his father's use of space in Nix's office. The rental agreement was dropped soon after. In 1981 Justice Nix was retained for a second ten-year term in a controversial election. A public feud between Nix and Justice Rolf Larsen took on racial undertones when newspapers reported that Larsen allegedly threatened to publicize the fact that Justice Nix was black in an attempt to defeat him. Larsen was investigated and exonerated by a judicial board of inquiry, however, the disputes between the Justices continued. In 1992 Larsen was accused of improperly communicating with a trial judge about a case (Larsen was later found to have engaged in misconduct and publicly reprimanded). Larsen in turn filed court documents accusing Nix of similar conduct. Both the District and Appellate courts concluded in 1995 that Nix had, in fact, improperly intervened in the trial in question. After stepping down in 1996, Justice Nix said his difficulties with Larsen were "regrettable, but we were able to eliminate that and restore confidence in the judicial system." Larsen was ultimately impeached and removed from office for unrelated misconduct. Retirement and death In 1996 Nix announced his retirement from the bench, two years prior to his mandatory retirement. In announcing his retirement, Nix said, "It is time for me to walk away and smell the daisies." He indicated that he planned to travel and write, avocations he had put on hold. On August 23, 2003, Nix died in Philadelphia, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The official biography of Justice Nix was published in 2010. See also List of African-American jurists References 1928 births 2003 deaths Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni Neurological disease deaths in Pennsylvania Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers African-American judges Politicians from Philadelphia Villanova University alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Temple University alumni 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people