Jack Pope

Andrew Jackson Pope Jr., known as Jack Pope (April 18, 1913 – February 25, 2017), was an American judge, attorney, author and legal scholar who served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas.

Pope previously held the record for the longest sitting justice in Texas Supreme Court history before current Chief Justice Nathan Hecht surpassed him. Altogether, Pope served on the bench for 38 years, including the District Court, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court.

Early life Pope was born in Abilene, Texas He is a descendant of Andrew Jackson Berry, who fought at the Battle of San Jacinto in the Texas Revolution.

Career

Early legal career After obtaining his license to practice law in Texas in 1937,

When the United States entered World War II, Pope joined the Naval Reserve in 1944. Governor Stevenson's successor, Beauford H. Jester, then appointed Pope to Judge Wood's four-year term, which began January 1, 1947.

Supreme Court Justice In December 1963, Pope declared his intention to run for a vacancy position on the Texas Supreme Court, after receiving 80 petitions from 55 Texas counties with over 2,000 signatures of attorneys pledging their support, He was also directly involved in the creation of the Texas State Law Library in 1971, and served on the Friends of the State Law Library Board of Directors. As a Republican, Clements had crossed party lines to appoint Pope, a lifelong Democrat. However, when Democrat Mark White was elected governor that November, a group of 14 Democratic legislators in the Texas Senate publicly stated that they would "bust" The Democratic senators attempted to negotiate terms to keep true to their statement of blocking all of the Republican's appointments, while also preserving the power of the Chief Justice position for the Democratic party.

Later life and death

Upon his 1985 retirement Pope had written over 700 opinions for the Supreme Court, with an additional 500 opinions as a district judge and court of appeals justice.

In 1989 Abilene Christian University established the Jack Pope Fellows Program "to offer scholarships to ACU students pursuing public service careers." The interdisciplinary program gives students with "good minds and character" public service educational opportunities in and out of the classroom. Also in 1989, Pope co-founded the non-profit Texas Center for Legal Ethics with other former Chief Justices Joe R. Greenhill and Robert W. Calvert. Its mission is to promote the values contained in the Texas Lawyers’ Creed of Professionalism.

In 2011, at age ninety-eight, he wrote a memoir called My Little United Nations: A Team Approach to Growing Older and Wiser and Having Fun Along the Way— an account of staying physically and emotionally healthy, despite increasing age and the death of his wife in 2004, with the help of a diverse team of caregivers from around the world.

On May 28, 2013, Governor Rick Perry signed into law House Bill 1445, which raised the limit on civil penalties and restitution collected by the Attorney General's Office eligible for supporting legal assistance for the indigent to $50 million per year. The Legislature called the law the Chief Justice Jack Pope Act, in honor of his earlier work championing the IOLTA program which provides legal assistance for the poor. The Act came as a response to shrinking returns under that program.

By the time of his retirement in 1985, Pope had written more than a thousand legal opinions. Upon Pope's passing, Texas Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, a Republican, called him "a judicial icon. His hard work, scholarship, common sense, humor, and integrity are legendary. No Texas judge has ever been more committed to serving the rule of law and the cause of justice. He was my mentor, role model, counselor, and most especially my friend. Texas has lost a great, great man."

Awards In 2009 he received the TCLE's inaugural Chief Justice Jack Pope Professionalism Award, "presented annually to both an appellate judge and an appellate lawyer who 'epitomize the highest level of professionalism and integrity.'" On April 18, 2013