Transcripts For CSPAN2 Justice 20240702 : vimarsana.com

We are doing our part so its a little easier to do yours. Discussing the Civil Rights Movement on an event marking the 70th anniversary of the brown v board of education decision. The discussion was hosted by Supreme Court Historical Society as a part of their National Heritage lecture series. It runs about an hour. Are we good . Grade. Good evening, everyone. Im the treasurer of the Supreme Court Historical Society. I actually stayed in this room with some frequency but im usually faced in that direction so its a nice change of pace to be looking out there. I am asked to remind everyone please turn off all cell phones, tablets, apple watches even if they are in silent mode they can cause interference with the sound system so appreciate your assistance. This has been a long time coming. We began in 1991 with Justice Kennedy talking about the Court Packing plant and then the privilege of doing it again in 2018 to celebrate justice marshalls 50th anniversary on the court, so its fitting that we are here once again after the pandemic. Its nice to be back in the courtroom for the 70th anniversary. At the White House Historical association into the u. S. Capital society and we appreciate very much our partnership in that end ever. Id like to express the societies gratitude this evening to Justice Ketanji brown jackson. This is the first event we had the privilege of having her participate with the society and shes doing double duty tonight. First she will be a host and also participant. After the judge speaks, she will join in conversation to discuss. As i suspect you all know it is a pretty time for the justices of the court, so we thank her for taking the time away from her many duties and we are honored by her presence. It is cliche to say that if someone needs no introduction, but its absolutely true in this context nonetheless my job is to introduce so i will fulfill my responsibilities. She was born in washington, d. C. On september 14, 1970. Its interesting that also as the same date, not the exact date, but the same day that the justice was born and most of you probably know she was the first black woman to argue in the United States Supreme Court, first black Federal District judge and argued ten cases in the Supreme Court and 19 of them and a record like im nowhere near. Obviously she played a significant role in the litigation with Thurgood Marshall. Justice jackson grew up in Miami Florida and attended private schools and graduated from Harvard Radcliffe graduated in 96 and after law school its become more the tradition. You get to Steven Breyer here at the court and in addition to the professional experience in private practice she had other forms of Public Service and worked in the Sentencing Commission for three years and returned to the commission in 2010. She served on the u. S. District court from 2013 to 2021 and President Biden appointed her to the dc circuit in 2021. Long enough to get a cup of coffee basically and then was nominated to the Supreme Court and she was confirmed in 2022 and took the oath of office 2022. I am honored and grateful. Thank you for being here this evening. Thank you all very much for that kind introduction and for the invitation to be with you this evening. My colleague and i support the important work of the Historical Society and of the work that the society is doing to preserve the court, the constitution and the federal judiciary to expand Educational Outreach to the public about the Supreme Courts history. It is a pleasure to host the program this evening here. Tonights lecture and conversation as you heard comes just days after the 70th anniversary of the courts decision in brown v board of education. Given the history it is quite meaningful for us to be in the courtroom tonight to take part in the commemoration of brown. In a few moments we will have the privilege of hearing how he resides in the same courthouse in Charleston South Carolina where the judge once served. You will learn a great deal about him tonight. Judge richard is a native of South Carolina and grandson of russian and polish and jewish immigrants. He is a graduate of Duke University and the Duke University school of law. He practiced law in columbia South Carolina for 30 years specializing in complex civil litigation before president obama nominated him as he was district judge and he was confirmed by the senate by unanimous consent in august of 2010. Shortly after the confirmation, he discovered that his maternal grandparents had been sworn in as american citizens in the courtrooms to which he was assigned. A fact that he has shared with naturalization ceremonies. Hes presided in the federal courthouse since then and has handled a number of significant cases including the 2017 trial who killed nine people attending a wednesday bible study out a methodist church. He is the author of numerous articles and books with a particular focus on american legal history. With his wife, who is here with us tonight, a retired historian the author of in pursuit of the tree of life, a history of the early columbia South Carolina. His most recent book from which tonights talk is drawn is an example of courage, the blinding of sergeant and the awakening of president harry