SRES 442 ATSCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Commemorating the life of A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

February 4, 2008

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, and Mr. LEAHY) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed toCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Commemorating the life of A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas the late A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., dedicated his life to eliminating racial barriers in the society of the United States;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, having grown up during the Great Depression and the era of Jim Crow laws, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., overcame a childhood marked by economic hardship and segregation;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, having personally experienced the effects of racism, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., sought an education and career in law during which he fought institutionalized racism in the United States judicial system;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., began his legal career as a law clerk to Justice Curtis Bok of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and soon became the youngest and first African-American Assistant District Attorney in the city of Philadelphia;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, in 1954, when African Americans were largely excluded from professional opportunities, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., became a founding member of Norris, Schmidt, Green, Harris, & Higginbotham, the first African-American law firm in Philadelphia;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, while still in private practice, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., served as Special Deputy Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Special Hearing Officer in the Department of Justice, President of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a member of the Executive Board of the Governor's Committee of One Hundred for Better Education, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Fair Employment Practices Commission, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission, and a member of the board of directors for various legal, political, and nonprofit organizations within Pennsylvania;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, having been appointed by President John Fitzgerald Kennedy to the Federal Trade Commission in 1962, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., became not only the first African American to serve on a Federal regulatory commission but also the youngest person to be named as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, having recognized A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.'s gifts as both a lawyer and a public servant, both President Kennedy and President Lyndon Baines Johnson nominated A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., as a Federal judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, upon confirmation as a Federal judge at the age of 35, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., became the youngest person appointed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and one of the youngest ever appointed to a Federal bench;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, in his role as a Federal judge, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., served as a mentor to numerous young attorneys, affording them the opportunity to gain critical exposure to the legal profession;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., played an extraordinary role in the civil rights movement as an advisor to President Johnson after the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and as a member of the National Commission on Causes and Prevention of Violence;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, as the first African-American member of the Yale University Board of Trustees, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., successfully fought to allow women to enroll as undergraduates in Yale College;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, in 1977, President Jimmy Carter acknowledged A. Leon Higginbotham Jr.'s work as both a judge and a scholar and appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr,. sat on the Court of Appeals for 16 years and served as Chief Judge from 1989 until 1991 and as Senior Judge through the completion of his public career in 1993;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, through his rulings and subsequent writing, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., vigorously fought racial bias and prejudice;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, upon retirement from the bench, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., became the Public Service Jurisprudence Professor at Harvard University, dedicating the remainder of his life to educating and empowering future generations to continue the pursuit of equal justice under the law;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., served as the chairman of an American Bar Association panel that in 1993 issued the landmark report `America's Children at Risk: A National Agenda for Legal Action', studying the status of children in the society and legal system of the United States;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, in 1993, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., served as counsel to the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, & Garrison, where he litigated a host of pro bono matters, including voting rights in Louisiana, and advocated free elections in South Africa;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., brought his passion for equal justice into the international arena as a consultant to the President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, on the formation of the Constitution of South Africa, and as an advocate for grass roots democracy education in South Africa;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, in 1995, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., continued his commitment to public service when appointed by President William Jefferson Clinton to the United States Commission on Civil Rights;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, as an author and contributor to more than 100 publications and academic works, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., left a legacy as a renowned scholar of racial and social justice issues in the United States;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.'s critically acclaimed historical works, including `In the Matter of Color: The Colonial Period', published in 1978, and `Shades of Freedom: Racial Politics and Presumptions in the American Legal Process', published in 1996, continue to provide invaluable insight into the history of race relations in the United States;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas, as a sought-after public speaker, after his retirement A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., delivered more than 100 speeches annually to motivate the next generation of people in the United States to continue the fight for racial justice;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., received numerous honors and awards during his lifetime, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Spingarn Medal, the American Civil Liberties Union Medal, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association, America's Ten Outstanding Young Men of 1963 from the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce, and honorary degrees from more than 60 universities; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Whereas A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.'s work as an esteemed jurist, scholar, and public servant helped transform the Nation's perception of race: Now, therefore, be itCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Resolved, That the Senate--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) commemorates the life of the late A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) salutes the lasting legacy of A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.'s achievements; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) encourages the continued pursuit of A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.'s vision of eliminating racial prejudice from all aspects of our society.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink