[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8684-8685]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   TRIBUTE TO FORMER NEVADA SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE E.M. ``AL'' 
                               GUNDERSON

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, Al Gunderson was a paratrooper, a blackjack 
dealer, a sailor and a voracious reader. He was a lawyer, a justice, a 
mentor and a teacher. He was a humanitarian. And he was a loving 
husband to Lupe for 45 years and a wonderful father to Randy. Of all 
the determined leaders I have met in Nevada, no one was tougher than 
Al. No one was funnier. And no one worked harder than he did.
  His wife, Lupe, told me this week about one memory from their time in

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Carson City. A young man came up to her once and asked why he kept 
seeing Al's Jeep at the courthouse at 3 a.m. But everyone knew the 
answer: Al Gunderson worked round the clock. It would be more strange 
not to see his car at the office.
  The man who as chief justice presided for 6 years over the highest 
court in our State believed strongly in the phrase that watches over 
the entryway of the highest court in our Nation: Equal justice under 
law. He dedicated his life in public service to making sure everyone 
got a fair hearing and a just ruling. During his 18 years on the court, 
he steered it away from elitism and shaped it as a forum for everyday 
Nevadans. And if that meant standing up for the little guy, all the 
better.
  He was a staunch advocate for civil rights. He used his passion for 
the law to groom future lawyers and judges as a professor at 
California's Southwestern University. And the same year Al was sworn in 
and joined the Nevada Supreme Court, he established the Nevada Judges 
Foundation to extend to more in our State the opportunity to serve as 
judges, especially in rural communities.
  Al found his way to Nevada by way of Minnesota, where he was born of 
humble means; Nebraska, where he earned his law degree; and Chicago, 
where he began his legal and public service career with the Federal 
Trade Commission. We are fortunate that he did.
  My friend and mentor and our State's former Governor, Mike 
O'Callaghan, used to call Al Gunderson a human being first and an 
outstanding legal mind second. He was right. Al Gunderson brought honor 
not only to the title of justice but also the pursuit of justice. We 
were honored to know him and learn from him.

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