Arkansas Suprcmc Court HistoriGlI
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Noteworthy Arkansas Jurists: From the Trial Bench to the Governor's Office By Logan Scott Stafford
An arcicle in the last issue of The Arkansas Lawyer discussed three trial judges-Elisha Baxter, James H . Berry, and John Sebastian Little-who were elected gove rnor. Berween 1913 and 1952 four of rhe twelve persons who served as the state's chief executive came from the trial bench . Geo rge Washingcoll H ays grew up in Ouachita County and attended Washington and Lee Un iversity. He rerurnc.:cllu Camden and read law with a local firm before opening his own law practice. In 1906 Hays was appo inted judge of the 13rh Judi cial District (Calhoun, Columbia, Ouachi<a, and Union Co unties), and he was reelected [0 a full six yea r [Cflll in 1910. His electio n as governor was nor witho ut cOlHrove rsy. W hen United States Senator Jeff Davis died in January 1913, rhe General Assembly chose Joseph lariat Robinson , the state's newly e1ecred gove rn or, to fill the vacant senate seat. The legislature then scheduled a special election to rep lace Robinson as govern o r. Hays and former United Stares Co ngress man Srephen Brundidge sought the Democratic gubt:rnato rial nominatio n. The Democratic Central Committee declared Hays the winner by 8 16 votes, based largely on late returns from Phillips County. Brundidge filed suit in Pulaski Counry C hancery Co un to enjoin rhe sec retary of state fro m certi fYing Hays as the Democratic no min ee, and the chancellor granted tile injunction. O n appeal the Supreme Cou n ru led that the chancery coun lacked jurisdiction to try an election comes£. Su Walls v. Bnmdidge, 109 Ark. 250, 160S.W.230( 191 3). Hays wenr on to defeat his Republi can opponem in the July 23, 1913, special election. After se rving the remainder of RuLim.uu's (erm and one fuJI term as governor, H ays returned to rh e prac· tice of law in Little Rock and Camden. The chancello r who gramed the injunction in Walls v. Bnmdidg~ was John E. Martineau. who in 1926 became the next trial co urt judge to be elected governor. Martineau grew up in Lonoke Co unry and rece ived his legal educat ion at the Universiry 30 ll1C Ark,msas l::J\\ycr
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of Arkansas Schoo l of Law. He was ad mit· ted to the bar in 1899 and represe nted Pulask i Counry in rhe 1903 and 1905 Arkansas General Assemblies. In 1907, Martineau replaced Jesse C. Hart as chancello r of the First C hance ry District (Lo noke, Prairie, Pulaski, and W hite Co umies) after Hart was appointed to a vacam seat on the Supreme Coun. Martineau first sought the Democratic gubcrnarorial nomination in 1924, when he ran third in a field of six. Two years later he defeated the incumbent governor. Thomas J. Terral. in an extremely As governor close primary electio n. M arti neau is chi efly remembered as th e archi tect of an ambitious. multimill io n dollar hi ghway co nstru ction program. Du ring Martineau's second year in office President Calvin Coolidge appo inted him to the Uni ted States district court bench, and Martineau served as a federal judge until hi s d eath in 1937. In 1932 another tria l cou rt judge was elected gove rnor. Junius M. Futrell grew up in Greene: Co un ey and was ad mitted co the bar in 191 3. H e held a number of po Ii rica I offices including state rep resentative from Gree ne Co un ty. circuit clerk of G reene Counry, and state senato r from the First Distri ct. He was appoimed judge of the 2 nd Judicial C ircu it (C lay, C ross. G ree ne, C rai ghea d. Miss issi ppi . Po insett, and C rittenden Coumi es) in 1921 and elected chancell or of the 12th Chancery District (C lay, G reene, Craighead, Mississippi, Poinsen, and Crinenden Counties) in 1924 and 1930. H e was elected governor in 1932. at the heigh t of the Depression. and reelected in 1934. His legacy to the state included cwo constimtional amendmentS d es igned to The 19th restrict public spend in g. Amendm ent requires that tax increases be approved either by the voters in a ge neral election or by three-fourths of the General Assembly. The 20th Amendment requ ires vote r approval before the state's credi t can be pledged to pay bonds. Afrer leavin g the governor's office, Futrell became the attorney
for a federally sponsored agriculrural project at Dyess in Miss iss ippi o unty. T he final trial coun judge to be elected governor was Francis A. Cherry. C herry moved to Fayeneville in 1932 to arrend the Uni versiry of Arkansas School of Law. After rece ivi ng his law degree in 1936, he initially practiced in Li ttl e Rock but soo n moved to Jonesboro. In 1942 he was elected judge of the 12th C hancery Districr (Clay. Greene. Craighead, Mississippi, Poinsett, and Crittenden Counties). In 1952 Cherry was one of several candidates who challenged incumbent Governor Sid McMath's attempt to win a third term. To overco me his lack of name recogniti on. C herry appea red o n radio stati o ns all over the state where he fielded questions cal led in by listeners. The tactic captured the attention of voters, and C herry managed to force the incumbent into a runoff. wh ich Che rry won hand ily. After a sin gle term. C herry was defeated by Orval Faubus. C herry thereafter hel d a minor federa l pos t until his d eath in 1963.
Bibliograph y: THE GOVERNORS OF ARKANSAS EsSAYS IN POLITICAL BI OGRAPHY. Second Edition. Edited by limothy P. Donovan , W ill iam B. Gatewood Jr.• and Jea nni e M. W haley. U of A Press. Fayetteville, 1995.
Thh nrtir/e is provided by the Arkansas Supreme Court Historical Society, Illc. For more infonnatioll 011 tbe Society COII tact Rod Miller, Arkallsas Supreme Court Historical Society, Justice Buildillg, Suite 1500, 625 Marsball Street, Littk Rock, AR 72201; Email: rod.mt.ller@llrkallsas.gov; Pbolle: 501-682-6879.