By Steve Keenan
Staff Writer
FAYETTEVILLE — When she needs a little guidance in fulfilling her duties as chief justice of the state Supreme Court, Robin Davis simply reaches into her left-hand desk drawer.
Therein lie the “copious notes” she took as she initiated a stint as justice that has now surpassed 15 years. Davis, who practiced law privately for 14 years before being elected to the Court, recalls learning the tools of the trade from former Justice Franklin Cleckley, whom she called “my mentor, my teacher, my friend.”
“On the Monday following the election,” says Davis, Cleckley called her and said, “I need to teach you your job. For seven weeks, he went into his teacher mode and I went into my student mode.” Davis said she still frequently refers to the notes which resulted from those sessions.
Davis was the featured speaker Thursday at a special Black History Month celebration at the Fayette County Courthouse. The event, developed by Circuit Clerk Danny Wright, focused on the legacy of James Ellis and Thomas Sweeney, Fayette County attorneys who, in 1915, became the first two black lawyers to argue a case on opposing sides before the state Supreme Court.
In addition to Cleckley, Davis also discussed other prominent West Virginians in the judicial system, including Irene Berger, who recently became the first black judge to serve on either of the West Virginia federal courts, and J.R. Clifford, the first African American to pass the State Bar in 1887 and who went on to argue two “landmark” cases before the Supreme Court.
“We have been graced with brilliant African American leaders,” said Davis.
Attorney Barbara Schamberger, the former state secretary of education and the arts, called the Sweeney-Ellis case, which centered around the issuance of a life insurance policy, a case “that not only made history but laid the foundation for all the positive history in this state to come.”
Fayette County is to be praised for giving Ellis and Sweeney the chance to be trail blazers, she said. She acknowledged the county’s “progressive brilliance” for allowing two African American lawyers to “be treated freely and fairly” and to pursue their livelihood as they saw fit. “We have to be proud of the lawyers Fayette County nurtured,” she added.
While introducing Davis, Circuit Judge John Hatcher said the efforts of Sweeney and Ellis “clearly need to be recognized.” Acknowledging Midland Trail High teacher Greg Crist and his son, Sidney, who were in the audience, Hatcher lamented that bad weather had altered plans for more students to be in attendance. “Greg Crist brought his son, and I’m glad he’s here. (Students) need to learn about these people and what they’ve done.”
Hatcher recalled intervening on behalf of a black fellow student, Ike McCain, at Edmond Elementary School when he was growing up. McCain had been accused of verbally harassing a white female student, and Hatcher remembers standing up for McCain to see that he got equal treatment.
“I consider that my first representation as a lawyer,” the judge said.
Belinda Morton, a Fayetteville attorney who was the first African American woman to practice in Fayette, said she was happy she was able to return to her home county to pursue her chosen vocation.
When electing to hang out her shingle, Fayette County offered “a safe place and (safe) environment to practice law,” she said.
Fayette County Prosecutor Carl Harris discussed recently researching a 700-plus-page history book which devoted “only a page and a half to the accounts of black citizens of Fayette County. (Programs like this) are bringing out their great accomplishments.”
Steve Pilato, a regional representative for Gov. Joe Manchin, made a presentation that honored Sweeney and Ellis for their vision and perseverance.
— E-mail:
skeenan@register-herald.com
