Sam J. Ervin, Jr.
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Samuel James Ervin Jr. (September 27, 1896April 23, 1985) was an American politician who served as a
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
from
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
from 1954 to 1974. A
Southern Democrat Southern Democrats are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Before the American Civil War, Southern Democrats mostly believed in Jacksonian democracy. In the 19th century, they defended slavery in the ...
, he liked to call himself a "
country lawyer In the United States and Canada, a country lawyer or county-seat lawyer is an attorney at law living and practicing primarily in a rural area or town, or an attorney pursuing a rural or small-town legal practice. In such areas, the county seat i ...
", and often told humorous stories in his
Southern drawl A drawl is a perceived feature of some varieties of spoken English and generally indicates slower, longer vowel sounds and diphthongs. The drawl is often perceived as a method of speaking more slowly and may be erroneously attributed to laziness ...
. During his Senate career, Ervin was at first a staunch defender of
Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were U.S. state, state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, "Jim Crow (character), Ji ...
and
racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...
, as the South's constitutional expert during the congressional debates on
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
. However, unexpectedly, he became a liberal hero for his support of
civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...
. He is remembered for his work in the investigation committees that brought down Senator
Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age ...
in 1954 and especially for his leadership of the Senate committee's investigation of the
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...
that led to the resignation of President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
in 1974.


Early life and education

Ervin was born in
Morganton, North Carolina Morganton is a city in and county seat of Burke County, North Carolina, United States. It is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Catawba River. The population was 17,474 at the 2020 census. Morganton is approximately ...
, the son of Laura Theresa (Powe) and Samuel James Ervin. He served in the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary 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 the United Stat ...
in combat in France during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
with the
First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...
at Cantigny and
Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...
, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the
Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...
and two
Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
s. He graduated from the
University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...
, where he was a member of the
Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, Inc. commonly known as DiPhi or The Societies, are the original collegiate debating societies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Dialectic Society was formed in 1795. The Philanthrop ...
, in 1917 and from
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
in 1922. Ervin was fond of joking that he was the only student ever to go through Harvard Law "backwards", because he took the third-year courses first, then the second-year courses, and finally the first-year courses. Already
admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
in 1919, before completing law school (later calling himself "a simple
country lawyer In the United States and Canada, a country lawyer or county-seat lawyer is an attorney at law living and practicing primarily in a rural area or town, or an attorney pursuing a rural or small-town legal practice. In such areas, the county seat i ...
"), Ervin entered politics straight out of Harvard.
https://web.archive.org/web/20090508053307/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967571,00.htm
Sam Ervin, during the Watergate hearings
/ref> Even before he had received his degree, Democrats in
Burke County, North Carolina Burke County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is part of the state's western mountain region, containing sections of the Blue Ridge Mountains including the Linville Gorge and South Mountains. As of the 2020 census, its po ...
had nominated him ''in absentia'' for the
North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...
, to which he was elected in 1922, 1924, and 1930. In 1927, in his role as attorney for Burke County, NC, Ervin served as the legal advisor to the local sheriff during the hunt for Broadus Miller, a black man believed to have murdered a teenaged white girl. The county officials invoked the outlaw provision of the North Carolina constitution which permitted any citizen to kill a declared outlaw without formal charges being brought. Miller was shot down while being pursued and his body displayed in the local courthouse square. Ervin was also elected and served as a state judge in the late 1930s and early 1940s.


