David Moffatt Furches was a North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 politician and jurist who served as an associate justice (1895-1901) and chief justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 (1901-1903) of the North Carolina Supreme Court

North Carolina Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of North Carolina is the state's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists of six associate justices and one chief justice, although the number of justices...

.

Furches read law under Chief Justice Richmond M. Pearson and served in the state constitutional convention in 1865, representing Davie County

Davie County, North Carolina

- Wine region :Portions of Davie County are located in the Yadkin Valley AVA, an American Viticultural Area. Wines made from grapes grown in the Yadkin Valley AVA may use the appellation Yadkin Valley on their labels.-Demographics:...

. Furches practiced law in Davie and later Iredell County, North Carolina

Iredell County, North Carolina

Iredell County, along with Moore County in the eastern Piedmont, are among a very few counties in the United States sharing borders with nine adjacent counties.-Demographics:...

 and became a prominent member of the North Carolina Republican Party

North Carolina Republican Party

The North Carolina Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in North Carolina. Robin Hayes was elected Chairman of the party on January 15, 2011, to serve the five months left in the unexpired term of Tom Fetzer....

. In 1875, he was appointed a state superior court judge, a position he held until 1879. He lost two races for the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, one in 1872 and the other in 1880, and was his party's nominee for Governor of North Carolina

Governor of North Carolina

The Governor of North Carolina is the chief executive of the State of North Carolina, one of the U.S. states. The current governor is Bev Perdue, North Carolina's first female governor.-Powers:...

 in 1892, losing to Elias Carr

Elias Carr

Elias Carr was the 48th Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1893 to 1897. A building on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill is named after him....

. In 1894, Furches was elected to the state Supreme Court. In 1900 the justices, by a vote of four to one, declared unconstitutional important legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly of 1899-1900

North Carolina General Assembly of 1899-1900

Members of the North Carolina General Assembly for the 1899–1900 session were elected in November 1898. The election saw the Democratic Party return to majority status in both houses, replacing the fusion of Republicans and Populists...

, which was controlled by Democrats

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

. When Chief Justice William T. Faircloth

William T. Faircloth

William Turner Faircloth was the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1895 until his death on December 29, 1900.According to his New York Times obituary, Faircloth had become one of the wealthiest men in his hometown, Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he served on the board of...

 died in December 1900, fellow Republican Gov. Daniel L. Russell appointed Furches to the post.

Impeachment

On February 18, 1901, the North Carolina House of Representatives

North Carolina House of Representatives

The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the state senate....

 (again controlled by Democrats) impeached

Impeachment in the United States

Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office...

 Furches and Associate Justice Robert M. Douglas

Robert M. Douglas

Robert Martin Douglas was a North Carolina Supreme Court justice and political figure. At the beginning of his career, the young attorney served the Republican governor of the state and President Ulysses S...

 (who was also a Republican). The charges involved an obscure case in which the justices ordered the North Carolina State Treasurer

North Carolina State Treasurer

The North Carolina State Treasurer is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina responsible for overseeing the financial operations of state government. The current state treasurer is Janet Cowell....

 to pay the salary of the state Shell Fish Inspector (a Republican), against the wishes of the General Assembly. A majority of the North Carolina Senate

North Carolina Senate

The North Carolina Senate is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly.Its prerogatives and powers are similar to those of the other house, the House of Representatives. Its members do, however, represent districts that are larger than those of their colleagues in the House. The...

 voted to remove the justices, but not the two-thirds majority required. Among the lawyers defending Furches in the impeachment proceedings was former Gov. Thomas J. Jarvis, a Democrat.

Furches lost in his bid for election as chief justice in 1902. As of 1906, he was a member of the state Republican Party's executive committee.