{{Short description|American judge (1917–2017)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = John S. Palmore | honorific_suffix = | image = John S. Palmore.png | alt = | caption = Palmore in 1975 | office = Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court | term_start = October 18, 1977 | term_end = October 2, 1982 | predecessor = Scott Elgin Reed | successor = Robert F. Stephens | office1 = Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals | term_start1 = January 1, 1973 | term_end1 = January 7, 1974 | predecessor1 = Samuel Steinfeld | successor1 = Earl T. Osborne | term_start2 = July 1, 1966 | term_end2 = January 1, 1968 | predecessor2 = John R. Moremen | successor2 = Squire Williams | office3 = Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court | term_start3 = January 1, 1976 | term_end3 = January 3, 1983 | predecessor3 = Court established | successor3 = William Gant | office4 = Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals | term_start4 = November 20, 1959 | term_end4 = December 31, 1975 | predecessor4 = Thomas E. Sandidge | successor4 = Court became Supreme Court | office5 = Commonwealth's attorney for Kentucky's 5th district | term_start5 = 1955 | term_end5 = 1959 | predecessor5 = Faust Y. Simpson | successor5 = | pronunciation = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|08|06}} | birth_place = Panama Canal Zone | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|7|4|1917|08|06}} | death_place = Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S. | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = Democrat | spouse = Carol Pate Palmore | relations = | children = | parents = | relatives = | education = | alma_mater = University of Louisville School of Law | profession = Lawyer, judge | known_for = | allegiance = United States | battles = World War II | mawards = }}
'''John Stanley Palmore Jr.'''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinamerica0000unse_i9z3/page/688/mode/2up|title=Who's Who in American Law|edition=2nd|year=1979|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|page=689}}</ref> (August 6, 1917 – July 4, 2017) was an American judge who served as Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals from 1959 until it became the Supreme Court of Kentucky in 1975, and on the latter court until his retirement, in 1982. He served as chief justice in 1966, in 1973, and from 1977 to 1982.
==Early life== Palmore's grandfather, Andrew Houston Palmore, was a member of the 5th Cavalry Regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War.<ref name=bgdn>{{cite news |last=Gaines |first=Jim |title=Influential Kentucky appeals judge pens his memoirs |newspaper=The Daily News |location=Bowling Green, Kentucky |date=November 15, 2003 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=20031115&id=xv0aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SkgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6887,1767381&hl=en |accessdate=May 25, 2016}}</ref>
Palmore's family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1929, and he graduated from Bowling Green High School in 1934.<ref name=bgdn /> He then enrolled at Western Kentucky University and also joined the National Guard.<ref name=bgdn /> After two years at Western Kentucky, he matriculated to the University of Louisville School of Law.<ref name=bgdn /> In 1939, he graduated cum laude from law school.<ref name=bgdn />
Palmore began the practice of law in Henderson, Kentucky, but suspended his practice to serve in World War II.<ref name=bgdn /> On his return from the war, he served as city attorney for Henderson.<ref name=bgdn /> On January 2, 1954, he began a two-year term as city attorney for Sebree.<ref name=sebreeca>{{cite news |title=City Attorney Named |newspaper=The Advocate-Messenger |location=Danville, Kentucky |date=November 13, 1953 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5523500/john_palmore_named_city_attorney_of/ |accessdate=June 8, 2016}}</ref>
