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| | | These two judges are masters…not of golf…but the law! | | |  After working for two years to earn LLM Degrees, Associate Justice Robert Edmunds of the Supreme Court of North Carolina (R) and Judge John Tyson (L) of the Court of Appeals may want to take a little time off to play golf.
The program, Masters of Law in the Judicial Process, is offered by the University of Virginia just for busy judges from around the country, but it still takes two sessions of summer school to earn the degree. Only twenty-nine sitting judges are selected nationwide and this class came from fifteen states representing the local and federal judiciary. Each judge is required to take 6-law courses per summer and spend a total of fifteen weeks on the Virginia campus while their home courts are in summer recess, then write a thesis.
Justice Edmunds wrote a paper entitled; “Who calls the shots?” It is a study of the Office of Solicitor General of the United States. The major function of the Solicitor General's Office is to supervise and conduct government litigation in the United States Supreme Court. The Solicitor General determines the cases in which Supreme Court review will be sought by the government and the positions the government will take before the Court.
Judge Tyson wrote about “Presidents Polk, Buchanan and the Supreme Court.” President James K. Polk was from North Carolina and apparently there was quite a historical process when he nominated Secretary of State James Buchanan( later president), to the Supreme Court, who accepted and twice withdrew!
“It was a wonderful learning experience,” said Judge Tyson, “we learned from other judges in the class as well as the instructors.” Tyson said his classmates include one who is now the Chief Justice of Delaware, and a new member of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit in California.
Justice Edmunds is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill and is a former U.S. Attorney and Court of Appeals Judge. He is board certified in criminal law and the criminal appellate process. Justice Edmunds is also considered by his friends to be an expert on the Office of the U.S. Solicitor General.
Judge Tyson has a Masters Degree in Business from Duke University and is a graduate of the first law class at Campbell University Law School. He is also a Board Certified Specialist in Real Property Law by the N.C. State Bar.
Other court officials to complete the Masters of Law program in recent years are Court of Appeals Judge James Wynn and Supreme Court Justice Mark Martin.
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| | | | Publish Date: 06/04/2004 |
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