Allison B. Humphreys
Allison Battle Humphreys, Jr. (June 28, 1906 – September 1, 1993) was a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1967 to 1974.
Born in Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee, he was the third of six children of Allison Battle Humphreys (1876-1963) and Maude Dixon Sperry (1882-1954). Humphreys attended Castle Heights Military Academy, and received an LL.B. from Cumberland University in 1929,[1] entering the practice of law that same year.[1] He was an assistant district attorney general for the Fifth Judicial Circuit from 1937 to 1940, a circuit judge for that circuit from 1941 to 1942, and an assistant to the attorney general and court reporter from 1943 to 1952.[1] Humphreys also served as acting dean and professor of law at the Cumberland School of Law from 1942 to 1945.[1][2]
Humphreys was solicitor general of Tennessee from 1952 to 1960.[1][3] In that capacity, Humphreys asserted in one high-profile case that it was illegal for an executive branch agency of the state to employ a state legislator.[4] On January 22, 1960, Humphreys was appointed by Governor Buford Ellington to a seat on the Tennessee Court of Appeals.[1] On April 27, 1967, Ellington elevated Humphreys to a seat on the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated by the death of Justice W. G. White.[1][3] Humphreys was elected to a full term in 1968,[1][3] defeating his challenger, Domestic Relations Judge Benton Trimble, by a vote of 200,852 to 111,387.[5] Humphreys served until his retirement from the court in 1974.[1][3]
In 1984, Humphreys sat as a special justice to hear cases challenging state taxes on flea markets and computer software. Humphreys wrote the opinion on the software tax, which was upheld.[6]
Humphreys died at University Medical Center in Lebanon, Tennessee.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society. "Justices".
- ^ James W. Ely, ed., A History of the Tennessee Supreme Court (2002), p. 233.
- ^ a b c d e "Humphreys, former justice, dies", The Leaf-Chronicle (September 4, 1993), p. A12.
- ^ Fred Travis, "Education Consultant May Be Illegal", The Leaf-Chronicle (June 5, 1986), p. A4.
- ^ Jim Squires, The Tennessean (August 2, 1968), p. 1, 12.
- ^ "Court upholds flea market, computer tax", The Jackson Sun (October 2, 1984), p. 8A.
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