Va. Supreme Court Justice Leroy Hassell, 55, dies

Editor's note: An earlier version on this story contained an error. A public funeral is planned for Saturday.

RICHMOND

Leroy Hassell was never keen on being labeled the first black this or the youngest at that. Work hard and have faith to achieve your dreams, he would say.

"I don't think you should let the fact that you are young or the fact that you are black inhibit your goals in life," he said in a 1989 interview.

Virginia Supreme Court Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr., a Norfolk native and Harvard Law School graduate who rose to become the court's first black chief justice, died Wednesday in Richmond. He was 55 and had had an undisclosed illness for some time.

When Hassell was sworn in as chief justice on

Feb. 1, 2002, he explained his motivation to serve the state.

"I do not wish to serve, however, because I happen to be black. Rather, I desire to serve because I am a Virginian by birth who has a strong affection and love for the commonwealth and its people," Hassell told the crowd on hand that day.

His childhood friend Jerrauld Jones, a Norfolk Circuit Court judge, said Hassell pondered returning to private practice in recent years, wondering whether he was making a mistake not earning two or three times what a judge makes.

"But he remained," Jones said of his former band mate at Lake Taylor Junior High School. "I admired Leroy Hassell greatly, and I am honored that we were friends."

Friends and colleagues poured out affectionate remembrances as word of Hassell's death spread.

"It is with great sadness that we learn of the passing of the Honorable Leroy Hassell, a personal friend who will be greatly missed," Gov. Bob McDonnell said in a statement. "I recall fondly our numerous private lunches in which we would discuss law and life. He had keen insights into the human spirit. Virginia has lost a brilliant legal mind, accomplished jurist and devoted public servant."

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., called Hassell "a groundbreaking lawyer, a dedicated public servant and my good friend."

"I was fortunate to know Leroy from the time we met as law school classmates more than 30 years ago," Warner said, "and as governor it was a tremendous honor to witness his swearing-in as the first African American chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court."

Although Hassell had been noticeably ill when he made public appearances, his death came as a shock to some.

"I'm just surprised," said Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax. "He didn't look like he was on top of his game, but I didn't know he was sick."

Albo, who chairs the House Courts of Justice Committee, said he expects the General Assembly to select a replacement for Hassell. The committee held a hearing Wednesday on another open seat on the court.

At his last known public appearance, Hassell spoke to the Virginia Bar Association Jan. 21. Former Gov. Gerald Baliles, who appointed Hassell to the court in 1989, presented him the VBA's Distinguished Service award.

"Without question, the chief was a man of consequence. When he spoke, people listened," Baliles, now director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, said in a statement.

Although Hassell routinely down played his race and age, his role as a game-changer in Virginia history cannot be overlooked, friends and colleagues said.

At 34, he became the second black justice on the court. He had also served as the youngest chairman of the Richmond City School Board and was the first black high school student to win the University of Richmond's prestigious debate tournament.

His appointment as chief justice, at the time, was called "a very meaningful moment in the history of Virginia " by retired Justice John Charles Thomas, the first black man to serve on the court.

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, Virginia's first black governor, said then that the appointment "shows that Virginia has changed."

Hassell grew up in the Broad Creek section of Norfolk, graduated from Norview High School, and attended the University of Virginia and Harvard Law School. He turned down a Rhodes scholarship to work for a large Richmond law firm.

As chief justice, Hassell stepped on some toes in the General Assembly as he lobbied for improvements to the court system, something his predecessor had shied away from. But Hassell was successful at it.

He appointed a 30-member commission to examine the mental health system. Among the commission's recommendations was relaxing the standard for involuntary commitment, a reform enacted by the General Assembly shortly after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings.

In 2000, as the court's lone black member, Hassell wrote powerful dissenting opinions in two close racial-discrimination cases.

He wrote for the court's minority in a 4-3 ruling that said a 1952 state law banning Ku Klux Klan-type cross burnings violated the right to free expression.

The majority "invalidates a statute that for almost 50 years has protected our citizens from being placed in fear of bodily harm by the burning of a cross," Hassell wrote.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with him three years later, upholding the law.

Justice Hassell will lie in state in the Rotunda at the state Capitol from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, with the public invited.

He is survived by his wife, Linda, and three children. A funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

Pilot writer Cindy Clayton contributed to this report.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564,julian.walker@pilotonline.com