| Ralph Cook | |
| Office: | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama |
| Term Start: | 1993 |
| Term End: | 2001 |
| Appointer: | Jim Folsom |
| Predecessor: | Oscar W. Adams Jr. |
| Successor: | Lyn Stuart |
| Birth Name: | Ralph Delano Cook |
| Birth Date: | 29 April 1944 |
| Nationality: | American |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | Charlsie Davis |
| Children: | 3 |
| Parents: | Joe Cook Nannie Cook |
| Education: | Tennessee State University (BS) Howard University School of Law (JD) |
| Profession: | Judge |
Ralph Delano Cook (born April 29, 1944) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 1993 to 2001. Governor Jim Folsom Jr. appointed Cook to finish the term of Oscar W. Adams Jr. upon Adams' retirement.[1] [2]
Raised in Jefferson County, Alabama, Cook was "the second of three children of Joe and Nannie Cook", who owned and operated a cleaning service in Bessemer.[3] Cook received his B.S. from Tennessee State University and his J.D. from Howard University School of Law.[4] He thereafter moved to California, where he taught at San Jose State University and at Cabrillo College.[4] [3] He was an administrative analyst for the city of Berkeley, California, from 1971 to 1973, leaving at the end of 1973 to take a position as a deputy district attorney in Alabama.[3] [5]
After returning to Alabama, he also taught at Miles Law School, and was named the dean of the law school in September 1976,[6] serving in that capacity until 1990.[3]
Cook was the first black person to be elected to a state district judgeship in Jefferson County, Alabama, the largest county in the state,[7] where he served for four and a half years.[3] He thereafter became the first black person to be elected to the circuit court for the same county.[7]
Cook was sworn in as a justice of the state supreme court in November 1993.[7] In November 1994, Cook, running as a Democrat defeated Republican challenger Mark Montiel to win election to a full term on the court.[8] In his 2000 bid for reelection to the court, however, Cook was defeated by Republican challenger Lyn Stuart.[9]
Cook married Charlsie Davis, also of Jefferson County, with whom he had two daughters and a son.[4]