dispute over property confiscated during the Revolutionary War, was the first ruling in America to declare a legislative act unconstitutional, thus establishing the principle of judicial review. Judicial review was later adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison (1803). The ruling led to a discussion between Supreme Court justice James Iredell and Founding Father Richard Dobbs Spaight as to the proper role of judges in the Constitutional Republic, leaving Spaight questioning if a court had a right to overturn the legislation. Bayard involved a host of North Carolina's Revolutionary Era luminaries: future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Alfred Moore argued the case on behalf of the state, and the opinion was written by future Governor of North Carolina Samuel Ashe. Though Bayard was technically decided by the North Carolina Superior Court, before the Supreme Court of North Carolina was established, it is now widely attributed to the current supreme court. Justices Current justices The Court's current members are: Chief justices Note that dates are for service as chief justice only. Many chief justices have also served as associate justices. John Louis Taylor (1818–1829) Leonard Henderson (1829–1833) Thomas Ruffin (1833–1852) Frederick Nash (1852–1858) Richmond Mumford Pearson (1858–1878) William Nathan Harrell Smith (1878–1889) Augustus Summerfield Merrimon (1889–1892) James E. Shepherd (1893–1895) William T. Faircloth (1895–1901) David M. Furches (1901–1903) Walter Clark (1903–1924) William A. Hoke (1924–1925) Walter P. Stacy (1925–1951) William A. Devin (1951–1954) M.V. Barnhill (1954–1956) J. Wallace Winborne (1956–1962) Emery B. Denny (1962–1966) R. Hunt Parker (1966–1969) William H. Bobbitt (1969–1974) Susie Sharp (1975–1979) Joseph Branch (1979–1986) Rhoda Billings (1986) James G. Exum (1986–1995) Burley Mitchell (1995–1999) Henry Frye (1999–2001) I. Beverly Lake Jr. (2001–2006) Sarah Parker (2006–2014) Mark Martin (2014–2019) Cheri Beasley (2019–2020) Paul Newby (2021–present) See also North Carolina Court of Appeals Notes External links North Carolina Supreme Court official page History of the NC Supreme Court Video: Reflections on the History of the Supreme Court of North Carolina History of the Supreme Court by Chief Justice Walter Clark (1919) NC Supreme Court Historical Society NC Manual of 1913 by Robert Digges Wimberly Connor North Carolina state courts North Carolina 1818 establishments in North Carolina Courts and tribunals established in 1818