[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 271 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 271

 Honoring the life and accomplishments of Judge Constance Baker Motley 
and recognizing her as a symbol of hope and inspiration for all men and 
                                 women.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 20, 2005

Mr. Meeks of New York (for himself, Mr. Rangel, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Ms. 
Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. Norton, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Mr. 
Conyers, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Watt, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Scott of 
Georgia, Mr. Filner, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, 
    Mr. Bishop of Georgia, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Honoring the life and accomplishments of Judge Constance Baker Motley 
and recognizing her as a symbol of hope and inspiration for all men and 
                                 women.

Whereas Constance Baker Motley died from congestive heart failure on September 
        28, 2005, at age 84;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley was born on September 14, 1921, in New Haven, 
        Connecticut;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley earned a B.A. degree in economics from New York 
        University and a law degree from Columbia Law School;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley volunteered for the NAACP Legal Defense and 
        Educational Fund, and, in 1945, she was hired as a law clerk for the 
        NAACP's chief counsel, Thurgood Marshall;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley served as a civil rights lawyer in nearly every 
        landmark civil rights case for two decades;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley handled housing cases for a civil rights group 
        working to eliminate barriers preventing blacks from settling in white 
        neighborhoods;
Whereas, from 1945 to 1964, Constance Baker Motley worked on major school 
        segregation cases, including Brown v. Board of Education;
Whereas, while serving as associate counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense and 
        Educational Fund, Constance Baker Motley won nine out of the ten civil 
        rights cases she argued before the Supreme Court, including a victory in 
        1962, when the Supreme Court upheld James Meredith's right to be 
        admitted to the University of Mississippi;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley was instrumental in representing blacks seeking 
        admission to University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of 
        Alabama, University of Mississippi, and Clemson College in South 
        Carolina;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley won cases that ended segregation in Memphis, 
        Tennessee, and Birmingham, Alabama;
Whereas, when the local school board in Birmingham, Alabama, expelled 1000 
        students for demonstrating, Constance Baker Motley successfully argued 
        for the students' reinstatement;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley represented the ``Freedom Riders'', who rode 
        buses to test the application of the Supreme Court decision prohibiting 
        segregation in interstate transportation;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley visited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in jail and 
        successfully represented him in his legal fight for the right to march 
        in Georgia;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley spent a night under armed guard with Medgar 
        Evers, a civil rights leader who was later murdered;
Whereas, in 1966, President Johnson appointed Constance Baker Motley to the 
        United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, 
        making her the first black woman to be appointed as a Federal judge;
Whereas, in 1982, Constance Baker Motley was elevated to Chief Judge, and, in 
        1986, she was certified as a senior judge;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley served as a Federal judge for the United States 
        District Court for the Southern District of New York for nearly 40 
        years;
Whereas Constance Baker Motley was the first black woman to serve in the New 
        York State Senate; and
Whereas, in 1965, Constance Baker Motley was the first black woman to be 
        appointed as Manhattan Borough President, where she established a 
        program to revitalize Harlem and East Harlem, secured $700,000 for 
        underprivileged areas of the city, and worked to integrate the public 
        schools system: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) honors the extraordinary life and accomplishments of 
        Judge Constance Baker Motley; and
            (2) recognizes her as a symbol of hope and inspiration for 
        all men and women.
                                 <all>