James Robert Hannah was an American jurist. After attending college and law school at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Hannah opened a private law practice in Searcy. He practiced law for a decade, entering public service in part-time city attorney and city judge roles in small towns across the Arkansas Grand Prairie. He won election as Chancery Judge of the 17th District in 1979, and held the position until 1999, when he was nominated to the Arkansas Supreme Court. He served as an associate justice for four years, becoming Chief Justice in 2005. Hannah held the top position for ten years, until resigning in 2015.
Hannah was elected as the chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2004, 2008, and 2012. As Chief Justice, Hannah swore in several state officials, including governors Mike Beebe and Asa Hutchinson and Arkansas Secretary of StateMark Martin. In 2011, he presided over oral arguments at the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville, almost 50 years after earning a JD from the institution. It was only the twelfth time the court heard oral arguments outside Little Rock. Under Hannah, the Arkansas Supreme Court became the first in the nation to make its electronic record its official record, and installed cameras to stream oral arguments in 2010. During Governor Beebe's administration, Hannah was often cited as an instrumental supporter of the criminal justice reform later passed by the Beebe administration. During Wright v. Arkansas, a contentious case regarding the state's same-sex marriage ban, Hannah and Associate JusticePaul Danielson accused fellow justices of obstructing the judicial process. Hannah and Danielson recused themselves from the ensuing obstruction lawsuit, with Governor Hutchinson appointing Brett Watson of Searcy to replace Hannah for the case. Hannah retired effective September 1, 2015 due to health concerns. Governor Asa Hutchinson appointed Howard Brill to complete Hannah's term. He died in Searcy on January 14, 2016, aged 71.
Judicial philosophy
Hannah was interested in federalism, and the role state supreme courts play in citizen's daily lives. He sat on The Reemergence of State Constitutional Law and the State High Courts in the 21st Century panel discussion at the inaugural State Constitutional Commentary Symposium sponsored by the Albany Law Review in 2007, and later published an article in the journal. He was nominated to the Board of Directors of the State Justice Institute by President Barack Obama in 2010, and was renominated in 2012.
