Samuel A. Beatty

Samuel Alston "Sam" Beatty (April 23, 1923 – May 21, 2014) was an American jurist and educator. After serving as a bomber pilot in World War II, he became a law professor and lawyer. In 1976, he was appointed to the Alabama Supreme Court, where he won another term in 1982. He retired from the court in 1989.

Early life Born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Beatty graduated from Tuscaloosa High School in 1939. He was enrolled as a student at the University of Alabama when he and his friends listened to the news broadcast of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. They immediately went to Van De Graft Airfield and took the Army Air Corps Air Cadet entrance examination. He passed.

Military service After qualifying as a B-25 pilot, Beatty was sent to the Solomon Islands as part of the 69th Bomb Squadron of the 13th Air Force, where he flew 62 combat missions against Japanese air fields such as Kahili and Rabaul, and Japanese shipping. He was sent home in 1944 to become a B-25 instructor at Turner Air Field in Albany, GA. He was discharged in 1945 and returned home to Tuscaloosa, where he took full advantage of the G.I. Bill to complete his studies at the University of Alabama.

Education He received his B.S. in 1948. During 1949 he served as a Veterans Service Office and married Maude Applegate Beatty, also from Tuscaloosa, whom he met at the University. He enrolled in the University of Alabama School of Law (LLB) in 1950. He graduated first in his class in 1953.

Death He died in Birmingham, Alabama at age 91.