[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S1214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         TRIBUTE TO GEORGE PUGH

 Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate 
Professor George Pugh for his distinguished legal career and 
outstanding tenure as an educator at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at 
Louisiana State University LSU. His dedication to the law, along with 
his many accomplishments and military career, is exceptionally 
impressive and displays his commitment to his community and fellow 
American.
  Pugh was born on Bayou Lafourche in 1925 and in 1942 began his 
studies at LSU. In the midst of World War II, he volunteered for 
military service and was deployed to France. After the war, he returned 
to LSU after three semesters, he enrolled in LSU Law School. He earned 
his juris doctor in 1950 and went on to Yale Law School to earn his 
doctorate of juridical science in 1952. Later that year, he joined the 
LSU Law School faculty as an assistant professor.
  Pugh served 2 years on the Judicial Council as the State's first 
judicial administrator for the Louisiana Supreme Court. He is known as 
the ``intellectual father'' of the Louisiana Code of Evidence, as he 
and his fellow co-reporters confected the Code of Evidence for the 
Louisiana State Law Institute, using the Federal Rules of Evidence as 
its model. It would be enacted into state law in 1998 and serve as an 
invaluable resource for judges, district attorneys, and other legal 
professionals. In all, he has provided 43 years of instruction to 
almost three generations of students.
  Pugh also served as a member of the Baton Rouge, LA, and American Bar 
Associations, chairing several committees. He was a member of the 
American Law Institute and received several invitations to teach at law 
schools in America and around the globe. At LSU, he received the 
``Hub'' Cotton Faculty Excellence Award and an honorary doctorate of 
law from the University of Aix-Marseille III in France, was named a 
Sterling Fellow at Yale Law School, and was listed in ``Who's Who in 
America.'' Upon retiring in 1994, the Louisiana Law Review dedicated 
its January publication to Professor Pugh, as he had been its longtime 
editor and associate editor.
  I cannot congratulate Professor George Pugh without mentioning his 
late wife of 60 years, Jean Hemphill. Together, they founded the George 
W. and Jean H. Pugh Institute for Justice in 1998, working to promote 
justice for individuals in the administration of criminal and civil 
justice systems in Louisiana and around the world.
  Professor Pugh's compilation of the Louisiana Code of Evidence, 
distinguished teaching career, and contributions to the legal system of 
Louisiana show the extent to which he has used his God-given talents to 
make the world a better place. His incredible legal career and many 
awards speak volumes to who he is as a Louisianan and an American.
  Professor Pugh, you have made our State and our Nation proud.

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