John Webb (judge)

John Webb (September 18, 1926 – September 18, 2008) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court (1986–1998). Prior to serving on North Carolina's highest court, Justice Webb had been a Superior Court (trial) judge and a judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Webb was born in Nash County, North Carolina but lived most of his life in Wilson, North Carolina where one of his law partners was future Governor Jim Hunt. He was a veteran of the United States Navy, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and from law school at Columbia University.

Near the end of his tenure on the Supreme Court, Justice Webb wrote the sole dissent in a case in which the Court upheld a trial court taking custody of children away from a gay father because of the father's relationship with a male. Justice Webb wrote: "There is virtually no showing that these acts by the defendant have adversely affected the two children. The test should be how the action affects the children and not whether we approve of it" (Pulliam v. Smith, 348 N.C. 616, 631 [N.C. 1998]).^[1]

Webb died on September 18, 2008, on his 82nd birthday.

References

External links

• Remarks on Presentation of Justice John Webb's Official Portrait
• News & Observer: Former state Justice Webb dies
• Webb & Webb Attorneys at Law: John Webb's Law Firm