==Political career== After the death of 5th district circuit judge Marlin L. Blackwell in 1955, Governor Earle C. Clements appointed the district's Commonwealth's attorney, Faust Y. Simpson, to the judgeship and Palmore as the new Commonwealth's attorney, possibly as a reward for supporting Clements' ally, Bert T. Combs, in the 1955 Democratic gubernatorial primary against Clements' factional foe, A. B. "Happy" Chandler.<ref name=wiederstein13>{{cite web |last=Wiederstein |first=Rob |title=The Murder of Officer Jack Rainier and the Election of John Palmore |publisher=Kentucky Bar Association |pages=1, 3 |date=January 2016 |url=https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.kybar.org/resource/resmgr/Benchbar/Hot_Topics/BB_Jan_2016_HT_Wiederstein.pdf |accessdate=May 25, 2016}}</ref> Palmore began his service on October 12, 1955, and was immediately tasked with prosecuting a high-profile murder case against Ben Charles Sitton, who was accused of killing police officer Jack Rainier during a traffic stop.<ref name=wiederstein1>{{cite web |last=Wiederstein |first=Rob |title=The Murder of Officer Jack Rainier and the Election of John Palmore |publisher=Kentucky Bar Association |page=1 |date=January 2016 |url=https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.kybar.org/resource/resmgr/Benchbar/Hot_Topics/BB_Jan_2016_HT_Wiederstein.pdf |accessdate=May 25, 2016}}</ref> The Fraternal Order of Police, concerned that Palmore's inexperience would result in Sitton's acquittal, asked Palmore to allow a more experienced attorney to try the case, but Palmore refused.<ref name=wiederstein2>{{cite web |last=Wiederstein |first=Rob |title=The Murder of Officer Jack Rainier and the Election of John Palmore |publisher=Kentucky Bar Association |page=2 |date=January 2016 |url=https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.kybar.org/resource/resmgr/Benchbar/Hot_Topics/BB_Jan_2016_HT_Wiederstein.pdf |accessdate=May 25, 2016}}</ref> On January 27, 1956, after just over three hours of deliberation, a jury returned a guilty verdict against Sitton and recommended a death sentence.<ref name=wiederstein2 /> The verdict was overturned on a technicality, and Palmore was forced to try it again, winning a second conviction on June 29, 1956; the second jury recommended a sentence of life imprisonment.<ref name=wiederstein3>{{cite web |last=Wiederstein |first=Rob |title=The Murder of Officer Jack Rainier and the Election of John Palmore |publisher=Kentucky Bar Association |page=3 |date=January 2016 |url=https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.kybar.org/resource/resmgr/Benchbar/Hot_Topics/BB_Jan_2016_HT_Wiederstein.pdf |accessdate=May 25, 2016}}</ref>
Between the two Sitton trials, Palmore faced a challenge in the Democratic primary from State Representative Carl D. Melton.<ref name=wiederstein3 /> Melton was a Chandler ally, while Palmore had sided with Clements.<ref name=wiederstein3 /> Chandler hailed from Henderson County, the most populous county in the district, while Clements was from neighboring Union County, the district's second most populous.<ref name=wiederstein3 /> Due to the population and advantage and Chandler's decisive victory over Combs in the previous year's gubernatorial primary, Melton was expected to defeat Palmore easily.<ref name=wiederstein3 /> Palmore's successful prosecution of Sitton, combined with a strong turnout in Union County, helped him to a 626-vote victory in the primary, which was the de facto general election in the heavily Democratic district.<ref name=wiederstein3 />
Palmore continued as Commonwealth's attorney until he was elected to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1959.<ref name=honored>{{cite news |title=Retired Chief Justice John S. Palmore honored |newspaper=The State Journal |location=Frankfort, Kentucky |date=June 14, 2014 |url=http://www.state-journal.com/2014/06/14/retired-chief-justice-john-s-palmore-honored/ |accessdate=May 25, 2016}}</ref> In 1966 and 1973, he served as the court's chief justice.<ref name=honored /> In 1969, Palmore chaired a 10-person committee charged with revising the Kentucky Criminal Code.<ref name=code>{{cite news |title=Ky. Criminal Code Will be Revised |newspaper=The Corbin Times |location=Corbin, Kentucky |date=December 7, 1969 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5523661/john_palmore_chairing_committee_to/ |accessdate=June 8, 2016}}</ref>
In 1976, an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution renamed the court to the Kentucky Supreme Court and created a new Court of Appeals below it. Palmore and the other justices on the old Court of Appeals were retained on the Kentucky Supreme Court.<ref name=honored /> Palmore served as the court's chief justice from 1977 until his retirement in 1982.<ref name=honored /> In his judicial career, he wrote more than 800 opinions.<ref name=honored />