U.S. Senate career

In 1948, Ervin was appointed to a seat as an associate justice of 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 ...
vacated by the resignation of
Michael Schenck Michael J. Schenck (December 12, 1876 – November 5, 1948)"Judge Schenck Dies Here", ''The Raleigh News and Observer'' (November 6, 1948), p. 1. was a North Carolina lawyer and judge who served as a justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court fro ...
, and was serving in that capacity when he was appointed in June 1954 by Governor William B. Umstead to fill the U.S. Senate seat of
Clyde Hoey Clyde Roark Hoey (December 11, 1877May 12, 1954) was an American Democratic politician from North Carolina. He served in both houses of the state legislature and served briefly in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1919 to 1921. He was North ...
, who had died in office. He ran successfully for the seat in November 1954. Ervin made a deep impact on American history through his work on two separate committees at the beginning and ending of his career that were critical in bringing down two powerful opponents: Senator Joe McCarthy in 1954 and President Richard M. Nixon in 1974. In 1954, then-Vice President Richard Nixon appointed Ervin to a committee formed to investigate whether McCarthy should be censured by the Senate. The Senate Select Committee to Investigate Campaign Practices, which investigated
Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...
, was popularly known as the "Ervin Committee". In 1956, Senator Ervin helped organize resistance to the 1954 ''
Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...
''
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decision calling for
desegregation Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws ...
of schools by drafting
The Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...
; this influential document encouraged defiance of desegregation and was signed by all but a few of the Southern members of Congress. (In his autobiography, ''Preserving the Constitution'', Ervin said he later changed his mind on the ''Brown'' decision, stating that the decision, to the extent it eliminated mandatory segregation, was correct, but that forced integration, required under later decisions, was improper.) Defenders of Ervin argue that his opposition to most civil rights
legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...
was based on his commitment to the preservation of the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
in its pristine formulation, and a general belief that the
Equal Protection Clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "nor shall any State... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal pr ...
of the Constitution only applied to white men. He repeatedly stated that the Constitution encapsulated civil,
human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
and equal rights for all those he considered worthy. There is little if any evidence that he engaged in the racial demagoguery of many of his Southern colleagues. Some historians consider Ervin's position to be one of "
cognitive dissonance In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is described as a mental phenomenon in which people unknowingly hold fundamentally conflicting cognitions. Being confronted by situations that challenge this dissonance may ultimately result in some ...
" because he opposed federal legislation to combat race-based discrimination, but did not do so in harsh terms. While he once maintained that Americans were entitled to "their prejudices as well as their allergies", Ervin's defenders claim he did not seem to be motivated by prejudice himself, but more by his suspicion of federal power. Ervin said he disliked what the
Warren Court The Warren Court was the period in the history of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1953 to 1969 when Earl Warren served as the chief justice. The Warren Court is often considered the most liberal court in U.S. history. The Warren Cou ...
"has done to the Constitution". On March 30, 1965, Ervin announced that he would offer a substitute to the Johnson administration's voting rights bill. Ervin referred to the administration's bill as cockeyed and unconstitutional, and that his version would provide for federal registers being appointed in areas certified to having findings of racial discrimination as defined under the
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government and each state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." It wa ...
. Ervin said he would seek approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee and that he would carry the fight to the Senate floor in case the committee rejected his legislation. Ervin was also a staunch opponent of the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, was a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The ...
which abolished nationality quotas beginning in 1968. He felt that the principle of tying allowed numbers of immigrants from a given country to the number of people who had ancestral origins in that country and lived in the United States should be retained. Meanwhile, Ervin's
strict construction In the United States, strict constructionism is a particular legal philosophy of judicial interpretation that limits or restricts the powers of the federal government only to those ''expressly'', i.e., explicitly and clearly, granted to the gov ...
of the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
also made him a liberal hero for his support of
civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...
, his opposition to "
no knock ''The Order of Things'' is the seventh studio album by the American heavy metal band All That Remains. It was released on February 24, 2015, on Razor & Tie Records. ''The Order of Things'' is the first studio album to be produced by Josh Wilb ...
" search laws, and the growing intrusions of
data bank In database management and information architecture, a data bank or databank is a repository of information about one or more subjects, that is, a database which is organized in a way that facilitates local or remote information retrieval and is a ...
s and lie-detector tests as invasions of privacy. In 1966, Senator Ervin played a major role in the defeat of Senator
Everett Dirksen Everett McKinley Dirksen (January 4, 1896 – September 7, 1969) was an American politician. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. As P ...
's Constitutional amendment to allow prayer in public schools. Ervin also favored the
exclusionary rule In the United States, the exclusionary rule is a legal rule, based on constitutional law, that prevents evidence collected or analyzed in violation of the defendant's constitutional rights from being used in a court of law. This may be conside ...
