The First African American Justice in the US Supreme Court - Research Paper Example

?Thurgood Marshall INTRODUCTION Thurgood Marshall was the first African American Justice in the US Supreme Court. Till he is respected nationwide for his numerous contributions to the civil rights movement of the US. He was born on 2nd of July in the year 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. Thurgood was named Thoroughgood Marshall by his parents after his great-grandfather who was a former slave in the Civil War for Union Army (United States Postal Service, “Thurgood Marshall”). He changed his name later to Thurgood. His father, William Canfield Marshall was a railroad porter and a chief steward in a club of white people of America. Thurgood’s mother, Norma Arica Marshall was a schoolteacher and also the first black woman to graduate from the Colombia Teacher’s College, New York. At the early age of six, he started his schooling in the Douglas High School. He was always known as a B grade average student in his entire school life. In the year 1925, he went to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Thurgood received his law education from the Howard University Law School in Washington D.C. (Pena, “Thurgood Marshall”). It was also said that by the age of 16, Thurgood had memorized most of the Constitutions of the US, which signified his potentialities to become an influential Justice of the US Supreme Court (United States Postal Service, “Thurgood Marshall”). THESIS STATEMENT The thesis intends to present a biographic study of the early life, initial career and later professional life of Thurgood, the first African-American Justice of the US Supreme Court. The focus of the thesis also emphasizes the contributions of the Justice in the formation of the Civil Rights as included in the US Constitution and his entire journey throughout. To be precise, a detailed study of his life including his family background and his beginning of the career as a judge has been covered in the thesis. NOMINATION OF THE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT Initially, after the completion of his studies in the Howard University Law School, he became the Chief Counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Later, in 1954, he was appointed in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by John F. Kennedy. Also in the year 1965, he was engaged in the Office of the US Solicitor General being elected by the President Lyndon Johnson. It is worth mentioning in this context that Thurgood Marshall had already won 14 cases out of 19 on behalf of the government in the Supreme Court, before his nomination in the Supreme Court in the year 1967 (Friedman 1-4). It was President Lyndon Johnson who had nominated Thurgood for the designation of Justice in the US Supreme Court. Thurgood was nominated to succeed Associate Justice Tom C. Clark after his retirement. He was appointed to the US Court of Appeals in the early 1961, but due to many controversies raised the Southern senators, his nomination to the Supreme Court judge was not confirmed. The controversial issues were majorly reported as related to racial inequality, wherein the debate involved the whites, commonly as opposers to the nomination of Thurgood and the non-whites, as defenders. Finally in the month of July 1967, Thurgood was again nominated for the Supreme Court. Thurgood was confirmed with 69 votes in his favor on August 30th in the year 1967. After two days of the event, Thurgood Marshall was handed over with the position by Chief Justice Earl Warren and thus, became the first African American judge of the Supreme Court (A&E Television Networks, “Thurgood Marshall appointed to Supreme Court”). President Johnson had once stated that Thurgood had already acquired his significant position in the history of the US and the country will be blessed by his services in the court, which after his 10th death anniversary also remains an undisputable truth. After his confirmation as a Justice in the US Supreme Court, he became one of the major supporters to the legitimate rights of labor, development of women in every dimension and racial equalities. He also emphasized making the rights of freedom wider for the common people. He was a non-supporter of many capital punishments then practiced in the court, such as the punishment of death sentence. Undoubtedly, Thurgood Marshall possessed many qualities, which made him eligible as a nominee of the Supreme Court judge. His ideology remained focused on the Civil Rights Act of the US Constitution, which, according to him, required massive amendments. Prior to the nomination, he had served as a counsel for the NAACP for 21 years, US Court of Appeals for 4 years and had also served as a Solicitor General in the country, which added on to his efficient skills after being confirmed as a Justice in the US Supreme Court. To be noted in this context, before his nomination, Thurgood had already won many cases in the US Supreme Court, which became one of the distinct reasons behind his nomination and corresponding confirmation (Smelcer 6-8). His interests in amending the Civil Rights of the US Constitution grew when he was completing his studies in the law school, where Thurgood observed that the black people were allowed to work as a lawyer but were exempted from the eligibility criteria to become the member of the American Bar Association. The Association only included the white citizens of the US. As observed in the aforesaid points, there was a rise of against parties to the decision of nomination of Thurgood Marshall as a Supreme Court nominee, which also linked to the same practice of barricading black people to secure such a high position in the US legislative rule. At this moment the American Bar Association rated Thurgood as highly acceptable for the nomination, which allegedly left even the White House in shock (Smelcer 6-8). Through his services, Justice Thurgood Marshall achieved the position of the first African-American judge of the US Supreme Court. As affirmed in the above discussion, Thurgood