[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 25, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S6153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REMEMBERING JUSTICE REVIUS ORTIQUE

 Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, on June 22, our Nation lost a 
great judge and lawyer, civil rights champion, and public servant. 
Justice Revius Ortique, the first African-American justice elected to 
the Louisiana Supreme Court, has died at 84.
  I met Justice Ortique when we served together in the 1970s on the 
board of the Legal Services Corporation, and much later in his career, 
Justice Ortique was appointed by my husband to serve as alternate 
delegate to the United Nations.
  Justice Ortique had an illustrious career. In World War II, he served 
as an officer in the Pacific Theater and after earning his law degree 
in 1956, set up a legal practice at the vanguard of the civil rights 
movement. He helped to successfully win equal pay for Black employees 
in several cases, to integrate State labor unions, and served five 
terms as president of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans. Justice 
Ortique not only worked to achieve racial equality but also to achieve 
racial harmony and served three terms as president of the New Orleans 
Community Relations Council. He negotiated for the Black community with 
White civic leaders helping to bring about the peaceful desegregation 
of lunch counters, bathrooms, and other public facilities in New 
Orleans before the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 
would guarantee these rights.
  Justice Ortique was a courtly figure with a mild manner that belied 
his courage, convictions, and ability to effect change. I am proud to 
have known him, and my thoughts and prayers are with his wife Miriam, 
his daughter Rhesa, and all those whose lives were made better because 
of his leadership.

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