[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 2, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING JUDGE PAUL V. GADOLA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DALE E. KILDEE

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 2, 2009

  Mr. KILDEE. Madam Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to join 
me in paying tribute to Judge Paul V. Gadola. The Greater Flint Branch 
of the American Civil Liberties Union bestowed the 2009 Thomas A. 
Baltus Civil Libertarian of the Year Award upon Judge Gadola at a 
dinner held last Thursday, May 28, in my hometown of Flint Michigan.
  Paul Gadola graduated from Michigan State University in 1951 and 
received his Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Michigan Law 
School in 1953. After serving in the United States Army from 1953 to 
1955, he returned to his home in Flint and started a private practice. 
President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the U.S. District Court for 
the Eastern District of Michigan, the U.S. Senate confirmed his 
appointment in October 1988, and on January 6, 1989 he took office. He 
served in this capacity until his retirement in 2008.
  Judge Gadola is certified as a Diplomat in Civil Trial Advocacy by 
the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a Lifetime Fellow of the American 
Trial Lawyers Foundation, served as an arbitrator for the American 
Arbitration Association, a mediator for the Circuit Courts of Genesee 
and Shiawassee Counties, and is a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar 
Foundation. Judge Gadola is a member of the Executive Board of the 
Federal Bar Association--Eastern District of Michigan Chapter, the 
Board of Directors of the Historical Society for the U.S. District 
Court of Eastern Michigan, the Michigan Supreme Court Historical 
Society, the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies and 
the Advisory Committee of its Michigan Chapter. He is a member of the 
Philadelphia Society, the Economic Club of Detroit, Committee of 
Sponsors of the Flint College and Cultural Development Fund, the Hannah 
Society, and he has served as the President of the Incorporated Society 
of Irish/American Lawyers. As an alumnus of Michigan State University 
he has served the school's President's Club, the Board of Directors of 
the MSU Development Fund, and as a member of Directors of the school's 
Alumni Association. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the 
Mott Community College Foundation.
  Over the years he has served the Urban League of Flint as President, 
the Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation of Genesee County as President, 
the March of Dimes of Genesee County as Chairman, Genesee County Legal 
Aid Society as Vice-President, he has been a Director of the Flint 
Environmental Action Team and the Flint Area Convention and Tourist 
Council. Preceding his time on the bench, Judge Gadola was elected to 
the Board of Trustees of Mott Community College from 1969 to 1989. He 
served as Chair from 1983 to 1989.
  Madam Speaker, Judge Paul Gadola was a founding member of the Flint 
Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union when the organization 
formed in 1963. The American Civil Liberties Union gave this award to 
him because of his hard work on behalf of the right to free 
association, the right to equal protection of the laws, the right to 
free speech, and the right to effective assistance of counsel. I have 
known Judge Gadola for many years and have benefited from his legal 
counsel and sage advice. I ask the House of Representatives to join me 
in congratulating him as he is honored for his work on behalf of our 
civil liberties.

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