Editorial: Chief Justice Henry Frye

In a state widely populated by business, civic and government leaders who overcame rural, impoverished backgrounds to rise to prominence through innate grit and wit, few have toiled as hard or accomplished as much as Henry E. Frye, who last month was appointed chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court by Gov. Jim Hunt. Frye becomes the state's first African-American chief justice, adding to a long line of firsts in his inspiring career.

The particulars of Chief Justice Frye's background have been retold elsewhere but bear reciting here. He was born in rural Richmond County in 1932 but was a good student and excelled in high school. He enrolled at N.C. A &T State University in Greensboro and graduated with highest honors. After college he served four years in the Air Force and attained the rank of captain. Returning to his hometown of Ellerbe in 1955, Frye suffered a life-changing event. He went to register to vote and was subjected to one of the meaner manifestations of the Jim Crow laws — he was forced to take a literacy test. He was turned away when he couldn't name the signers of the Declaration of Independence or answer similar trick questions. That lit a fire under Frye.

He decided to become a lawyer, and graduated six years later with honors from UNC-CH law school. In 1968 he became the first African-American elected to the General Assembly since Reconstruction and took the lead in striking the literacy laws from the state constitution. After serving five terms in the state House and one in the Senate, while teaching at N.C. Central's law school, in 1983 he became the first black justice to serve on the state Supreme Court, appointed by Hunt during his second term.

Court observers who have watched Frye over the past 16 years years say he has a sharp mind for the law and a soft touch for common people, taking interest in cases that others might deem inconsequential. He undoubtedly is the court's most liberal member but usually is found in the majority around retiring Chief Justice Burley Mitchell.

At 67 his time as chief justice will be relatively short; he must stand for re-election at the end of this term and must retire at 72. But it will be easier for Frye to make his mark because he is stepping into the center seat at a time when the Supreme Court is running like clockwork with no backlog of cases, thanks to Mitchell's hard work.

Justice should always be tempered by mercy, and we know of none better able to comprehend and appreciate that than Henry Frye.

To fill Mitchell's seat, Hunt appointed his chief of staff, Franklin Freeman, to the Supreme Court, then moved Secretary Wayne McDevitt from DENR to fill Freeman's job. To fill the DENR post, Hunt elevated Bill Holman, an assistant secretary who was the Sierra Club lobbyist for 20 years. That appointment dismayed NCCBI, and we will continue to pay close attention to that critical department under Holman's leadership.

–– Steve Tuttle

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