[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 124 (Thursday, September 19, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1345-E1346]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING PROFESSOR WILLIAM GORDON McLAIN III

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 19, 2013

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on September 6, 2013, Professor 
William Gordon McLain III lost his 19-month long battle with lung 
cancer. On that day, the world lost a champion for the powerless and a 
brilliant legal mind. Will, as he was known and distinguished from his 
first born son, William G. McLain, IV, was not unaccustomed to battles. 
He confronted his cancer diagnosis with the same ferocity, toughness, 
and wry humor that he exhibited in every fight, especially his lifelong 
battle to make the ideals of equality and justice under the law a 
reality for all.
  Born and raised in McComb, Mississippi, in 1945, Will, an only child, 
lost his father who was also a lawyer, at an early age. But the die had 
been cast--the quest for justice was in his blood. Fueled by memories 
of his father and his lovingly feisty mother, Doris ``Cleo'' McLain, 
Will pursued his undergraduate education at Tulane University in his 
beloved second home, New Orleans, Louisiana. Although he entered the 
legal profession later than most, graduating from the Antioch School of 
Law in 1983 at the age of 38, Will lost little time throwing himself 
behind causes he believed in, no matter how unpopular. Indeed, some 
would say that the less popular an issue of Constitutional justice, 
government excess or fundamental fairness became, the more Will was 
compelled to stand up for it or fight against it. Will surprised many 
of his liberal friends with his dogged defense of an individual's right 
to bear arms under the Second Amendment--but that was him, consistent, 
principled, smart, and especially happy when he could shock folks a 
little. Clarence Darrow liked to call himself the ``Attorney for the 
Damned''--well, in our lifetimes that was Will McLain.
  I first met Will in the late 1980s when he joined the legal team 
assembled by my chief counsel, University of Miami Professor Terry 
Anderson, to represent me in an ongoing impeachment proceeding before 
the U.S. House of Representatives, a body in which I now serve. Will 
quickly became an indispensable member of my defense. He continued 
working behind the scenes providing invaluable strategic advice and 
exhaustive legal research in the federal case that ultimately declared 
that my impeachment and Senate trial were in violation of due process. 
I am told that he found that legal victory and my subsequent election 
to Congress gleefully gratifying. I will be forever grateful for his 
contribution.
  Many others are indebted to Will for his passion to serve the 
disadvantaged and powerless in society. He worked tirelessly--often 
without compensation or recognition--on behalf of death row inmates and 
other criminal defendants who faced trumped up charges or other 
government abuses. He deplored racism and homophobia and provided legal 
counsel to those who were victimized by discrimination. Will was also a 
staunch advocate for the freedom of the press. Together with his 
lifelong friend and colleague, Professor Tom Mack, Will successfully 
represented a journalist against the threat of compelled disclosure of 
a source. Most recently, he also associated with his former law 
student, and then soon to be son-in-law, Stephen Mercer, head of the 
Maryland Public Defender's forensics unit, to devise challenges to 
state and federal practices that allowed the warrantless collection of 
DNA of persons who are not convicted of a crime.
  Will was very disappointed by the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in 
June 2013 that authorized those practices. But he was also encouraged 
that the 5-4 decision united arch-conservative and liberal Justices in 
dissent. In his view, that combination holds promise that someday 
fourth amendment protection will be extended to arrestees and end this 
practice.

[[Page E1346]]

His passion for justice never let up--even in his final months when 
many would have been understandably preoccupied with their own 
condition, he would rail about the NSA and the great civil liberties 
challenges and disappointments of our time.
  The litany of cases and clients Will handled over the years, while 
impressive, are eclipsed by the legion of students he educated and 
inspired. Following Hurricane Katrina, Will co-created and co-taught 
Katrina and Beyond: Disaster Law at the University of the District of 
Columbia's law school. The course included field trips to New Orleans 
where students were exposed first hand to the devastation and human 
suffering left in Katrina's wake. Will's legal expertise was 
multidimensional and superior to most of his peers. But his ability to 
impart knowledge in digestible and accessible terms to his students and 
to motivate them to, not only learn but also, yearn was simply 
unmatched. He was the consummate professor, teaching wherever he found 
an audience. Will made learning fun, but he was not always gentle. He 
had an uncanny mix of southern charm, always greeting women with a peck 
on the wrist, and an unapologetic irreverence, keeping everyone on 
their toes (and sometimes knocked a bit further back than that!) with 
his incorrigible, irascible, withering wit. He was passionate, and as 
many who've worked in these halls know, that comes hand-in-hand with 
being brutally direct and unwilling to suffer fools gladly. In fact, 
Will gladly made fools suffer! He was also old fashioned, drafting his 
briefs by hand on yellow legal pads. He often ``held court'' at the 
Tune Inn, a Capitol Hill institution, where swarms of law students, 
colleagues, and more than a few members of our own Institution would 
parade in and out hungry for the opportunity to gain his insights on 
law, life, and the future.
  Will's future was cut short when in the winter of 2011 he received 
the agonizing diagnosis that he had terminal cancer. Like he did with 
all of his legal battles, Will did not take the diagnosis lightly. As 
he fought through chemo treatments that weakened his body, he altered 
his routine very little. He continued to teach the students he loved. 
He read the Washington Post and the New York Times daily. He played Gin 
Rummy at the Tune Inn sipping vodka and watched the Saints and Redskins 
on Sundays with his young grandson, Sam, with whom he enjoyed a special 
relationship. As his body grew weary, Will hosted his own farewell 
party held in the backyard of what would become his final home in 
Rockville, Maryland. Over one hundred people attended, including Will's 
big, complicated, extended family--a world of people from all walks of 
life brought together by their shared love and admiration of Will. That 
was the thing about Will--he mattered to the people whose lives he 
touched, whether they loved him, grudgingly respected him, or found him 
simply infuriating (but irresistibly so).
  Will was elated when his former student, Stephen Mercer proposed 
marriage to Will's oldest son, William. He never thought he would see 
the day when same-sex marriage would be a legal reality for his first 
born. He simply willed himself to find the strength to see that day. 
And he did. Will was alert, lucid and enthusiastic at the wedding, just 
weeks ago. Although he had become very frail, he independently raised a 
glass to toast their union. In his final days, Will spoke sporadically, 
clutched his New York Times, gripped the hands of his family and 
friends, and always provided a kiss followed by the words, ``I love 
you.'' Will passed away five days after the wedding he never thought 
possible. He was surrounded by the three most important people in his 
life--his now son-in-law, Stephen, his oldest son, William, and his 
youngest son, Pierce.
  Will McLain lived his life with vigor, commitment and generosity of 
mind, heart and spirit. On September 6, 2013, the world lost an unsung 
legal giant. I lost a treasured friend. And his family and close 
personal friends lost the center of their universe.
  I am honored to rise today to salute his memory and leave this 
permanent record in the annals of our nation of the great man who was 
Will McLain.

                          ____________________