John McNeill Smith Jr. (1918–2011) was a North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 politician and attorney involved in civil rights

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 advocacy.

Smith was a native of Robeson County, North Carolina

Robeson County, North Carolina

Robeson County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010 it had a population of 134,168. Since then, it has been one of the 10% of United States counties that were majority-minority; its combined population of American Indian, African American and Latino residents comprise over...

 and served in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

A Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, Smith was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives

North Carolina House of Representatives

The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the state senate....

 from the Greensboro

Greensboro, North Carolina

Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...

 area in 1970 but before the completion of his term, he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the North Carolina Senate

North Carolina Senate

The North Carolina Senate is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly.Its prerogatives and powers are similar to those of the other house, the House of Representatives. Its members do, however, represent districts that are larger than those of their colleagues in the House. The...

 caused by the resignation of Skipper Bowles

Skipper Bowles

Hargrove "Skipper" Bowles, Jr. was an influential Democratic politician and businessman, based in Greensboro, North Carolina....

. He was elected to the state Senate in 1972, 1974 and 1976. Smith did not run for re-election in 1978 in order to make an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate

United States Senate election in North Carolina, 1978

The North Carolina United States Senate election of 1978 was held on 7 November 1978 as part of the nation-wide elections to the Senate. The general election was fought between the Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and the Democrat nominee John Ingram. Helms won re-election, by a slightly wider...

.

As an attorney, Smith was noted for taking up unpopular causes, such as in his defense of Junius Scales

Junius Scales

Junius Scales was an American leader of the Communist Party of the United States of America notable for his arrest and trials under the Smith Act in the 1950s. He was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee in 1954 after going underground, he was tried under the Smith Act and convicted twice, undergoing a...

 and in his lawsuit over the ban on Communists speaking on University of North Carolina

University of North Carolina

Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...

 campuses. Smith later taught constitutional law at the University of North Carolina School of Law

University of North Carolina School of Law

The University of North Carolina School of Law is a professional school within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Established in 1845, Carolina Law is among the oldest law schools in the nation and is the oldest law school in North Carolina. It is consistently ranked in the top-tier...

. In 2006, the North Carolina Bar Association established an award named for Smith to honor "a person who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the ideals embodied in the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of North Carolina."