Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall ( born July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, † January 24, 1993 in Bethesda, Maryland) was an American jurist and the first African American judge on the United States Supreme Court. He held office from 1967 to 1991, when he retired due to an incurable disease from his office.

Training

He got his lawyer diploma in 1933 awarded by Howard University. Then he opened a private practice in Baltimore. Already in the following year he worked for the civil rights movement. Already in 1936 he won his first major civil rights case ( Pearson v. Murray ).

Civil rights attorney

The first case - of many more - before the Supreme Court (Chambers v. Florida) he graduated in 1940 successfully. But his most successful case as a lawyer was Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, in which the Court decreed the judgment that a separate but equal ( " separate but equal " ) public schooling was illegal, because you never prove in this way an equality could.

Federal Judge

President John F. Kennedy beat Marshall in 1961 to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. As a group of senators from the southern states his confirmation was staying, he served for a few months with a special permit. Marshall remained on this federal appeals court until 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the United States Solicitor General. Two years later, Marshall was appointed by Johnson with the consent of the Senate to the Supreme Court of the United States, where he became the successor of Tom C. Clark. The appointment is marked by a significant quote Johnson:

" The right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place."

" Doing the right thing, the right time for the right man and the right place. "

Honors

On 30 November 1993, Marshall was posthumously the Medal of Freedom ("The Presidential Medal of Freedom" ), awarded the highest civilian award in the United States.

Thurgood Marshall was a member of the Federation of the Freemasons, his box is constituted under the Grand Lodge of Prince Hall.