Richard Erwin

Richard Cannon Erwin (born August 23, 1923 in Marion , McDowell County , North Carolina , †  November 7, 2006 in Winston-Salem , North Carolina) was an American lawyer and politician . Following his appointment by President Jimmy Carter , he served as a federal judge from 1980 to 1992 .

Career

After attending school, Richard Erwin joined the US Army during World War II , where he served from 1943 to 1946 and rose to sergeant . He then took up studies at Johnson C. Smith University , a historic African American college , and graduated there in 1947 with a Bachelor of Arts . He then graduated from the Law School of Howard University in Washington, DC There, he acquired in 1951 the Bachelor of Laws , after which he started practicing as a lawyer in Winston-Salem. In 1974 he was elected as a Democrat to the North Carolina House of Representatives, where he remained until 1977. That year, Governor Jim Hunt appointed him to the North Carolina Court of Appeals , the state's highest appeals court. In 1978 he was confirmed in an election, making him the first African American since the end of the Reconstruction to win a state-wide election in North Carolina.

On June 11, 1980, Erwin was appointed by President Carter to the federal district court judge for the middle district of North Carolina; the seat in question had previously been newly established. After confirmation by the US Senate on September 29 of the same year, he was able to take office three days later. From 1988 he was before this federal court as Chief Judge . On September 22nd, 1992, he switched to senior status , effectively retiring. His seat fell to James A. Beaty ; Frank William Bullock took over the presidency of the court . Richard Erwin died on November 7, 2006 of complications from Alzheimer's disease .

Web links

• Richard Erwin in the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges

Individual evidence

1. ^ Judge Richard Erwin, 83, first black elected to NC statewide office, dies