Constance baker motley autobiography of miss
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Introduction
In 1961, James Meredith applied for admission to the University of Mississippi. Although he was eminently qualified, he was rejected. The University had never admitted a black student, and Meredith was black.
Represented bygd Constance Baker Motley and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), Meredith brought suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, alleging that the university had rejected him because of his race. Although sju years had passed since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, many in the South—politicians, the media, educators, attorneys, and even judges—refused to accept the principle that segregation in public education was unconstitutional. The litigation was difficult and hard fought. Meredith later described the case as “the last battle of the Civil War.” Eventually, Motley and Meredith prevailed, pushing open the door to integration in higher education in the Deep South.
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- Bib ID:
- 370781
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Motley, Constance Baker, 1921-
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Description:
- New York : Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998
- vi, 282 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. ; 25 cm.
- ISBN:
- 0374148651 (alkaline paper)
- Summary:
Constance Baker joined Thurgood Marshall's legal team at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in 1945 while still a student at Columbia Law School, at a time when women lawyers were uncommon. She was chief counsel for James Meredith in his legal battle to be the first black to attend the University of Mississippi; she argued ten cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and represented other leading civil rights figures, including Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1966, she was the first black woman appointed to the federal bench, over a firestorm of opposition. Equal Justice Under Law, the most detailed account to date of the legal conflicts of the civil rights movement, is also an account of Constance Baker Motley's
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Constance Baker Motley
American judge and politician (1921–2005)
Constance Baker Motley
Motley in 1964
In office
September 30, 1986 – September 28, 2005In office
May 31, 1982 – September 30, 1986Preceded by Lloyd Francis MacMahon Succeeded by Charles L. Brieant In office
August 30, 1966 – September 30, 1986Appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson Preceded by Archie Owen Dawson Succeeded by Kimba Wood In office
February 23, 1965 – August 30, 1966Preceded by Edward R. Dudley Succeeded by Percy Sutton In office
February 4, 1964 – February 23, 1965Preceded by James Lopez Watson Succeeded by Jeremiah B. Bloom Born Constance Baker
(1921-09-14)September 14, 1921
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.Died September 28, 2005(2005-09-28) (aged 84)
New York City, U.S.Political party Democratic Spouse Joel Motley Jr.
(m. 1946)