|
|
|
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
WHEREAS, A pioneering crusader for Hispanic civil rights and |
|
one of the first Mexican Americans appointed to a federal district |
|
court, the Honorable James DeAnda of Houston passed away on |
|
September 7, 2006, after a distinguished legal career that spanned |
|
more than a half-century; and |
|
WHEREAS, Born in Houston in 1925, James DeAnda was the son of |
|
immigrants from Mexico who stressed the importance of education; a |
|
1942 graduate of Houston's Jefferson Davis High School, he began |
|
college at Texas A&M University but left school to join the Marines |
|
during World War II, serving in the Pacific theater and in China; he |
|
completed his undergraduate studies after the war, then earned his |
|
law degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1950, becoming |
|
one of only a few Hispanic attorneys in the state; and |
|
WHEREAS, Judge DeAnda returned to Houston to start his |
|
career; he soon became involved in Hernandez v. Texas, which proved |
|
to be a landmark legal case with far-reaching implications; the |
|
appeal of the murder conviction of a Hispanic migrant worker in |
|
Jackson County focused on the trial's all-white jury and argued |
|
that Latinos had been systematically excluded from the county's |
|
juries for decades; in 1954, the United States Supreme Court |
|
accepted the argument and overturned the case as a violation of the |
|
constitutional guarantee of equal protection; just four years out |
|
of law school, James DeAnda had helped bring about a decisive civil |
|
rights victory; and |
|
WHEREAS, In the years that followed, Judge DeAnda led other |
|
efforts to further Mexican American rights; he successfully argued |
|
cases that resulted in the desegregation of schools in southeastern |
|
Texas, and he joined with others to found the Mexican American Legal |
|
Defense and Educational Fund in 1968 and Texas Rural Legal Aid in |
|
1970; and |
|
WHEREAS, In 1979 President Jimmy Carter appointed him as a |
|
federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District |
|
of Texas, making him only the second person of Mexican heritage to |
|
sit on the federal bench; Judge DeAnda remained on the court until |
|
1992 and was its chief judge for the last four years of his tenure; |
|
and |
|
WHEREAS, Returning to private practice, he joined the law |
|
firm of Solar & Associates in Houston, where he handled civil rights |
|
cases; a revered figure among legal scholars and civil rights |
|
activists, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for |
|
Community Service from The University of Texas School of Law Alumni |
|
Association in 2004; and |
|
WHEREAS, Chief Judge James DeAnda was a courageous advocate |
|
who stepped forth to herald a new and more equitable era of social |
|
justice in the United States, and he established a monumental |
|
legacy of achievement that furthered the rights of Mexican |
|
Americans; in so doing, he brought about greater equality for all |
|
citizens of the United States; now, therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
hereby pay tribute to the life of the Honorable James DeAnda and |
|
extend deepest condolences to the members of his family: to his |
|
wife, Joyce DeAnda; to his son, Lou DeAnda; to his sister, Mary |
|
DeAnda; to his brother, Louis DeAnda; to his stepchildren, Kelly |
|
Martin, Patrick Martin, and Nikki Greenfield; and to his other |
|
relatives and many friends and admirers across the state and |
|
nation; and, be it further |
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
|
Representatives and Senate adjourn this day, they do so in memory of |
|
Chief Judge James DeAnda. |
|
|
Noriega |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anderson |
Gonzalez Toureilles |
Mowery |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brown of Kaufman |
Harper-Brown |
Ortiz, Jr. |
|
|
Brown of Brazos |
Hartnett |
Otto |
|
|
|
|
Callegari |
Hernandez |
Patrick |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Christian |
Hochberg |
Pickett |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cook of Navarro |
Hopson |
Puente |
|
|
Cook of Colorado |
Howard of Fort Bend |
Quintanilla |
|
|
Corte |
Howard of Travis |
Raymond |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Crownover |
Jackson |
Rodriguez |
|
|
|
|
Davis of Harris |
Keffer |
Smith of Tarrant |
|
|
Davis of Dallas |
King of Parker |
Smith of Harris |
|
|
Delisi |
King of Taylor |
Smithee |
|
|
Deshotel |
King of Zavala |
Solomons |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Eissler |
Leibowitz |
Thompson |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Escobar |
Madden |
Van Arsdale |
|
|
Farabee |
Mallory Caraway |
Vaught |
|
|
|
|
Farrar |
Martinez Fischer |
Villarreal |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
|
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.C.R. No. 98 was unanimously adopted by a |
|
rising vote of the House on March 15, 2007. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.C.R. No. 98 was unanimously adopted by a |
|
rising vote of the Senate on April 4, 2007. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
APPROVED: __________________ |
|
Date |
|
|
|
__________________ |
|
Governor |