Marshall acquired the position by his contributions to the Constitution of the country rather than any kind of special relationship with the President Lyndon Johnson, which, in the then society, was considered to be essential in order to secure such a high position. Also, he was considered as best fitted for the nomination during that time by the American Bar Association, precisely on the basis of his unparallel professional skills and commitment to the betterment of the nation and it people (Smelcer 6-8). EVENTS SURROUNDING THURGOOD MARSHALL’S CONFIRMATION IN THE U.S SENATE Thurgood had to face a lot of challenges as a nominee for the position of a Justice in the US Supreme Court. With the declaration of his nomination for the position of a Justice, the public reaction was quite favorable although there were certain opposing parties to the decision reported. The segregationists in the Southern Senates were strictly against the nomination of Thurgood at that time owing to his racial background. In order to prohibit his nomination to the position, allegations of various sorts were brought against him, such as his alleged involvement in the communist party and others. However, at the end, all the allegations were proved to be untrue and unjust being based on racial discrimination practices (Dulcinea Media, “On This Day: Thurgood Marshall Confirmed as First African-American Supreme Court Justice”). During the year 1967, when Thurgood was confirmed for the position, the ruling party of the Senate was the Democrats of the 90th Congress Party (United States Senate, “Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present”). This period of the 90th Congress consisted of a federal government in the US, which provided the residents with the chance of voting to the electors selected by the President (United States Senate, “Constitution of the United States”). Thurgood had carried 24 years of career in the federal government prevailing during the period. In his tenure as the US Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood brought many significant changes in the US Civil Rights Constitution and the process of ruling cases. Prior to his confirmation, the hearings of Civil Rights in the US Supreme Court were brief and very often used to be ‘non-confrontational’ in nature. Statistical reports dating back then revealed that an average of only 260 comments were made in the hearings of Civil Rights cases, during the period 1939-1965. However, the figure rose to 1074 statements in the year 1967 that certainly changed the qualitative aspect of the course of hearing traditionally being followed in the US Supreme Court (Collins and Ringhand 17-18). Irrespective of nationwide racial debates, the ruling party of that time, which was the Congress led by President Lyndon Johnson, supported the nomination of Thurgood as the judge of the Supreme Court. On the other side, the Southern segregationists of the Senate were strictly in the opposition of Thurgood’s notion to a position from where he could influence the US Constitution. However, the President played a major role in trying to convince major proportion of the leaders of the Southern Senate to overlook racial dissimilarities and favor the nomination of the Supreme Court judge paying due attention to the developmental needs of the country (Pena, “Thurgood Marshall”). According to the report, the total vote received by Thurgood Marshall was 69-11. Among these total votes, those casted by the Senate Judiciary Committee or that of the President was 51 (Rutkus and Bearden 34-35). After a long run fight for the position, Thurgood Marshall took over the seat as the judge of the Supreme Court on October 2nd, 1967. He was confirmed to serve for the court till 1991, apart from the retirement because of any health problems (Pena, “Thurgood Marshall”). CONCLUSION Through the discussion conducted above, elaborating on the life-time achievements of the Justice of US Supreme Court, it can apparently be observed that Thurgood Marshall’s contribution to the US Constitution was not only a revolution in itself, but his life has also been an inspiration to those who aim at bringing substantial changes and becoming a successful individual standing upon their determined principles. It was owing to his contributions that Thurgood was titled as Mr. Civil Rights by the end of the year 1955 (Pena, “Thurgood Marshall”). Until his death in the year 1991, Thurgood had significantly contributed towards the overall development of the society in almost every dimension, including the education sector, the labor rights and gender as well as racial equalities. He had a strong belief that the method of achieving change was through the legal system and the best place to achieve his aim was the court for which, he always used to say that all the actions must be carried on in a legal manner (Pena, “Thurgood Marshall”). Works Cited Collins, Paul M and Ringhand, Lori A. The Institutionalization of Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings. Chicago, 2013. Print. “Thurgood Marshall appointed to Supreme Court”. A&E Television Networks, 2013. Web. 21 October. 2013. “On This Day: Thurgood Marshall Confirmed as First African-American Supreme Court Justice”. Dulcinea Media, 2013. Web. 21 October. 2013. Friedman, Michael Jay. The Legacy of Thurgood Marshall. United States, No Date. Print. Pena, Isela. “Thurgood Marshall”. 4th Annual Summer History Seminar, 2009. Web. 21 October. 2013. Rutkus, Denis Steven and Bearden, Maureen. Supreme Court Nominations, 1789-2000: Actions by the Senate, the Judiciary Committee, and the President. United States, 2009. Print. Smelcer, Susan Navarro. Supreme Court Justices: Demographic Characteristics, Professional Experience, and Legal Education. United States, 2009. Print. “Thurgood Marshall”. United States Postal Service, 2003. Web. 21 October. 2013. “Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present”. United States Senate, No Date. Web. 21 October. 2013. “Constitution of the United States”. United States Senate, No Date. Web. 21 October. 2013. Read More