under the Fourth Amendment, which made illegally seized evidence inadmissible in criminal trials. Ervin was a strong proponent of American involvement in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, and once said "We ought to bomb the North Vietnamese out of existence." In November 1970, Ervin was one of three Senators (all from Southern states, the others being
James Eastland James Oliver Eastland (November 28, 1904 February 19, 1986) was an American attorney, plantation owner, and politician from Mississippi. A Democrat, he served in the United States Senate in 1941 and again from 1943 until his resignation in late ...
and
Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Before his 49 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South ...
) to vote against an occupational safety bill that would establish federal supervision to oversee working conditions. In Ervin's case, he was attempting to make it possible for North Carolina to continue its lax regulation of workplace safety, as evidenced by the Hamlet chicken processing plant fire. When the Senate voted on the
Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution that would explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It is not currently a part of the Constitution, though its Ratifi ...
(ERA) in 1971, Ervin proposed an amendment that would exempt women from the
draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...
; Ervin's amendment to the ERA overwhelmingly failed. However, he was a staunch opponent of the ERA, and after it passed the Senate Ervin used his influence to dissuade the
North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, state government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...
from ratifying it, maintaining that it was the "height of folly to command legislative bodies to ignore sex in making laws".Ervin Jr., Sam J. "The Question Of Ratification Of The Equal Rights Amendment CON." Congressional Digest 56.6/7 (1977): 171. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Retrieved: 2010-08-3. He became involved in Senate investigations before Watergate, when in January 1970 it was revealed by Christopher Pyle, an investigator for Ervin's Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, that the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary 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 the United Stat ...
was performing domestic investigations on the civilian population. Ervin's further work in the matter over the following years, together with the
Church Committee The Church Committee (formally the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities) was a US Senate select committee in 1975 that investigated abuses by the Central Intelligence ...
inquiries, led to passage of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA, , ) is a Law of the United States, United States federal law that establishes procedures for the surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence on domestic soil. Ervin gained lasting fame through his stewardship of the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Campaign Practices, also known as the
Senate Watergate Committee The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inv ...
, from the 1972 presidential election. Senate Majority Leader
Mike Mansfield Michael Joseph Mansfield (March 16, 1903 – October 5, 2001) was an American Democratic Party politician and diplomat who represented Montana in the United States House of Representatives from 1943 to 1953 and United States Senate from 1953 t ...
chose Ervin because it was unlikely Ervin was going to run for re-election in 1974 (and in fact did not), had no aspirations beyond his office, had deep knowledge of the law and the Constitution, and because he was considered to be an even-keeled, conservative, independent-minded Democrat. President Nixon thought at first that Ervin might potentially be supportive, but that turned out to not be the case. During the hearings, after announcing that the committee was issuing a subpoena for the
Nixon White House tapes Audio recordings of conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and Nixon administration officials, Nixon family members, and White House staff surfaced during the Watergate scandal in 1973 and 1974, leading to Nixon's resignation. In ...
following
Alexander Butterfield Alexander Porter Butterfield (born April 6, 1926) is a retired United States Air Force officer, public official, and businessman. He served as the deputy assistant to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973. He revealed the White House taping ...
revealing the existence of the taping system installed in the Oval Office, Ervin proclaimed that Watergate had surpassed the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
as the worst tragedy in the country's history. He also famously sparred with Nixon chief domestic policy advisor
John Ehrlichman John Daniel Ehrlichman (; March 20, 1925 – February 14, 1999) was an American political aide who served as White House Counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon. Ehrlichman was an important infl ...
about whether constitutional law allowed a President to sanction such actions as the
White House Plumbers The White House Plumbers, sometimes simply called the Plumbers, the Room 16 Project, ODESSA or more officially, the White House Special Investigations Unit, was a covert White House Special Investigations Unit, established within a week of the pu ...
' break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex and their break-in at the office of the psychiatrist to
Daniel Ellsberg Daniel Ellsberg (April 7, 1931June 16, 2023) was an American political activist, economist, and United States military analyst. While employed by the RAND Corporation, he precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released th ...
, the former assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs who had leaked the
Pentagon Papers The ''Pentagon Papers'', officially titled ''Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force'', is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States' political and militar ...
. Applause ensued, and Ervin had to bang his gavel to restore order. Following the 1972 elections, Ervin proposed five bills to limit the power of the presidency. Two restricted the President's ability to use funds for reasons other than their appropriated purpose, one allowed more congressional oversight of appointed officials, one banned the President from
pocket veto A pocket veto is a legislative maneuver that allows a president or other official with veto power to exercise that power over a bill by taking no action ("keeping it in their pocket"), thus effectively killing the bill without affirmatively vetoin ...
ing legislation when Congress was not in session, and the final bill required the President to inform Congress of any
executive agreement An executive agreement is an agreement between the head of government, heads of government of two or more nations that has not been ratified by the legislature as treaty, treaties are ratified. Executive agreements are considered ''politically b ...
s made with foreign governments.


