreme Court of Virginia. The files contain invitations, programs, transcripts of ceremonies, including remarks; printed memorials, resolutions of appreciation (legislative and judicial), and in some cases planning notes, seating charts, and newspaper clippings.
Alphabetical.
This series contains programs, speeches, transcripts, and correspondence documenting celebrations of court anniversaries and building dedications.
Chronological.
Program and addresses.
Programs and speeches.
Henrico County Circuit Court order commemorating the anniversary.
Program.
Correspondence and transcript of ceremony.
Programs, draft speeches, transcript, invitation, and certificate of recognition.
Invitation and program.
This series contains programs from admission ceremonies, held at the Hotel John Marshall in Richmond, for attorneys at law qualifying to practice in the Supreme Court of Virginia and all courts in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Speeches honoring individuals or explaining the functions of the Court.
Chronological.
Informational pamphlets published by the Supreme Court of Virginia: Virginia Courts in Brief, and the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Clippings about the closing of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Staunton in 1972; and photographs of the Judicial Conference, undated, published in the Virginia Bar News.
This series contains court orders, architectural plans, and memos.
Various court documents and other records filed with records from the Clerk's office. Includes copies, undated, of pages of the Supreme Court of Appeals order book, 1785 and 1810; motions, jury instructions, a biographical sketch of John Blair, originally published in the Virginia Bar Association annual report, 1927; a resolution thanking Justice Hudgins for his assistance furnishing the new court building, 1940; jury instructions, and a memo from Justice Lacy to the other justices about multi-jurisdictional practice, 2001.