truman and judge. Its been referred to by the New York Times is riveting, remarkable. By professor Henry Louis Gates as a timely book a monumental achievement. They have two sons both of whom are with us tonight, richie who practices law in charleston and joseph graduated yesterday from the law school. I could go on but i wont because like you, im anxious to hear from my friends, so please join me in welcoming george gurgle. [applause] thank you Justice Jackson for that kind introduction. We have been, initially we were sort of reconstructing our relationship. Ive been confirmed about a year. Justice jackson was on the Sentencing Commission nominated for the district court, but not yet confirmed. We were at a Sentencing Commission conference and had wonderful conversations and we had been friends and colleagues since, so we are so proud of her and im truly honored to be here with her on this event. December 9, 1952, Thurgood Marshall, the legendary chief counsel of the naacp stepped up to the podium in this courtroom and the argument the Supreme Courts longstanding president of Plessy V Ferguson should be overturned. He was followed by john w davis himself a living legend. They argued that he remains good law. The two titans met at the crossroads of history with the outcome of this historic case to define what type of nation america would be. The stakes were huge with major portions of america remaining rigidly segregated in which many africanamerican citizens lived in a twilight world between slavery and freedom. Would this country live up to its promise of equal justice guaranteed by the american constitution . Then he would assume the case for this momentous argument between Thurgood Marshall and john w davis was brown v board of education. That assumption would be wrong. The case argued that day and continued into the next day involved a challenge to the racially segregated Public School system of claritin county South Carolina. The case would later be consolidated with three others under the title brown v board of education. Thurgood marshall argued the briggs case exclusively in the first round of arguments in 1952. Believing it was the most important of the School Segregation cases pending on the Supreme Courts dockets. The first case that was filed where the groundbreaking evidence of the studies was offered and the only case in which a dissent had been filed asserting that plessy should be overturned, that dissent by the district judge of charleston included in all government mandated Public School segregation violated the equal protection of the 14th amendment and was unconstitutional. When the Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision may 17, 1954, the standard was the centerpiece of what is regarded as the most important case in American History. It is altogether fitting that in this Program Honoring the 70th anniversary of the decision we turn our attention to the case into the remarkable dissent which helped this country on thai the knot of jim crow. It should be noted that the issue onto the docket of the Supreme Court did not to simply begin with the filing of the suit were the citizens petition that made the simple request of the black children of the claritin School District asked to ride the bus just like white children. It was a long forgotten incident of racial violence inflicted on the returning africanamerican world war ii veteran that would set off a cascading series of events leading to the eventful day of 1952 when Thurgood Marshall stepped up to the podium in this courtroom to argue Plessy V Ferguson should be overturned. As world war ii came to an end, 900,000 africanamericans, most from the south. Returning the veterans expected more respectful treatment once they returned. Instead of the old practices of the disenfranchised segregation persisted in returning veterans who resisted acquiescence to the customs were often viewed as a threat to the racial status quo. The returning africanamerican veterans wanted their own new deal. Late in the afternoon february 12, 1946, Sergeant Isaac watered, a decorated soldier boarded a Greyhound Bus in georgia after discharging hours earlier from camp gordon and was traveling to columbia South Carolina been known to his hometown of winnsboro where he was the rendezvous with his wife after several years of subrogation occasioned by his for service. He struck an impressive figure in his uniform with sergeant stripes on his soldiers and battlefield decorations on his chest. During one of the frequent stops along the way, he approached the white bus driver and asked if he could step off the bus at the next stop to relieve himself. At that time interstate buses did not have restrooms and greyhound drivers were instructed to accommodate such requests by their passengers. Instead the bus driver snapped at watered. I aint got time to wait and ordered him to return to his seat at the back of the bus. To the apparent astonishment of the bus driver, watered snapped back telling the driver talk to me like im talking to you. I am a man just like you. The stunned bus driver told watered to go ahead but at the next stop in South Carolina the bus driver now no longer concerned with staying on schedule d part of his bus in search of a Police Officer to have ordered