Cressie H. Thigpen, Jr. is a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

lawyer and jurist who served on the

North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was created ...

Early life and education

Thigpen was born August 12, 1946. He received his bachelor's degree in business administration from

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from b ...

in 1966 and his law degree from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

in 1973. He is a veteran of the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

Career

Thigpen served as a special superior court judge from May 2008 until his 2010 appointment to the Court of Appeals. Previously, he was a partner in the law firm now known as Blue, Stephens & Fellers. In 1999, he was elected president of the state bar – the first African-American to hold that post. He has served as chairman of the board of trustees of North Carolina Central University, and has served on the board of trustees for the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

Court of Appeals

Governor

Bev Perdue Beverly Eaves Perdue (born Beverly Marlene Moore; January 14, 1947) is an American businesswoman, politician, and member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as the List of governors of North Carolina, 73rd Govern ...

appointed Thigpen to the Court of Appeals in August 2010 to replace Judge

James A. Wynn James Andrew Wynn (born March 17, 1954) is an American jurist. He serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and formerly served on both the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the North ...

, who had been appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals. In the election that followed in November 2010, Thigpen lost to former Judge

Douglas McCullough J. Douglas McCullough is an American lawyer and former judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. McCullough retired in 2017. Education and career After earning a history degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1967 and a ...

in what was the state's first use of

instant runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...

for a statewide election. Thigpen was then appointed by Gov. Perdue to fill a different seat on the Court of Appeals, which became vacant when

Barbara Jackson Barbara Jackson (born December 25, 1961) is an American attorney and jurist who was elected in 2010 to an eight-year term on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Jackson moved to Wake County at the age of 3 and graduated Athens Drive High School in ...

won election to the

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

. He then ran in the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

to retain his seat. Thigpen was endorsed by the (Raleigh)

News and Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the ''Charlotte Observer''). The paper has bee ...

, which wrote, "Thigpen has performed well on the court, and has long legal experience and a record of service to the region and state." He was also endorsed by former Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sidney S. Eagles, Jr. and former Supreme Court Chief Justices

Henry Frye Henry E. Frye (born August 1, 1932) is an American judge and politician who served as the first African-American chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Early life and education Henry Frye was born August 1, 1932, in Ellerbe, North Car ...

and

Burley Mitchell Burley Bayard Mitchell Jr. (born December 15, 1940) is an American jurist and former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. He received his bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University and his J.D. degree from the Universit ...

. Nevertheless, Thigpen was defeated in the 2012 election by

Chris Dillon Robert Christopher "Chris" Dillon (born 1965) is a North Carolina attorney and judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Dillon won election to the appellate court in a North Carolina judicial elections, 2012, statewide race on Nov. 6, 2012, ...

.NC Court of Appeals: McGee, Bryant stay on; Dillon ousts Thigpen

References

Thigpen Campaign sitePerdue Appoints Thigpen to North Carolina Court of AppealsNCCU trustee gets judgeship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thigpen, Cressie 1946 births Living people 21st-century American judges African-American judges North Carolina Central University alumni North Carolina Court of Appeals judges Rutgers University alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people