R E S O L U T I O N
1-1 WHEREAS, Distinguished scholar and lawyer, great benefactor
1-2 to the Austin community, and esteemed gentleman Charles Alan Wright
1-3 passed away on July 7, 2000, at the age of 72; and
1-4 WHEREAS, A precocious student, Mr. Wright received his
1-5 education from Haverford High School, Wesleyan University, and Yale
1-6 Law School before embarking on an exceptional career in law and
1-7 scholarship that began in 1949 with a year-long clerkship with
1-8 Judge Charles E. Clark of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second
1-9 Circuit; and
1-10 WHEREAS, This internationally renowned expert on
1-11 constitutional law and the federal courts argued 13 cases before
1-12 the United States Supreme Court, winning 11 of them, as well as
1-13 numerous cases in courts of appeals and state supreme courts;
1-14 moreover, he was consultant to counsel in the Watergate Tapes case
1-15 involving President Richard M. Nixon; and
1-16 WHEREAS, Professor Wright's career in education was spent
1-17 primarily at The University of Texas School of Law, where he had
1-18 been a faculty member since 1955, holding the Charles T. McCormick
1-19 Professorship, the William B. Bates Chair for the Administration of
1-20 Justice, the Hayden W. Head Regents Chair in Excellence, the Vinson
1-21 & Elkins Law Chair, and the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal
1-22 Courts; and
1-23 WHEREAS, He actively participated in UT affairs, serving as
1-24 chairman of the Faculty Senate, on four university president search
2-1 committees and on three committees seeking a dean of the law
2-2 school; Mr. Wright also harbored a great interest in collegiate
2-3 athletics and was an active supporter of the UT Longhorns and
2-4 called the "winningest coach in Texas" with his intramural football
2-5 team, the Legal Eagles; and
2-6 WHEREAS, Mr. Wright was a visiting professor at the
2-7 University of Pennsylvania Law School, Harvard, Yale, and the
2-8 University of Cambridge, England; he worked as a visiting fellow at
2-9 Wolfson College, Cambridge, and as a visiting scholar at Victoria
2-10 University of Wellington, New Zealand; and
2-11 WHEREAS, A prolific writer, he was senior author of a
2-12 55-volume treatise on federal practice and procedure; in addition,
2-13 his Cases on Federal Courts and Wright on Federal Courts are
2-14 standard texts used by practitioners, judges, and academics; he
2-15 also reviewed legal crime novels for The Practical Lawyer; and
2-16 WHEREAS, Mr. Wright generously gave his time and expertise to
2-17 various professional organizations; he served as president of the
2-18 American Law Institute (ALI), strengthening its international
2-19 aspects during his term; he also worked tirelessly as a member of
2-20 the ALI Council and as its second and then first vice president and
2-21 in numerous other capacities; and
2-22 WHEREAS, Three chief justices of the United States Supreme
2-23 Court appointed Mr. Wright to the Standing Committee on Rules of
2-24 Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United
2-25 States; Chief Justice Warren Burger appointed him to the Permanent
2-26 Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise, and he served on
2-27 the Subcommittee on Federal Jurisdiction of the Judicial Conference
3-1 of the United States; also, President Ronald Reagan named him to
3-2 the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States
3-3 Constitution; and
3-4 WHEREAS, Mr. Wright was a great supporter of the arts in
3-5 Austin; he was a member of the board of trustees of the Austin
3-6 Symphony Orchestra, the Austin Lyric Opera, and the Austin Choral
3-7 Union; a founder of Austin classical radio station KMFA, Mr. Wright
3-8 belonged to the Philosophical Society of Texas and was a fellow of
3-9 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1999, he was
3-10 elected to be a corresponding fellow to the British Academy; and
