William David Newbern (born May 28, 1937) was a justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1985 to 1998.

Education, military service, and teaching career

Born in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, he studied history and law at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

(UA) in Fayetteville and

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in Nashville, Tennessee. He received an undergraduate law degree from UA in 1959 and a juris doctor degree from UA in 1961. He joined the Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, "mostly at the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

in Washington DC and in Boston, Massachusetts, but also in Germany and South Korea". During this time, he received an

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from the

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...

, and a master's degree in international relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.State supreme court candidate wants to help solve problems
, ''Baxter Bulletin'' (February 3, 1984), p. 5. Following his military service, he "taught law at UA ndwas acting dean of the law school for a period in 1972–73". Returning to his professorial role, he chaired the faculty appointments committee from 1974 to 1975, where he oversaw the hiring of

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

to the law school faculty. An amateur musician, Newbern also served as the first administrator of the

Ozark Folk Center The Ozark Folk Center is an Arkansas living history state park located in Mountain View, Arkansas, dedicated to preserving and presenting Ozark cultural heritage and tradition to the public. History The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extensi ...

at Mountain View.

Judicial service

After Clinton was elected governor of the state, Newbern successfully sought appointment to a one of the six temporary seats on the newly established intermediate court of appeal. Newbern unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the circuit court for Washington County in 1982, but in 1984 was elected to a vacant seat on the state supreme court. Due to ethical rules prohibiting judicial candidates from campaigning on legal issues, Newbern "took his guitar and sang folk songs at political rallies", and "refused the demand of his runoff opponent that they debate the death penalty, pornography, school consolidation, and other potential controversial issues before the court". As a justice, Newbern "brought an academic manner to the court's internal proceedings, sometimes bringing a flip chart to the court's weekly conference to lay out the issues in a case". He retired from the court in 1998 to pursue his musical interests, though he occasionally accepted special assignments from the court to review matters.

Personal life

Newbern married Barbara Rigsby, with whom he had a daughter while stationed at Frankfurt, Germany. Newbern and his first wife divorced in 1968. Newbern then married Carolyn Lewis, with whom he moved to her hometown of Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1970. They also had one daughter. He was interviewed in 2012, as part of a project of the Arkansas Supreme Court Historical Society.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Newbern, David 1937 births Living people University of Arkansas alumni Vanderbilt University alumni University of Arkansas School of Law alumni 20th-century United States Army personnel George Washington University Law School alumni The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni University of Arkansas School of Law faculty Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court