==Later life== After his retirement, Palmore became a legal advisor to then-Lieutenant Governor Martha Layne Collins.<ref name=controversial>{{cite news |title=Former Chief Justice has Remained Controversial Figure |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=April 24, 1984}}</ref> When Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. fell critically ill following heart surgery in 1983, Palmore advised Collins to take the role of acting governor.<ref name=controversial /> After Collins was elected governor, her administration hired Palmore to represent the state in several legal cases.<ref name=controversial /> Under a standard practice of rejecting all personal services contracts that paid more than $75 per hour, a legislative committee initially rejected Palmore's contracts, which paid $125 per hour, but Collins representatives overruled them.<ref name=controversial />
In 1984, Palmore moved back to Henderson and re-opened his law practice.<ref name=85gov>{{cite news |last=Osborne |first=Diana Taylor |title=Palmore Says He May Run for Governor |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=September 18, 1985}}</ref> Later that year, he was named to the board of regents for Western Kentucky University, where he served until 1988.<ref name=bgdn /> He was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Eastern Kentucky University in 1984.<ref name=graduation>{{cite news |title=Graduation Ceremonies Held |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=May 13, 1984}}</ref> In 1986, he moved back to Central Kentucky to join his son, John W. Palmore, in the Lexington law firm of Jackson, Kelly, Williams & Palmore.<ref name=firm>{{cite news |title=Palmore joins Lexington law firm |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=June 1, 1986}}</ref> He considered running for governor in 1987, but ultimately decided to manage the campaign of former Governor Julian Carroll.<ref name=85gov /><ref name=carroll>{{cite news |last=Rugeley |first=Cindy |title=CARROLL PROMISES ANSWERS AFTER ELECTION |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=October 14, 1986}}</ref>
Palmore received the Brandeis Medal from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1987 and was named an Alumni Fellow in 1993.<ref name=bgdn /> Also in 1993, he was inducted into the Western Kentucky University Hall of Distinguished Alumni.<ref name=bgdn /> For his defense of freedom of the press, he was given The First Prize by the Louisville chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.<ref name=bgdn />
In retirement, Palmore began writing history books.<ref name=bgdn /> He also published two autobiographies, ''An Opinionated Career: Memoirs of a Kentucky Judge'' in 2003 and ''From the Panama Canal to Elkhorn Creek'' in 2006. In 2014, Palmore was inducted into the Kentucky Bar Foundation's "Senator Henry Clay Circle".<ref name=honored /> His wife, Carol Pate Palmore, died December 6, 2015.<ref name=wifeobit>{{cite news |last=Brammer |first=Jack |title=Veteran state administrator Carol Palmore dies at 66 |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=December 8, 2015}}</ref> Palmore died on July 4, 2017, at age 99.<ref>[http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2017/07/04/john-s-palmore-former-ky-chief-justice-dies-99/450098001/ John S. Palmore, former Ky. chief justice, dies at 99].</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book |last=Palmore |first=John S. |title=From the Panama Canal to Elkhorn Creek: A Chronicle of Life in the 20th Century by an Old Kentucky Lawyer |year=2006 |publisher=Butler Book Publishing |isbn=1884532772}} *{{cite book |last=Palmore |first=John S. |title=An Opinionated Career: Memoirs of a Kentucky Judge |year=2003 |publisher=Kentucky River Press |isbn=0974528714}} *{{cite book |last=Palmore |first=John S. |title=Riding with Sherman: The Civil War Travels of the Fifth Kentucky Cavalry, U.S.A. |year=2000}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmore, John S.}} Category:1917 births Category:2017 deaths Category:People from Bowling Green, Kentucky Category:People from Henderson, Kentucky Category:Military personnel from Kentucky Category:Judges of the Kentucky Court of Appeals Category:Justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court Category:Kentucky Democrats Category:Western Kentucky University alumni Category:University of Louisville School of Law alumni Category:Writers from Kentucky Category:Zonians Category:American autobiographers Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II Category:Chief justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court Category:20th-century Kentucky state court judges Category:Kentucky commonwealth's attorneys