By:  Jones, Jesse                                      H.R. No. 152
       73R3327 PAN-D
                                  R E S O L U T I O N
    1-1        WHEREAS, The Texas House of Representatives wishes to join
    1-2  with the family, friends, colleagues, and many admirers of United
    1-3  States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in grieving the
    1-4  passing of this legendary jurist and civil rights leader on January
    1-5  24, 1993, at the age of 84; and
    1-6        WHEREAS, Born July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland, he earned
    1-7  his undergraduate education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania
    1-8  and continued his education at Howard University Law School,
    1-9  graduating first in his class in 1933; and
   1-10        WHEREAS, By the time President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed
   1-11  Justice Marshall to succeed Justice Tom C. Clark on the Supreme
   1-12  Court in 1967, Justice Marshall had already had a remarkable
   1-13  career; and
   1-14        WHEREAS, For more than two decades, Justice Marshall served
   1-15  as the director-counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
   1-16  Fund, Inc., which he created in the 1930s; it was during this time
   1-17  that he first became a tireless force in the civil rights movement,
   1-18  crafting the strategy that would require the courts to provide a
   1-19  definition of equality that would assure African-Americans the full
   1-20  rights of citizenship; and
   1-21        WHEREAS, Displaying the keen intellect and insightful grasp
   1-22  of legal issues that would become the hallmarks of his career, he
   1-23  argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court and won 29 of them; and
   1-24        WHEREAS, One of these cases, Smith v. Allwright, which
    2-1  Justice Marshall argued before the court in 1944, resulted in the
    2-2  court's striking down Texas' all-white primary system; in another,
    2-3  Sweatt v. Painter, The University of Texas School of Law was
    2-4  ordered to drop all racial restrictions on enrollment as a result
    2-5  of his enormous talent and determination as an attorney; and
    2-6        WHEREAS, Perhaps Justice Marshall's greatest legal victory
    2-7  came in 1954 with the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of
    2-8  Education, which put an end to the "separate but equal" system of
    2-9  racial segregation that was then in effect in the public schools of
   2-10  21 states; and
   2-11        WHEREAS, In 1961, he was named to the 2nd United States
   2-12  Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City by President John F.
   2-13  Kennedy, and, during the four years he served as a federal appeals
   2-14  court judge, Justice Marshall rendered 112 opinions, none of which
   2-15  was ever overturned on appeal; in fact, several of his dissenting
   2-16  opinions later became majority opinions of the Supreme Court; and
   2-17        WHEREAS, The country's first African-American solicitor
   2-18  general, from 1965 to 1967, he played a pivotal role in advancing
   2-19  the Johnson administration's civil and constitutional rights
   2-20  agenda; and
   2-21        WHEREAS, During his nearly quarter-century of service on the
   2-22  nation's highest bench, Justice Marshall remained a staunch
   2-23  defender of individual rights, always serving as a strong advocate
   2-24  in behalf of minorities and the underprivileged; and
   2-25        WHEREAS, Throughout his life, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood
   2-26  Marshall demonstrated unfailing wisdom, courage, and dedication to
   2-27  that which he knew to be right; his deep commitment to creating an
    3-1  environment that would ensure the dignity and basic rights of all
    3-2  citizens has profoundly influenced the very fabric of this nation,
    3-3  and the unique spirit of this visionary leader will surely live on
    3-4  in the lasting legacy of accomplishments he leaves behind; now,
    3-5  therefore, be it
    3-6        RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 73rd Texas
    3-7  Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Supreme Court Justice
    3-8  Thurgood Marshall and extend sincere sympathy to his wife, Cecilia,
    3-9  to his sons, John and Thurgood Marshall, Jr., and to the many other
   3-10  relatives and friends of this legendary jurist; and, be it further
   3-11          RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
   3-12  prepared for the members of his family and that when the Texas
   3-13  House of Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of
   3-14  United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.