Cumberland University

Born in Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee, Humphreys attended Castle Heights Military Academy, and received an LL.B. from Cumberland University in 1929,^[1] entering the practice of law that same year.^[1] He was an assistant district attorney general for the Fifth Judicial Circuit from 1937 to 1940, a circuit judge for that circuit from 1941 to 1942, and an assistant to the attorney general and court reporter from 1943 to 1952.^[1] Humphreys also served as acting dean and professor of law at the Cumberland School of Law from 1942 to 1945.^[1][2]

Humphreys was solicitor general of Tennessee from 1952 to 1960.^[1][3] In that capacity, Humphreys asserted in one high-profile case that it was illegal for an executive branch agency of the state to employ a state legislator.^[4] On January 22, 1960, Humphreys was appointed by Governor Buford Ellington to a seat on the Tennessee Court of Appeals.^[1] On April 27, 1967, Ellington elevated Humphreys to a seat on the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated by the death of Justice W. G. White.^[1][3] Humphreys was elected to a full term in 1968,^[1][3] defeating his challenger, Domestic Relations Judge Benton Trimble, by a vote of 200,852 to 111,387.^[5] Humphreys served until his retirement from the court in 1974.^[1][3]

In 1984, Humphreys sat as a special justice to hear cases challenging state taxes on flea markets and computer software. Humphreys wrote the opinion on the software tax, which was upheld.^[6]