Charles Thomas Wright (March 7, 1911 – November 6, 1980)[1] [2] [3] was a justice of the Washington Supreme Court from 1971 until his death in 1980.
Born in Washington, his father was Thurston-Mason County Superior Court judge D. F. Wright, and his mother was "one of the first women admitted to the state bar".[3] Wright received an undergraduate degree from the College of Puget Sound, and then studied law at the University of Washington.[2] [3]
He left law school in 1934 to work for as a law clerk for his father,[2] [3] and gained admission to the bar in 1937, serving as a prosecuting attorney for Mason County from 1942 to 1944.[3] He "succeeded his father on the Thurston-Mason bench in 1949".[3]
In 1970, Wright defeated the incumbent Morell Edward Sharp, who had been appointed to fill an unexpired term on the state supreme court.[4] Wright was reelected to full terms in 1972 and 1978. He rotated into service as chief justice from 1975 to 1977.[3]
Wright and his wife, Helen, had one son, and were foster parents to 17 children.[2] [3]