{{Short description|American judge (born 1944)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}} {{infobox officeholder | name = Ralph Cook | office = Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama | term_start = 1993 | term_end = 2001 | appointer = Jim Folsom | predecessor = Oscar W. Adams Jr. | successor = Lyn Stuart | birth_name = Ralph Delano Cook | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1944|4|29}} | party = Democratic | spouse = Charlsie Davis | children = 3 | parents = Joe Cook<br>Nannie Cook | education = Tennessee State University (BS)<br>Howard University School of Law (JD) | profession = Judge }} '''Ralph Delano Cook''' (born April 29, 1944) is an American judge who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 1993 to 2001. Governor Jim Folsom Jr. appointed Cook to finish the term of Oscar W. Adams Jr. upon Adams' retirement.<ref>Tom Hughes, "Pioneering justice swears in successor", ''The Montgomery Advertiser'' (October 31, 1993), p. 1B.</ref><ref name=Court_News>{{cite news | title= Justice Adams Announces Retirement; Circuit Judge Ralph Cook is Appointed | newspaper=Alabama Court News | date=October 1993 | url=http://www.alacourt.gov/Court%20News/October-1993.pdf}}</ref>
==Early life, education, and career== Raised in Jefferson County, Alabama, Cook was "the second of three children of Joe and Nannie Cook", who owned and operated a cleaning service in Bessemer.<ref name="Common">"Justices have much in common", ''The Montgomery Advertiser'' (October 31, 1993), p. 1B, 6B.</ref> Cook received his B.S. from Tennessee State University and his J.D. from Howard University School of Law.<ref name="JOA">{{cite web|url=https://judicial.alabama.gov/Docs/library/Bios/RalphDCook.pdf |title=RALPH D. COOK: Associate Justice - 1993-2001|publisher=Judiciary of Alabama|access-date=June 18, 2022}}</ref> He thereafter moved to California, where he taught at San Jose State University and at Cabrillo College.<ref name="JOA"/><ref name="Common"/> He was an administrative analyst for the city of Berkeley, California, from 1971 to 1973, leaving at the end of 1973 to take a position as a deputy district attorney in Alabama.<ref name="Common"/><ref>"City official accepts post in Alabama", ''The Berkeley Gazette'' (December 7, 1973), p. 1.</ref>
After returning to Alabama, he also taught at Miles Law School, and was named the dean of the law school in September 1976,<ref>"Bessemer judge new Miles dean of law", ''Birmingham Post-Herald'' (September 16, 1976), p. A7.</ref> serving in that capacity until 1990.<ref name="Common"/>
==Judicial career== Cook was the first black person to be elected to a state district judgeship in Jefferson County, Alabama, the largest county in the state,<ref name="Second">Phillip Rawls, "Ralph Cook becomes second black on state Supreme Court", ''Birmingham Post-Herald'' (November 2, 1993), p. D4.</ref> where he served for four and a half years.<ref name="Common"/> He thereafter became the first black person to be elected to the circuit court for the same county.<ref name="Second"/>
Cook was sworn in as a justice of the state supreme court in November 1993.<ref name="Second"/> In November 1994, Cook, running as a Democrat defeated Republican challenger Mark Montiel to win election to a full term on the court.<ref>Bob Johnson, "Cook, Kennedy win court races", ''Birmingham Post-Herald'' (November 10, 1994), p. C1.</ref> In his 2000 bid for reelection to the court, however, Cook was defeated by Republican challenger Lyn Stuart.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southeastsun.com/home/article_e143bf00-3e58-5ae4-8f83-1dc0628dcdff.html |title=Coffee County favors Bush|first1=Kay|last1=Kirkland|publisher=The Southeast Sun|date=November 8, 2000}}</ref>
==Personal life== Cook married Charlsie Davis, also of Jefferson County, with whom he had two daughters and a son.<ref name="JOA"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama |before=Oscar W. Adams Jr. |after=Lyn Stuart |years=1993–2001}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Ralph}} Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:People from Jefferson County, Alabama Category:American university and college faculty deans Category:Deans of law schools in the United States Category:African-American academic administrators Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama Category:21st-century American judges Category:20th-century Alabama state court judges Category:African-American judges Category:21st-century African-American academics Category:21st-century American academics Category:San Jose State University faculty Category:Cabrillo College faculty and staff Category:Tennessee State University alumni Category:Howard University School of Law alumni Category:Alabama Democrats