Resignation

As a result of numerous ongoing disputes with the Senate Democratic leadership and the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
, Ervin resigned in December 1974, just before his term ended.


Later life

After retirement, Ervin practiced law, wrote several books, and appeared in various commercials for products. As a lawyer, he served as a co-counsel with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC on several high-profile cases, including a successful appeal in ''Joyner v. Duncan''. In 1973, Ervin was recorded on
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...
for the LP record, ''Senator Sam at Home'', which featured tracks of Ervin speaking his mind and telling anecdotes, separated by tracks of him singing popular songs. One of those songs, "
Bridge Over Troubled Water ''Bridge Over Troubled Water'' is the fifth and final studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 26, 1970, by Columbia Records. Following the duo's soundtrack for ''The Graduate'', Art Garfunkel took an acting ...
" was released as a single, and subsequently appeared on the 1991 compilation album ''
Golden Throats Golden Throats is Rhino Records' series of humorous compilations of critically lambasted cover versions of songs, performed mostly either by celebrities known for something other than musical talent or musicians not known for the genre from which ...
2''. Ervin was initiated into the
Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
, where he was elevated to the 33rd and highest degree of
Master Mason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
. Ervin died in 1985 at a hospital in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...
, from complications of
emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...
. He was 88 years old. His funeral was attended by numerous dignitaries, including former president Richard Nixon and members of his administration.


Legacy

Ervin's son, Samuel J. Ervin, III, was appointed in 1980 to the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district cou ...
by President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
. His grandson,
Sam J. Ervin, IV Samuel James Ervin IV (born November 18, 1955) is a North Carolina lawyer and jurist who served on the North Carolina Supreme Court from 2015 to 2022. He previously served as a state Utilities Commissioner and as a judge of the North Carolina Cour ...
, was elected in 2008 to 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 create ...
and in 2014 to the North Carolina Supreme Court. Another grandson, Robert C. Ervin, was elected in 2002 as a North Carolina
Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...
Judge for District 25A. Ervin's office and personal library has been preserved as the " Senator Sam J. Ervin Jr. Library and Museum", which is housed in the Phifer Learning Resource Center at Western Piedmont Community College in his hometown of Morganton, NC.


Privacy activism

In a 1964 essay called "The Naked Society",
Vance Packard Vance Oakley Packard (May 22, 1914 – December 12, 1996) was an American journalist and social critic. He was the author of several books, including ''The Hidden Persuaders'' and '' The Naked Society''. He was a critic of consumerism. Early l ...
criticized advertisers' unfettered use of private information to create marketing schemes. He compared a recent
Great Society The Great Society was a series of domestic programs enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the United States between 1964 and 1968, aimed at eliminating poverty, reducing racial injustice, and expanding social welfare in the country. Johnso ...
initiative by then-president
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...
, the
National Data Bank The Great Society was a series of domestic programs enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the United States between 1964 and 1968, aimed at eliminating poverty, reducing racial injustice, and expanding social welfare in the country. Johnso ...
, to the use of information by advertisers and argued for increased
data privacy Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data ...
measures to ensure that information did not find its way into the wrong hands. The essay inspired Ervin to fight what he saw as Johnson's flagrant disregard for consumer privacy. He criticized Johnson's domestic agenda as invasive and saw the unfiltered database of consumers' information as a sign of presidential abuse of power. Ervin warned that "The computer never forgets".


Accolades

* 1972: Paul White Award,
Radio Television Digital News Association The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA, pronounced the same as " rotunda"), formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), is a United States-based membership organization of radio, television, and online news dir ...
* 1981: Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...


