Charles Stevens Russell (born February 23, 1926) is an American lawyer in the Commonwealth of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and a Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. He retired as an active member of the Court in 1991.

Biography

Russell was born in Richmond, Virginia in February 1926. He received his secondary education at the Congressional Pages School in Washington, D. C., and from there went on to the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

where he received his B.A. and, in 1948, his LL.B. Russell was a member of and served as president of the Virginia Eta chapter of

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

fraternity and the

Virginia Glee Club The Virginia Glee Club is a men's chorus based at the University of Virginia. It performs both traditional and contemporary vocal works typically in TTBB arrangements. Founded in 1871, the Glee Club is the university's oldest musical organization ...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1949 and practiced in Arlington and Fairfax from 1951 to 1967 when he was appointed as a judge for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Virginia. In early 1982, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Virginia, effective March 1, 1982. Russell retired in 1991, though on January 1, 2004, he returned to service on the court as a Senior Justice. Russell gained notoriety in 1979 when he refused to follow a jury recommendation to give a convicted rapist a six-year prison sentence, giving him probation and offering to write a letter on his behalf. He is a member of both Omicron Delta Kappa and the Raven Society.

References

External links

Virginia Lawyers Weekly
1926 births Living people 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia Lawyers from Richmond, Virginia University of Virginia alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Virginia lawyers Virginia circuit court judges {{Virginia-politician-stub