[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 21, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11172-S11173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO JUDGE SAMUEL J. ERVIN III

 Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. President, I rise to honor the life of a 
remarkable North Carolinian. Judge Sam Ervin III died last Saturday, 
September 18, 1999 at the age of 73. His passing has left a void--his 
family and friends have lost a wonderful, caring man, North Carolina 
has lost one of its finest citizens, and our nation has lost an 
honorable and respected jurist.
  Judge Ervin devoted his life to public service. Born March 2, 1926 in 
Morganton, North Carolina to the late Senator Sam Ervin, Jr. and 
Margaret Bruce Ervin, Judge Ervin studied at Davidson College. He 
interrupted his undergraduate education for two years to serve in the 
U.S. Army during World War II. After attending Harvard Law School, he 
returned to the Army, attaining the rank of colonel while serving in 
the Judge Advocate General's Corps. In 1952, Judge Ervin returned to 
practice law in Morganton, where he would remain for the better part of 
the rest of his life. Judge Ervin served in the North Carolina General 
Assembly between 1965 and 1967, when Governor Dan Moore appointed Judge 
Ervin to the North Carolina Superior Court bench.
  Judge Ervin was considered among the ablest Superior Court Judges of 
his time. Lawyers trusted that Judge Ervin would afford all litigants a 
full and impartial hearing and would ground his decision in the law. He 
was often selected by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme 
Court to preside over controversial trials from which local judges 
recused themselves.

[[Page S11173]]

  After thirteen years as a trial judge, Judge Ervin was sworn in on 
May 25, 1980 as a judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals of the 
United States. When he was elevated to the chief judgeship of the 
Fourth Circuit in 1989, he became only the second North Carolinian to 
occupy this important position. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, Jr. 
once described Judge Ervin as ``the very model of what a judge, 
especially the presiding judge of a great court, should be.''
  Judge Ervin left his mark in hundreds of decisions. He always was 
fair and principled. He approached cases with a deep understanding of 
the law, but never forgetting the common sense he developed growing up 
in Morganton. Just last year, he participated in two important 
decisions affecting elections in North Carolina. In the middle of the 
election year, the district court issued an opinion striking down North 
Carolina's campaign finance statute. Judge Ervin issued a stay on the 
decision until the election season ended to prevent the election from 
devolving into confusion. Similarly, he participated in a decision to 
keep the primary election on May 5, 1998 for all offices except for the 
U.S. House, which was subject to a redistricting lawsuit, to minimize 
disruption for the other candidates and the electorate.
  Judge Ervin had the courage to stand up for his beliefs, which he 
always did in his typical gracious manner. In February 1997, as a 
witness in a congressional hearing about proposed legislation to reduce 
the number of judgeships on the Fourth Circuit, he politely took issue 
with the Chairman of the hearing. He believed that the court's ability 
to render swift and certain justice would be enhanced by the filling of 
two long vacant positions, not by eliminating them. He stated that the 
degree of delegation by circuit court judges was greater than ideal and 
that he would like to be able to devote greater personal attention to 
the matters that came before him.
  Because he was such a remarkable person and a dedicated jurist, he 
earned the lifelong admiration of dozens of young people who clerked 
for him over the years. He also earned the respect of his peers in the 
legal profession, as well as many honors over the years. Just this 
year, the North Carolina Bar Association accorded him its Liberty Bell 
Award for ``strengthening the American system of freedom under law'' 
and the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers presented him its 
Outstanding Appellate Judge Award.
  The Judge cherished his family, which is nothing they do not already 
know. What he knew about the important, everlasting things in life, he 
said that he learned from his parents, his wife Elisabeth, his two 
sons, Jim and Robert, and his two daughters, Betsy and Margaret. I send 
my heartfelt condolences to Elisabeth and their children. Please know 
that you are in my prayers.
  In his commencement speech at Campbell University this past spring, 
he told the graduates, ``[I]f you seek truth, if you keep faith, and 
have courage, life will release you from the little things and give you 
peace of mind and heart.'' Judge Ervin left this world released of the 
little things with peace of mind and peace of heart because throughout 
his life, he never stopped searching for truth, he kept faith in God, 
and he repeatedly demonstrated courage.

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