ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 17, 1996 TAG: 9612170068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: COVINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Virginia Supreme Court Justice Roscoe Stephenson Jr. of Covington said Monday that he will retire July 1 after serving on the court for 16 years.
``I'll be turning 75 in February, and I just thought the time had come to take a little lighter load,'' Stephenson said.
Stephenson was the first Alleghany Highlands resident to serve on Virginia's highest court. He sent a letter of resignation to Gov. George Allen. The General Assembly will choose his replacement.
Stephenson said he will continue to serve the Supreme Court periodically as a senior justice.
Stephenson was the General Assembly's second choice for a Supreme Court vacancy in 1979. In 1981, he was picked to fill the vacancy left when Lawrence I'Anson resigned as chief justice.
Stephenson was born and raised in Covington and graduated from Washington and Lee University and the W&L School of Law in nearby Lexington. He returned to Covington in 1947 to practice law with his father, the late Roscoe Bolary Stephenson Sr.
Four years later, he was elected commonwealth's attorney for Covington and Alleghany County and served for 12 years before entering private practice again.
In the eight years before becoming a Supreme Court justice, Stephenson was the judge for the 25th Judicial Circuit, which includes Covington, Clifton Forge, Alleghany, Bath, Botetourt and Craig counties.
Stephenson said there have been significant changes in the court since he arrived, including the elections of the first female justice and the first black justice.
One of the biggest decisions that Stephenson wrote in recent years was a funding dispute between the state and numerous rural and inner-city school districts, including some from his region.
The majority of the court sided with the state, concluding that the General Assembly had the power to decide how schools should be funded.
``It was difficult in that you naturally are concerned about the school districts that are seemingly left behind when it comes to funding,'' Stephenson said. ``You've just got to try to decide the case on the law as you interpret it and not involve your personal experiences.''
Stephenson said he will be able to spend more time golfing as a part-time justice.
``I guess my wife will find things for me to do,'' he added. ``I will not exactly dry up. I'm lucky in that I'm still in pretty good health.''
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