Former Arkansas Chief Justice Jim Hannah, a man credited with helping shepherd the state's judiciary into a modern digital age, died Thursday.
Hannah, 71, led the Arkansas Supreme Court for almost 11 years before stepping down from the bench at the end of last August to focus on his fight with an unspecified illness.
In a statement, Hannah's family called the former judge the "rock on which our family was built."
"His humor, wit and wisdom entertained and guided us through the twists and turns of life," it read. "Jim led and inspired us all to do a little more and give a little more back to family, friends and community. We mourn his passing while finding comfort in knowing that he will no longer suffer."
Chief Justice Howard Brill, who was appointed to finish out Hannah's term by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, issued a statement that said the former chief justice "led the Arkansas judiciary with grace and civility."
Justice Paul Danielson, who plans on retiring at the start of 2017, struck a more personal tone about the man with whom he had worked for eight years.
"He was a good man and a fine judge. The bench and bar will miss his leadership, and I will miss his friendship," Danielson wrote. "His integrity never left him, and he never abandoned his principles. Chief Justice Hannah's extraordinary career is an example of the legal profession at his best."
Former Gov. Mike Beebe, who was a former law partner of Hannah's in Searcy, said Hannah brought "dignity and fairness" to every position he held.
"Jim used his keen mind and quiet, thoughtful voice to keep our beloved state on stable ground," Beebe wrote in a statement. "I will personally miss him as a close friend."
Before leading initiatives to modernize the court or weighing in on several politically charged cases ranging from gay rights to tort reform, Hannah wanted to coach.
An Ozark native, Hannah moved with his family to Harrison, where he finished high school.
Joined by his high school sweetheart and eventual wife, Pat, Hannah attended Drury College in Springfield, Mo. He then transferred to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville on an athletic scholarship with dreams of coaching baseball. He obtained his law degree from UA in 1968.
Hannah served as a city attorney for six cities, including Searcy, and also worked a deputy prosecuting attorney. Before taking the bench as a chancery-probate judge, Hannah worked as a legislative aide for his mentor, Gov. Dale Bumpers, who died Jan. 1.
Hannah was a state judge for nearly 20 years before running for the Supreme Court in 2000. Hannah, a Democrat, was the last Supreme Court justice to run in a partisan race. The state constitution was amended to make judicial races nonpartisan.
Hannah, who was elected as chief justice in 2004, was a well-known legal figure prior to joining the court, according to former Supreme Court Justice Bob Brown.
"It almost seems to be a trite comment almost, but public service is what made him go. He was a public servant. He wanted to serve as judge," Brown said. "He started at the bottom as a city attorney ... and worked his way up."
Former Justice Donald Corbin, who retired in early 2015, said he and Hannah were longtime friends.
"He's just one of those guys. Jim was a very personable man. That was because he had a love for life and people," Corbin said. "He loved the law and he tried his best to follow it. I didn't always agree with him on cases ... but he called them like he saw them, which is what a judge is supposed to do."
Hannah is credited with leading efforts to make the third branch of Arkansas government more accessible to citizens.
He helped create and championed the state's Access to Justice Commission, aimed at improving legal aid to poorer Arkansans in civil court. He began the "Appeals on Wheels" program, which takes the state's seven justices across the state to hear oral arguments.
Hannah worked with state court officials in developing better technology and mainstreaming electronic filing, which made many court dockets available from any computer with an Internet connection. In 2010, the court began streaming its oral arguments.
"He wanted to make sure that people understood that everyone, the poorest of the poor, should have some access to justice in civil cases," Brown said. "He was the chief justice in a time of transition."
Hannah also was involved in hundreds of rulings ranging from criminal matters to constitutional challenges.
Often, Corbin said, cases would come before Hannah's court that revved up partisan or special-interest groups outside the courtroom. Hannah would ignore the noise and tackle cases with a sober hand, Corbin said.
"School funding was a hot potato. Same-sex was a hot potato. If you're a good judge with the right attitude, and a right mind, you can't worry about that," Corbin said. "Jim, like myself, wanted to be able to look himself in the mirror when he shaved every morning."
In 2002, Hannah and Brown joined three other justices in striking down the state's decades-old anti-sodomy law, which was aimed at gays. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled a year later that such laws are unconstitutional, drawing from arguments formulated in Arkansas' case.
In Hannah's first year as chief justice, he dissented in the court's decision to reopen the long-running Lake View school-funding lawsuit, arguing that the court was violating its charge and stepping into a realm preserved for the legislative branch.
In late 2011, the court unanimously invalidated a tort-revamp law that capped the amount of money that could be awarded in civil lawsuits.
Brown credited the former chief justice for his devotion to maintaining the separation of powers and keeping the court out of lawmaking.
Ernie Dumas, a longtime reporter on the courts, called Hannah "gutsy."
"A lot of people would have been afraid of those decisions," Dumas said. "He presided over, by and large, a united court on a lot of really, extremely difficult political decisions. ... They decided them on a regular, timely basis without that [political] fear. That's hard for a court to do, though that's what the courts are supposed to do."
In 2014, the Supreme Court agreed to expedite a hearing on a challenge to the state's gay-marriage ban.
After hearing oral arguments that November, the court ended its term without issuing a ruling.
When it returned in January 2015 with two new justices, a debate broke out over whether newly elected Justice Rhonda Wood should rule in the case instead of a special justice appointed by Beebe, Judge Robert McCorkindale.
In early April, the court created a new case aimed at settling which justice would rule on the gay marriage challenge.
Days later, both Danielson and Hannah filed letters of recusal in which they criticized the majority of the court and accused other justices of delaying a ruling in the controversial case.
Hannah's letter said the court should respect the power of the governor in keeping McCorkindale and said any attempt to remove the special justice was an attempt by "judicial fiat" to "usurp the power" of the executive branch.
Ultimately, the state court did not rule on gay marriage. The matter was settled in June 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage bans were unconstitutional.
Corbin also said he was surprised by the letters because he knew how important the appearance of the judiciary was to Hannah. But he said he wasn't surprised that Danielson and Hannah followed their convictions by arguing that the case should have been ruled on in a timely manner.
"That spells him out and who he is," Corbin said. "It's a shame that he and Danielson, they didn't want to do that, but they did what they felt they had to do and they acted on principle."
Hannah has been lauded for being a loving family member and friend.
About five years ago, Corbin was diagnosed with lung cancer and only given a few months to live. Hannah was there the whole time, helping his friend through the illness, and Corbin eventually healed.
The Rev. Kade Curry, who has headed the First Presbyterian Church of Searcy for four years, described Hannah as a regular who came every Sunday in the same suit and tie.
His faith, Curry said, was "genuine" and one that was arrived at through much reflection.
"Jim never took things at face value. He was a researcher, he was a reader. He wanted to learn and know what he believed," Curry said. "One thing I really respected about him was his ability to keep that separate from a lot of what he did in the court. He had such integrity in the way he carried himself. His faith was genuine, well thought-out, and he took it seriously."
Metro on 01/15/2016