George R. Davis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Associate Justice, Arizona Territorial Supreme Court | |
| In office August 10, 1897 – March 31, 1905 | |
| Nominated by | William McKinley |
| Preceded by | Joseph D. Bethune |
| Succeeded by | Eugene A. Tucker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1861-12-13)December 13, 1861 Huntsville, Ohio |
| Died | June 13, 1933(1933-06-13) (aged 71) Pasadena, California |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Profession | Attorney |
George Russell Davis (December 13, 1861 – June 13, 1933) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court from 1897 until 1905. An attorney by trade, he was active inRepublican politics and became a personal friend ofWilliam McKinley. Shortly after McKinley becamePresident of the United States, Davis requested and received appointment to the Arizonabench. After his time as a judge inArizona Territory, Davis moved toCalifornia where he worked as an attorney and served one term as a judge for theSuperior Court of Los Angeles County.
Davis was born to James and Mary (College) Davis inHuntsville, Ohio, on December 13, 1861.[1] He was educated in public schools inWapakoneta, Ohio, graduating from high school in June 1880. Following graduation, Davis began a study of law and was admitted to the Ohio bar on June 3, 1883.[2] He practiced law in Wapakoneta and became active in local civics and Republican politics.[3] Davis married Emma J. Davis on December 21, 1886. The marriage lasted until her death on July 1, 1889.[1] His second marriage was to Katherine H. Scovil on October 16, 1890.[2] The union produced four children.[1]
A delegate to the1896 Republican National Convention, Davis was also personal friends with presidential nomineeWilliam McKinley andUnited States SenatorJohn Sherman.[4] During a trip to theArizona Territory in March 1897, Davis was impressed by the area. He then sent a telegram to McKinley, who had recently been inauguratedPresident of the United States asking to be appointed Chief Justice for the territory.[5] Davis was nominated to become an associate justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court on June 26, 1897.[6] He accepted the nomination and moved toTucson where he was assigned the first judicial district.[3] Davis took his oath of office on August 10, 1897.[5] PresidentTheodore Roosevelt appointed Davis for a second term on December 12, 1901.[7]
Of the roughly sixty opinions written by Davis during his time on the Arizona bench, Davis only wrote one dissent. His opinions were clearly written and easy to read.[1] An example is found inThe London, Paris, and American Bank, Limited v, Abrams, 6 Arizona 87 (1898), where Davis wrote "An examination of the mutilated, interlined, and disfigured transcript shows the evidence in support of the material allegations of the appellants' complaints to be meager, unsatisfactory, and to a considerable extent incompetent."[1] Another example came inBennett v. Nichols, 9 Arizona 138 (1905), a case involving the legislatures ability to grant a 20-yeartax exemption to a railroad.[1] Davis' opinion states "But aside from this, the principle is abundantly established that, when conditions and considerations upon which a grant of exemption was based have been met, a contract right exists, which cannot be impaired by a subsequent statute of modification or repeal."[8]
InWilson v. Territory of Arizona, 7 Arizona 47 (1901), a convicted murderer was appealing his verdict because the court findings recommended he seek the mercy of the "cort" and found him guilty of second "decree" murder. Campbell found "That there can be any doubt as to what was intended by the verdict does not seem to us even remotely possible. Bad spelling will not vitiate a verdict, where it has the requisites of being certain and intelligible."[9]Taylor v. Territory of Arizona, 7 Arizona 234 (1901) was an appeal of a burglary conviction. The law at the time differentiated between burglary occurring during the "day time" versus at "night time", with a higher penalty for burglary at night. The appeal was based upon the fact the crime was discovered at 7:30 am while sunrise on the day of the crime was at 7:04 am. Campbell upheld the original conviction on the basis it was highly unlikely the crime has occurred in the 26 minutes between sunrise and discovery.[9]
On March 22, 1905, Davis's seat in Tucson, in the first district, was transferred toJohn H. Campbell, who had been appointed to a new seat on the court. Davis took the seat of the newly created fifth district inSolomonville.[10] Davis resigned as an associate justice effective March 31, 1905.[11] He was succeeded byEugene A. Tucker the following day.[12]
After leaving the Arizona bench, Davis moved toLos Angeles, California.[2] He was admitted to the California bar on November 6, 1905, and went into private legal practice.[13] In February 1909, GovernorJames Gillett appointed Davis to serve on theSuperior Court of Los Angeles County.[14][15] The conservative leaning Davis' attempt to win reelection to the California bench in 1910 was defeated by a progressive "good government" group known as the "Goo-goos".[13][16] Davis served as president of thePasadena Republican Club and a member Republican County Executive Committee of Los Angeles county before his appointment to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. He returned to his legal practice after leaving the California bench for several years before retiring. Davis died at hisPasadena home on June 13, 1933. He was cremated with his remains sent to Wapakoneta, Ohio, for interment.[13]