I. Beverly Lake, Jr.

Isaac Beverly Lake Jr. (January 30, 1934 – September 12, 2019) was an American jurist and public official, who served as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. In 2006 he led the North Carolina Actual Innocence Commission, to review police and prosecution procedures and recommend reform to prevent wrongful convictions. This resulted in a change to law related to procedures for collecting eyewitness testimony.

Biography
Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, Lake was the son of I. Beverly Lake Sr., a jurist and law professor, and Gertrude Bell Lake. He was raised in Wake Forest, North Carolina and earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1949. He received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2006. Lake also served briefly in the United States Army from 1956 to 1958.

After earning his law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1960, Lake entered into several private practices.

In the late 1960s, he entered politics. Between 1969 and 1976, Lake served as an appointed deputy attorney general for the state of North Carolina. After serving two terms in the North Carolina General Assembly as a Democratic state Senator, Lake switched parties in 1980. He ran as the unsuccessful Republican nominee against incumbent Governor Jim Hunt. After Republican James G. Martin was elected governor in 1984, Lake served briefly as Martin's legislative liaison before he was appointed as a justice to the State Superior Court in November 1985. Lake ran for the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1990 but lost to incumbent John Webb.

Gov. Martin appointed Lake to the Supreme Court in 1992, but Lake was defeated for election that same year. Lake was elected to a regular term as an associate justice of the state supreme court in 1994. He was elected as the court's chief justice in 2000, defeating incumbent Henry Frye. By North Carolina law, he had to step down in 2006, after his 72nd birthday. He was succeeded by then-Associate Justice Sarah Parker.