Quotations

In an interview on William F. Buckley's '' Firing Line'' program, Ervin suggested that people in public life need to have more "backbone", and Buckley playfully suggested Gordon Liddy as a model to which Ervin responded, "Well, Gordon Liddy has a little too much backbone. I'll have to admit that I have a sort of sneaking admiration for a fellow like Gordon Liddy that does have an excess of backbone. His backbone exceeds his intelligence, really." Ervin was a staunch opponent of the
polygraph A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a pseudoscientific device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a ...
calling the tests "20th century witchcraft":
Probably no instrument in modern time so lends itself to threats to constitutional guarantees of individual freedom as the polygraph or so-called lie detector. The threat of its use or the intimidation inherent in its use restricts free expression and communication of ideas, intrudes on an individual's subconscious thought, makes him fear to speak his thoughts freely, or compels him to speak against his will. To my mind, the entire purpose of these machines is to invade a man's mind and find what lurks in the innermost part of his mental consciousness for reasons which have nothing to do with his ability to perform a job. If the right of privacy means anything at all and if it is a right to be cherished in our society, it means that people should be entitled to have thoughts, hopes, desires, and dreams that are beyond the reach of a bureaucrat, an employer, or an electronic technician. This is something which enthusiasts for these machines do not seem to understand. They do not understand and they do not appreciate how important privacy is to each American, and as long as that lesson is not understood, we all will find our right to privacy constricted if not abrogated entirely. I propose this legislation to ban the use of the polygraph for employment purposes in the hopes that Congress will pause for a moment, step back, and take a long look at the issues involved in the unrestrained use of the polygraph. Legislation is necessary to bring some order and control to the practice ...
He also famously said of religion and government:
Political freedom cannot exist in any land where religion controls the state, and religious freedom cannot exist in any land where the state controls religion.
On civil liberties and equal rights:
"Equal civil liberties for all and special civil rights for some are incompatible in concept and operation." Preserving the Constitution, p. 163


See also

*
List of members of the American Legion This table provides a list of notable members of The American Legion. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:American Legion, List Of ...
* Slow Burn (podcast)


References


Further reading

* Campbell, Karl E. "Senator Sam Ervin and School Prayer: Faith, Politics, and the Constitution", ''Journal of Church and State,'' Summer 2003, Vol. 45 Issue 3, pp 443–455, * Campbell, Karl E. "Claghorn's Hammurabi: Senator Sam Ervin and Civil Rights", ''North Carolina Historical Review'', Oct 2001, Vol. 78 Issue 4, p. 431-56 * Campbell, Karl E. "Preserving the Constitution, Guarding the Status Quo: Senator Sam Ervin and Civil Liberties", ''North Carolina Historical Review'', Oct 2001, Vol. 78 Issue 4, pp 457–82 * Campbell, Karl E. ''Senator Sam Ervin, Last of the Founding Fathers'' (U. of North Carolina Press, 2007) * Clancy, Paul R. (1974). ''Just a Country Lawyer: A Biography of Senator Sam Ervin''
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at
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), Indiana University Press
notice
), — Biography. * Ervin, Sam J. (1983). ''Humor of a Country Lawyer'', University of North Carolina Press
notice
), (reprinted 1994, ) — Collection of stories and anecdotes. * McClanahan, Brion T. and Wilson, Clyde Norman (2012). ''Forgotten Conservatives in American History'', Pelican Pub. Company, * Wise, Bill M. (1973). ''The Wisdom Of Sam Ervin'', Random House Preserving the Constitution Ervin's Autobiography


External links

* Campbell, Karl E. *

in the
Southern Historical Collection The Southern Historical Collection is a repository of distinct archival collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which document the culture and history of the American South. These collections are made up of unique primary mat ...
, UNC-Chapel Hill
Inventory of the Sam J. Ervin Papers, Subgroup B: Private Papers, 1898-1990
in the
Southern Historical Collection The Southern Historical Collection is a repository of distinct archival collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which document the culture and history of the American South. These collections are made up of unique primary mat ...
, UNC-Chapel Hill
Senator Sam J. Ervin Jr. Library and Museum

''Senator Sam'' One-Man play

Military Surveillance: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary. United States Senate, 93rd Congress, Second Session, on S. 2318. April 9 & 10, 1974.
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