Charles Herbert O'Brien (July 30, 1920 – January 18, 2007), was a

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

in the 83rd and 84th Tennessee General Assemblies, a justice of the

Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals The Court of Criminal Appeals is one of Tennessee's two intermediate appellate courts. It hears trial court appeals in felony and misdemeanor cases, as well as post-conviction petitions. Appeals in civil cases are heard by the Tennessee Cou ...

(elected in 1970) and

Tennessee Supreme Court The Tennessee Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of Tennessee. The Supreme Court's three buildings are seated in Nashville, Knoxville, and Jackson, Tennessee. The Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, and four justice ...

(1987–1994), and the husband of well-known Tennessee Democratic politician

Anna Belle Clement O'Brien Anna Belle Clement O'Brien (May 6, 1923 – August 31, 2009) was a Tennessee politician, nicknamed "the first lady of Tennessee politics." She served as the governor's chief of staff from 1963 to 1967, was a member of the Tennessee House of Repre ...

, who was the sister of the Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement and served as her brother's chief of staff and as a state senator.

Biography

O'Brien was born July 30, 1920, in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...

, the son of Herbert Rogers O'Brien and Agnes Montanya O'Brien. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the Korean War. He attended Cumberland Law School, graduating in 1947, and practiced law in Memphis, Tennessee from 1948 to 1967 and in Crossville, Tennessee from 1967 to 1970. He was elected to the state legislature as a representative from Memphis in 1960. In 1970 he was elected to the Court of Criminal Appeals, where he served until 1987 when he was appointed to the state Supreme Court by Governor Ned Ray McWherter. He served on that court for seven years, retiring in 1994. Earlier that year he had become chief justice. O'Brien married Anna Belle Clement in 1966. They remained married at the time of his death in 2007. He died in Crossville from complications of diabetes. He had a son and two daughters by a previous marriage; his daughters, Diane Solomon and Heather O'Brien survived him.

References

* * * * Tennessee state senators 1920 births 2007 deaths Lawyers from Orange, New Jersey Chief justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court 20th-century Tennessee state court judges Lawyers from Memphis, Tennessee People from Crossville, Tennessee United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly {{Tennessee-politician-stub