Harry L. Carrico
Encyclopedia
Harry Lee Carrico is the former Chief Justice and a current Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia
. His tenure as an active Justice of the Court, at more than 42 years, is the longest term of any Justice in the Court's history. Because current law requires active Judges and Justices in Virginia to retire or take senior status on or shortly after their seventieth birthdays, it is likely that Justice Carrico's longevity record can remain unchallenged.
public schools and received his undergraduate and law degrees from George Washington University
.
In 1956 he was appointed a judge of the Fairfax County Circuit Court. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in 1961. He served as a justice until 1981 when, by virtue of seniority, he became Chief Justice. (The Chief Justice is no longer selected by seniority, but is elected by the Justices to a four-year term). During his tenure as Chief Justice, Carrico served as President of the Conference of Chief Justices from 1989-90. He retired from active service in 2003 and took senior status.
Carrico was succeeded as Chief Justice by Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr.
, the first black Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia
. The vacancy created by Carrico's retirement was filled by G. Steven Agee
, a former member of the General Assembly.
Judge Harry Carrico has a daughter, Lucretia Carrico, who sits as a General District Judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Judge Carrico sits primarily in Petersburg, Virginia, but may also sit in Powhatan, Amelia, Dinwiddie or Nottoway counties. As a general district judge she hears misdemeanor cases, preliminary hearings for felony cases and civil cases involving sums less than $15,000.00.
and sentenced to one year in prison, suspended on the condition that they leave the Commonwealth of Virginia and not return for 25 years. They appealed the case to the Virginia Supreme Court.
In Loving, Justice Carrico stated that “There is no dispute that Richard Perry Loving is a white person and that Mildred Jeter Loving is a colored person within the meaning of Code, § 20-58. Nor is there any dispute that the actions of the defendants, as set forth in the indictment, violated the provisions of Code, § 20-58.” He went on to rely on Plessy v. Ferguson
, 163 U.S. 537, 41 L. Ed. 256, 16 S. Ct. 1138 (1896) and its progeny, finding Brown v. Board of Education
, 347 U.S. 483, 98 L. Ed. 873, 74 S. Ct. 686 (1954) distinguishable, because Brown dealt with education and not marriage. Distinguishing Brown and its progeny, Justice Carrico observed that “it must be pointed out that none of them deals with miscegenation statutes or curtails a legal truth which has always been recognized that there is an overriding state interest in the institution of marriage. None of these decisions takes away from what was said by the United States Supreme Court in Maynard v. Hill, 125 U.S. 190, 31 L. Ed. 654, 657, 8 S. Ct. 723:
Justice Carrico further held that “Although the defendants were, by the terms of the suspended sentences, ordered to leave the state, their sentences did not technically constitute [illegal] banishment because they were permitted to return to the state, provided they did not return together or at the same time.” He therefore remanded the case so that the decision could be modified to prohibit Mr. and Mrs. Loving from cohabiting as husband and wife in Virginia, a less restrictive condition of the 25-year suspended sentence.
The Loving decision was overruled by a unanimous United States Supreme Court in 1967. In Loving v. Virginia
, the U.S. Supreme Court held that marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man, a fundamental freedom which could not be denied based on race.
Supreme Court of Virginia
The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears appeals from the trial-level city and county Circuit Courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative law cases that go through the Court of Appeals of Virginia. It is one of...
. His tenure as an active Justice of the Court, at more than 42 years, is the longest term of any Justice in the Court's history. Because current law requires active Judges and Justices in Virginia to retire or take senior status on or shortly after their seventieth birthdays, it is likely that Justice Carrico's longevity record can remain unchallenged.
Early life and education
Justice Carrico attended Fairfax County, VirginiaFairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
public schools and received his undergraduate and law degrees from George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
.
