Jack Pope

Andrew Jackson Pope Jr., known as Jack Pope (April 18, 1913 – February 25, 2017), was an American judge, attorney, author and legal scholar who served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas .

Pope previously held the record for the longest sitting justice in Texas Supreme Court history before current Chief Justice Nathan Hecht surpassed him. Altogether, Pope served on the bench for 38 years, including the District Court, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court. At the time of his 100th birthday , he was the oldest living former Chief Justice of any supreme court in the United States, as well as the longest living chief justice of any supreme court of any state in United States history.

Contents

• 1 Early life

• 2 Career

  • 2.1 Early legal career

  • 2.2 Judge and legal scholar

    • 2.2.1 District Judge

    • 2.2.2 Court of Appeals Justice

    • 2.2.3 Supreme Court Justice

    • 2.2.4 Supreme Court Chief Justice

• 3 Later life and death

• 4 Awards

• 5 References

Early life

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Pope was born in Abilene, Texas

to Dr. Andrew Jackson Pope Sr., a physician, and Ruth Adelia Taylor, a native of Nebraska . He is a descendant of Andrew Jackson Berry, who fought at the Battle of San Jacinto in the Texas Revolution . After completing high school in Abilene in 1930, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University ) in 1934, where he had served as Students' Association President. Pope then served as a student editor of the _Texas Law Review _ at the University of Texas School of Law , graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree and in 1937 was licensed by the bar. In 1938, he married Allene Nichols, an elementary school teacher and graduate of the University of Texas whom he met while attending law school; the couple had two sons.

Career

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Early legal career

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After obtaining his license to practice law in Texas in 1937, Pope "joined his uncle, former state representative Walter E. Pope ," at his law firm in Corpus Christi . His practice consisted of both civil and criminal matters, such as creditors' rights, oil and gas, personal injury, and family law.

He went on to manage his uncle's business, the Highway Transportation Company, a passenger "bus line which operated between Houston, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio." During this time, he was engaged in the legal interpretation of the new transportation regulatory laws, as well as New Deal labor laws.

When the United States entered World War II , Pope joined the Naval Reserve in 1944. He served on the legal staff of the Naval Air Training Station in Corpus Christi , as well as on stations in Washington, D.C. and San Diego , until his discharge in 1946.

Judge and legal scholar

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District Judge

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In late 1946 Pope was appointed by Democratic Governor Coke R. Stevenson to fill the unexpired term of Judge Allen Wood of the 94th District Court. Governor Stevenson's successor, Beauford H. Jester , then appointed Pope to Judge Wood's four-year term, which began January 1, 1947.

He became Texas' youngest district judge at the time when he sat on the bench at 33 years of age. During his time on the district court bench, Pope began writing for and lecturing at legal institutes and before bar associations across South Texas . His concerns included legal ethics, trial administration, best practices for presenting and excluding evidence, and the Texas jury system . On several occasions he was appointed to other regional courts to assist when another judge was recused from presiding.

Court of Appeals Justice

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In 1950 the Nueces County Bar Association prepared a resolution urging him to campaign for the 4th Court of Civil Appeals in San Antonio . Since 1892, of the fifteen judges who had served on that court, all but five had come from San Antonio. The legal community of Nueces County and the Rio Grande Valley counties hoped to change that trend by nominating and actively campaigning for the young judge.,[[

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