Susie Sharp

Susie Sharp
Sharp in 1967
Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
In office
January 2, 1975  July 31, 1979
Preceded byWilliam Bobbitt
Succeeded byJoseph Branch
Personal details
Born(1907-07-07)July 7, 1907
Rocky Mount, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedMarch 1, 1996(1996-03-01) (aged 88)
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of North Carolina, Greensboro (BA)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (LLB)

Susie Marshall Sharp (July 7, 1907 March 1, 1996) was an American jurist who served as the first female chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. She was not the first woman to head the highest court in a U.S. state, but is believed to be the first woman elected to such a post in a state, like North Carolina, in which the position is elected by the people separately from that of Associate Justice. In 1965, Lorna E. Lockwood became the first female chief justice of a state supreme court, but in Arizona, the Supreme Court justices elect their chief justice.