Constitution Day with Judge John W. Smith

Constitution Day Guest Speaker | Wednesday,  September 20, 2023 | 10:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Scott Northern Wake Campus

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In recognition of Constitution Day, Wake Tech is proud to welcome Judge John W. Smith to our Northern Wake Campus. 

All Wake Tech students, faculty, and staff are invited to join us for an afternoon of discovery and discussion regarding the constitutional issues of today. 

Sponsored by Student Activities in collaboration with the Department of Humanities.

Campus: 

Scott Northern Wake Campus

Location: 

Building E, Lecture Hall & Atrium

Schedule:

10:30 a.m. | Check In 

11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks and Introduction by Dr. Scott Ralls

11:15 a.m. | Prepared Remarks by Judge John. W. Smith

12:00 p.m. | Q&A

12:15 p.m. | Reception in the Atrium

1:00 p.m. | Program Ends

Speaker Bio:

Judge John W. Smith is a graduate of Davidson College and Wake Forest Law School. He served as a commissioned officer in the U. S. Army, attached to the Staff Judge Advocate General’s Criminal Defense Office at Fort Lee, Virginia. Upon being honorably discharged, he joined a general practice partnership in Raleigh from 1972-1974. He then served fourteen years as an Assistant District Attorney in the Fifth Prosecutorial District consisting of New Hanover and Pender Counties. He was elected as a District Court Judge in 1988 and served for sixteen years through five successful elections. He was appointed Chief District Court Judge for the Fifth Judicial District by Chief Justice Burley Mitchell in 1996, and served as Chief Judge through 2001. 

He was appointed as a Special Superior Court Judge in January of 2005, and served in that office until he was appointed as Director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts by Chief Justice Sarah Parker on January 1, 2009, at which time he and his wife moved from Wilmington to Raleigh. He retired as NCAOC Director on May 1, 2015, and immediately upon retirement was appointed as an Emergency Superior Court Judge by Governor McCrory. As of 2023 he continues to serve as one of the state’s twelve active retired-recalled emergency superior court judges, and has presided in in the Superior Courts of 82 of our 100 counties.

Judge Smith served as past president of the Conference of District Court Judges. He was designated a certified juvenile court judge and established the first pilot drug courts and family courts in New Hanover and Pender Counties. For a number of years he taught Business Law as an adjunct instructor at Cape Fear Community College and taught continuing education courses for prosecutors and judges at the North Carolina School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill. 

In the past, he served on the legislative committees of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys and the North Carolina Conference of District Court Judges. He has served as a member of the North Carolina Courts Commission, member of the Family Financial Settlement Section of the Dispute Resolution Commission, an officer on the founding Board of Directors of the North Carolina Judicial Conference, a member of the state Board of Advisors for the North Carolina Guardian Ad Litem Program, and past president of the New Hanover County Bar Association. He is a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine and of the Amicus Curia (Friend of the Court) Award from the North Carolina Supreme Court.

He was raised on a farm in Moore County and has been married to Harriet Hough Smith, a retired elementary school teacher, for fifty-one years.

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What is Constitution Day?

Constitution Day is an American federal observance that commemorates the signing of the US Constitution and honors those who have become US Citizens by coming of age or naturalization. It is observed annually on September 17th.