[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 442 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 442

          Commemorating the life of A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 4, 2008

   Mr. Casey (for himself, Mr. Specter, and Mr. Leahy) submitted the 
        following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
          Commemorating the life of A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.

Whereas the late A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., dedicated his life to eliminating 
        racial barriers in the society of the United States;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
Whereas, through his rulings and subsequent writing, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., 
        vigorously fought racial bias and prejudice;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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; and
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 it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commemorates the life of the late A. Leon Higginbotham, 
        Jr.;
            (2) salutes the lasting legacy of A. Leon Higginbotham, 
        Jr.'s achievements; and
            (3) encourages the continued pursuit of A. Leon 
        Higginbotham, Jr.'s vision of eliminating racial prejudice from 
        all aspects of our society.
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