Dan Jack Combs
| Dan Jack Combs | |
|---|---|
| Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court | |
|
In office January 9, 1989 – June 30, 1993 |
|
| Preceded by | James B. Stephenson |
| Succeeded by | Sara Walter Combs |
| Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals | |
|
In office 1983–1989 |
|
| Preceded by | Elijah M. Hogge |
| Succeeded by | Richard L. Elswick |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Dan Jack Combs August 22, 1924 Floyd County, Kentucky |
| Died | May 25, 2002 (aged 77) Stanville, Kentucky |
| Resting place | Combs family cemetery |
| Alma mater |
Cumberland University Cumberland School of Law |
| Profession | Lawyer; judge |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/branch | United States Navy |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Dan Jack Combs (August 22, 1924 – May 25, 2002) was a Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals from 1983 to 1989 and the Kentucky Supreme Court from 1989 to 1993.
Combs rose to national prominence by successfully defending Appalachian Volunteers Margaret and Alan McSurely against charges of sedition in a case that took 15 years to fully adjudicate. After a long legal career, Combs unseated incumbent Elijah M. Hogge for a seat on the Kentucky Court of Appeals. In 1989, he challenged incumbent James B. Stephenson for his seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court. During the campaign, he attacked some of Stephenson's previous opinions in violation of a state judicial code that forbade judicial candidates from stating opinions related to cases they might later be asked to rule on. After the election, which Combs won, he was suspended for three months for violating the code, but the suspension was not carried out because Combs appealed the constitutionality of the code and eventually succeeded in overturning it.
Throughout his tenure on the court, Combs was known as being sympathetic to unpopular litigants and causes. He retired from the court in 1993, citing ill health stemming from a motorcycle accident and two strokes. In retirement, he was twice arrested on marijuana-related charges. He admitted using the drug medicinally to help with insomnia and became an advocate for its legalization. He died at home on May 25, 2002.
Combs was born August 22, 1924 in Floyd County, Kentucky to Albert Ghent and Hettie Gilliam Combs. His father worked in the coal mines and was killed in a rockfall, leaving his mother to raise him and his four siblings.
Combs served in the United States Naval Air Corps during World War II and was discharged in 1947. After helping combat flooding near the town on Betsy Layne, Combs and some friends purchased a bottle of whisky before returning home. Although Combs said he had only taken one drink, he was arrested for public intoxication; he said he believed his muddied appearance led the arresting constable to assume he was drunk. In jail, he decided to forego re-enlistment in the Navy and enter the legal profession to correct what he saw as injustices in the legal system. After completing a law curriculum at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, he was admitted to the bar in 1951 and began practice in his native Eastern Kentucky. He received his juris doctor degree from Samford University's Cumberland School of Law in 1969.
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