3-11 WHEREAS, Throughout his outstanding career and life of
3-12 service, Mr. Wright garnered numerous awards, including the Student
3-13 Bar Association Teaching Excellence Award, The Fellows Research
3-14 Award from The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, the Doctor
3-15 of Humane Letters honoris causa from the Episcopal Theological
3-16 Seminary of the Southwest, the Leon Green Award from the Texas Law
3-17 Review, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Wesleyan University,
3-18 the Robert B. McKay Professor Award from the American Bar
3-19 Association, the Learned Hand Medal from the Federal Bar Council,
3-20 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from The University of Texas
3-21 School of Law; and
3-22 WHEREAS, In his private time, Mr. Wright enjoyed traveling,
3-23 especially by train or ship, and his hobbies included reading,
3-24 railroads, and fishing; a teacher who believed in old school
3-25 manners, he always came to class in a three-piece suit, relied on
3-26 his prodigious memory and lectured without notes, and was a
3-27 marvelous letter writer; and
4-1 WHEREAS, This great scholar and lawyer benefited a multitude
4-2 of people in myriad ways, and his academic excellence, integrity,
4-3 and overwhelming influence in the law profession will endure for
4-4 years to come; now, therefore, be it
4-5 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 77th Texas
4-6 Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Charles Alan Wright
4-7 and extend deepest sympathy to the members of his family: to his
4-8 wife of 45 years, Eleanor Custis Wright; to his son, Charles Edward
4-9 Wright, and his wife, Antonina H. McDonald; to his daughter, Norie
4-10 Clarke, and her husband, Alan K. Davis; to his daughter, Margot
4-11 Clarke; to his daughter, Henrietta Wright, and her husband, Edward
4-12 B. Stead; to his daughter, Cecily Fitzsimons; to his sister, Jean
4-13 Wright Morse, and her husband, Howard A. Morse; and to his
4-14 grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and other relatives and many
4-15 friends; and, be it further
4-16 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
4-17 prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of
4-18 Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Charles
4-19 Alan Wright.
Kitchen Clark
Gallego Hope
Lewis of Tarrant Martinez Fischer
Oliveira Smith
Uher Wilson
Laney Goodman Merritt
Alexander Goolsby Miller
Allen Gray Moreno of Harris
Averitt Green Moreno of El Paso
Bailey Grusendorf Morrison
Berman Gutierrez Mowery
Bonnen Haggerty Naishtat
Bosse Hamric Najera
Brimer Hardcastle Nixon
Brown of Kaufman Hartnett Noriega
Brown of Brazos Hawley Oliveira
Burnam Heflin Olivo
Callegari Hilbert Pickett
Capelo Hilderbran Pitts
Carter Hill Puente
Chavez Hinojosa Ramsay
Chisum Hochberg Rangel
Christian Hodge Raymond
Clark Homer Reyna of Bexar
Coleman Hope Reyna of Dallas
Cook Hopson Ritter
Corte Howard Sadler
Counts Hunter Salinas
Crabb Hupp Seaman
Craddick Isett Shields
Crownover Janek Smith
Danburg Jones of Lubbock Smithee
Davis of Harris Jones of Bexar Solis
Davis of Dallas Jones of Dallas Solomons
Delisi Junell Swinford
Denny Keel Talton
Deshotel Keffer Telford
Driver King of Parker Thompson
Dukes King of Uvalde Tillery
Dunnam Kitchen Truitt
Dutton Kolkhorst Turner of Coleman
Edwards Krusee Turner of Harris
Ehrhardt Kuempel Uher
Eiland Lewis of Tarrant Uresti
Elkins Lewis of Orange Villarreal
Ellis Longoria Walker
Farabee Luna West
Farrar McCall Williams
Flores McClendon Wilson
Gallego McReynolds Wise
Garcia Madden Wohlgemuth
George Marchant Wolens
Geren Martinez Fischer Woolley
Giddings Maxey Yarbrough
Glaze Menendez Zbranek
_______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 1209 was unanimously adopted by a
rising vote of the House on May 24, 2001.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House