removed from the bus and arrested. Watered soon found himself confronted by the police chief of bates berg who responded to woodards effort to explain himself and they escorted him off to the town jail. On the way, woodard was repeatedly beaten with a blackjack and ultimately driving the end of the baton into both of his eyes. The sergeant was then thrown in a semi conscious state into a jail cell for the night. When he awoke the next morning he realized he could not see. Later that day, woodard was transferred to the Veterans Hospital in columbia where he was determined to be irreversibly blinded. Accounts of the woodard beating and blinding were reported in the black press and received nationwide attention when orson welles focused on the incident in his Weekly National Radio Program on abc radio over four successive weeks. Mass meetings were soon organized and black communities across the nation protests his treatment. Meanwhile other black veterans returning to their homes in the rural south confronted other incidents of racial violence including racially inspired murders. No state prosecuted those involved in any. On september 1946 a delegation n of civil rights leaders met with president truman at the white house. A deeply distressed by this wave of racial violence prior to the meeting, trumans staff advised him to respond and theres little he could do to address these. Civil rights leaders urged him to Call Congress back into a special session to address the spreading violence. He expressed sympathy but there was little he could do because it wasnt public support for the civil rights legislation. Leading the group was water by the executive secretary of the naacp and one of the most loyal and prominent supporters in the civil rights community. It was apparent that the president did not appreciate the gravity of the situation. He changed the discussion by sharing in detail the blinding of isaac ketanji. As the tragic story unfolded, he sat riveted and became agitated with the idea that a uniformed decorated american soldier had been so cruelly treated. Abandoning the advice of his staff, he said my god i had no idea that it was as terrible as that. Weve got to do something. At the following day he wrote his attorney general and shared with him the story of the blinding noting that the Police Officer deliberately put out the sergeants eyes. Truman made it clear that the time for federal action had now arrived. Three Business Days after president trumans letter arrived at the department of justice the attorney general made the unprecedented announcement that the department of justice would prosecute the police chief for the deprivation of the civil rights of isaac woodard. For violating the civil rights of a black citizen in the deep south they face daunting challenges. Jury rosters were drawn from voter lists and africanamericans were almost entirely disenfranchised. Allwhite juries and grand juries were generally hostile to any civil rights claims and prosecutors wanted nothing to do with civil rights cases. Indeed, a decision by the Justice Department to charge the police chief with a misdemeanor is because it was doubted that he South Carolina federal grand jury would return an indictment. Is the eighth generation charlestonian. And his father, and his father a confederate veteran. Judge was initially skeptical of the several prosecutions. When the blinded sergeant took the stand detailed his vicious beating at the hands of the chief, judge or wearing a new a grave wrong had been done. He was equally aware his all white jury it would not convict the obviously culpable officer. He was right 28 minutes after deliberation commence the jury announce the acquittal of linwood shawl. Shawl supporters cheered his acquittal notice judge warings a wife, elizabeth who attended the trial left the back of the courtroom in tears. Judge joined his wife later that evening both were traumatized by the trial over which you just presided. The trout force the judge and his wife to stare directly into the southern racial abyss of youthat would forever transform both of them. Later described the trial as his personal baptism of fire. It wiped baptism they returned home to charleston which was held in columbia resolved to learn more about issues of race and justice. A subject which that give it frankly little thought to it prior to the trial. These are not subjects could be openly discussed among White Charlestonians of the day wearing society to undertake their own selfdirected study each evening after dinner elizabeth would read out loud a portion of a selected work to allow the judge to rest his eyes after a day of handling his judicial duties. The cutting edge work by gunnar myrtle would later be cited at the famous footnote 11 in brown versus board of education. Notice judge warings inuit views race and justice evolved George Elmore a black businessman filed suit in the Federal District court in columbia in 1947 challenging the Democratic Partys all white primary. Elmore was represented by Thurgood Marshall 39yearold chief counsel of the naacp who was already developing a reputation of Almost Legendary proportion. Skilled litigator and legal strategist. South carolina political leaders were united in their determination to preserve the whi