Career
Carrico began his legal career as an associate in the law firm of Rust & Rust, Fairfax (1941–43); he was then appointed to serve as a trial justice and judge of Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court (1943–51). He returned to the private practice of law (1951–56).In 1956 he was appointed a judge of the Fairfax County Circuit Court. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in 1961. He served as a justice until 1981 when, by virtue of seniority, he became Chief Justice. (The Chief Justice is no longer selected by seniority, but is elected by the Justices to a four-year term). During his tenure as Chief Justice, Carrico served as President of the Conference of Chief Justices from 1989-90. He retired from active service in 2003 and took senior status.
Carrico was succeeded as Chief Justice by Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr.
Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr.
Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr. was a Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court and the first African-American Chief Justice of that Court, serving two four-year terms from February 1, 2003 to January 31, 2011. He was succeeded by the current Chief Justice, Cynthia D. Kinser...
, the first black Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia
Supreme Court of Virginia
The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears appeals from the trial-level city and county Circuit Courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative law cases that go through the Court of Appeals of Virginia. It is one of...
. The vacancy created by Carrico's retirement was filled by G. Steven Agee
G. Steven Agee
George Steven Agee is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia.- Background :...
, a former member of the General Assembly.
Judge Harry Carrico has a daughter, Lucretia Carrico, who sits as a General District Judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Judge Carrico sits primarily in Petersburg, Virginia, but may also sit in Powhatan, Amelia, Dinwiddie or Nottoway counties. As a general district judge she hears misdemeanor cases, preliminary hearings for felony cases and civil cases involving sums less than $15,000.00.
Loving v. Commonwealth
Justice Carrico was the author of the Virginia Supreme Court’s unanimous 1966 opinion in Loving v. Commonwealth, upholding Virginia’s miscegenation statutes. Richard Loving and his wife, Mildred Loving, had been convicted of living together as husband and wife without being legally married, since their Washington, D.C. wedding was not recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia. miscegenationMiscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
and sentenced to one year in prison, suspended on the condition that they leave the Commonwealth of Virginia and not return for 25 years. They appealed the case to the Virginia Supreme Court.
In Loving, Justice Carrico stated that “There is no dispute that Richard Perry Loving is a white person and that Mildred Jeter Loving is a colored person within the meaning of Code, § 20-58. Nor is there any dispute that the actions of the defendants, as set forth in the indictment, violated the provisions of Code, § 20-58.” He went on to rely on Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in private businesses , under the doctrine of "separate but equal".The decision was handed...
, 163 U.S. 537, 41 L. Ed. 256, 16 S. Ct. 1138 (1896) and its progeny, finding Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
, 347 U.S. 483, 98 L. Ed. 873, 74 S. Ct. 686 (1954) distinguishable, because Brown dealt with education and not marriage. Distinguishing Brown and its progeny, Justice Carrico observed that “it must be pointed out that none of them deals with miscegenation statutes or curtails a legal truth which has always been recognized that there is an overriding state interest in the institution of marriage. None of these decisions takes away from what was said by the United States Supreme Court in Maynard v. Hill, 125 U.S. 190, 31 L. Ed. 654, 657, 8 S. Ct. 723:
Marriage, as creating the most important relation in life, as having more to do with the morals and civilization of a people than any other institution, has always been subject to the control of the Legislature.
Justice Carrico further held that “Although the defendants were, by the terms of the suspended sentences, ordered to leave the state, their sentences did not technically constitute [illegal] banishment because they were permitted to return to the state, provided they did not return together or at the same time.” He therefore remanded the case so that the decision could be modified to prohibit Mr. and Mrs. Loving from cohabiting as husband and wife in Virginia, a less restrictive condition of the 25-year suspended sentence.
The Loving decision was overruled by a unanimous United States Supreme Court in 1967. In Loving v. Virginia
Loving v. Virginia
Loving v. Virginia, , was a landmark civil rights case in which the United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute, the "Racial Integrity Act of 1924", unconstitutional, thereby overturning Pace v...
, the U.S. Supreme Court held that marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man, a fundamental freedom which could not be denied based on race.