[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 21620-21621]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING JUDGE HORACE WHEATLEY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 28, 2005

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life 
and achievements of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Horace Wheatley 
of Oakland, California. Serving Alameda County on the bench for almost 
25 years, Judge Wheatley has been known

[[Page 21621]]

throughout his career for his unfaltering sense of social justice, and 
for his unwavering commitment to our young people. Today our community 
comes together to celebrate his career and achievements on the occasion 
of his retirement in Oakland, California.
  Judge Wheatley was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and raised in San 
Francisco's historic Fillmore district. After graduating from the 
``old'' Lowell High School in 1957, he went to College of the Pacific, 
now known as University of the Pacific, later transferring to Howard 
University in Washington, DC, where he continued his record as a 
champion debater. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 had not yet been enacted 
during his time in college, making some of the challenges he faced in 
school extend far beyond the realm of academics. When he competed in 
the National Collegiate Debate Tournament at the University of Oklahoma 
in 1961, the open and unabated racial discrimination that prevailed in 
some parts of the country was so severe that the southern colleges who 
were competing were instructed to walk out of any round in which an 
African American was competing. Undeterred, Judge Wheatley went on not 
only to win the tournament, but to be awarded the Pi Kappa Delta gold 
debate key for his outstanding performance. Following his studies at 
Howard, Judge Wheatley returned to the University of the Pacific in 
1960, where he graduated with a degree in Sociology and Psychology.
  Following a successful law school career at Willamette University in 
Oregon, where he won the school's Moot Court Competition and served as 
a teaching assistant before earning his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, 
Judge Wheatley began serving as Deputy Attorney General for the State 
of California in 1965. He later went into private practice in Oakland, 
where he engaged in general litigation practice and was one of the lead 
attorneys in a precedent-setting class-action lawsuit against the 
savings and loan industry. In 1972, he became General Counsel for the 
California Teachers Association, representing the organization's 
300,000 members in several noteworthy cases which resulted in 
precedent-setting rulings in favor of public school teachers' rights 
and benefits.
  Judge Wheatley was appointed as a Judge of the Alameda County 
Municipal Court on July 1, 1981 by California Governor Edmond G. 
``Jerry'' Brown, Jr., and was elevated to the Alameda County Superior 
Court when all of the courts in Alameda County were unified in 1998. 
Known for his tendency to give many young defendants the choice to ``Go 
to school or go to jail,'' Judge Wheatley's career on the bench has 
been marked by his steadfast commitment to serving the young people in 
our community who are most in need of guidance.
  Judge Wheatley's outstanding dedication and accomplishments have not 
only impacted countless young lives, but have also been recognized by a 
number of the professional organizations of which he is a member. He 
has not only been inducted into the Charles Houston Bar Association's 
Hall of Fame, but has also received its ``Judicial Excellence Award.'' 
In addition, he received the Bernard S. Jefferson Award from the 
California Association of Black Lawyers as its Judge of the Year in 
2001, and has also been named the Lend-A-Hand Foundation's ``Man of the 
Year.'' This past August, he was inducted into the National Bar 
Association's Hall of Fame in recognition of having practiced law for 
over 40 years and made significant contributions to the cause of 
justice. In addition, he was also given the A. Leon Higginbotham 
Memorial Award by the Young Lawyers Division of the National Bar 
Association in recognition of his intellectual accomplishments, 
professional achievements and community contributions.
  Today Judge Wheatley's family, friends and colleagues come together 
to celebrate the impact of his life and work not only on the 
innumerable lives, particularly young lives, he has touched here in 
Alameda County, but the lasting effects his rulings and his commitment 
to true justice have had and will continue to have on our legal system. 
On behalf of the 9th Congressional District of California, I salute and 
thank Judge Horace Wheatley for his invaluable contributions to the 
people of Alameda County, the 9th Congressional District, the State of 
California and our entire country.

                          ____________________