Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Right now, it's time for the Way Black History Fact.
Today's Way Black History Pact to sponsored by Major Threads
for innovative fashionable sportswear check Majors Threads dot com. Today
we're going to be talking about Third Good Marshall. He
is the first black Supreme Court Justice and he is
worthy of today's conversation. He would be thoroughly disappointed in
one of his predecessors or one of his successors. Sorry.
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On August thirtieth, nineteen sixty seven, the Senate confirmed Third
Good Marshal as the first black person to serve as
the Supreme Court Justice. Marshall was no stranger to the
Senate or the Supreme Court at the time, and Marshall
was confirmed in a sixty nine to eleven floor vote
to join the Court. He had previously been confirmed by
the Senate twice for two other government positions, when Marshall
was confirmed as a federal judge in the Kentucky administration
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and then as Solicitor General for President Lyndon Johnson. President
Johnson nominated Marshall in June nineteen sixty seven to replace
the retiring Justice Tom Clark, who left the court after
his son, Ramsey Clark became Attorney General. Johnson said marsh
was quote best qualified by training and by very valuable
service to the country. I believe it is the right
thing to do, the right time to do it, and
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the right man the right place. As long as civil
rights litigator, sorry as a long civil rights litigator for
the NAACP, Marshall had won most of the cases he
argued in front of the Supreme Court in that capacity.
Arguably his best and biggest win was the case of
Brown versus the Board of Education in nineteen fifty four,
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one of the true landmark decisions in the Court's history,
which invalidated the concept of segregation at public schools under
the Fourteenth Amendment. Quote. This Court should make it clear
that that is not what our constitution stands for. End quote,
Marshall argued successfully. Marshall's confirmation hearing met with some resistance
from Southern senators who were concerned about his liberal track record.
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The majority of senators in the Judiciary Committee reported that
Marshall quote demonstrated those qualities which we admire in members
of our highest judicial tribunal. Thoughtfulness, care, moderation, reasonableness, a
judicial temperament, and a balanced approach to controversial and complicated
national problems. In quote, five senators, including Sam Irvin, a
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Democrat from North Carolina, didn't recommend Marshall's nomination. Quote it's
clearly a disservice to the Constitution and the country to
appoint a judicial activist to the Supreme Court at any time,
wrote Irvin in the committee's report. The actual debate and
floor vote on August thirty, nineteen sixty seven took about
six hours, with the discussion focused on Marshall's character and
the conservative senator's concerns over Marshall as a liberal jurist
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and attorney. After he was fully approved by the Senate,
Marshall then took two oaths, one in September nineteen sixty seven,
in another in early October nineteen sixty seven. When we
first joined the bench on the Court, Martial was a
member of the bench's liberal wing. He served twenty four
years on the Court before retiring in nineteen ninety one.
After Marshall's death in ninety three, the Court approved a
special resolution honoring Marshall. Quote. The great majority of Supreme
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Court justices are almost always remembered for their contributions to
constitutional law. As a member of this Court. Justice Marshall, however,
it is unique because of his contributions to constitutional law
before becoming a member of the Court was so significant,
quote wrote Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Quote inscribed above the
front interest to this Court building are the words equal
justice under law. Surely no individual did more to make
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these words a reality than third Good Marshal, and I
want to share something just In contrast from the Black
Information Network, comments made by family members of Jenny Thomas,
the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, surrounding how
they felt about her marrying her husband, have resurfaced. Per
the Atlanta Black Star, The remarks came from a nineteen
ninety one article in the Washington Post headline the Nominee's Soulmate.
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During the decades old interview, Jenny discussed her staunch conservative views,
and her relatives revealed that they were shocked when she
told them she was marrying a black man. Quote. I
can guarantee you I was surprised when I found out
she was going with a black man, Jenny's uncle, Ralph
Knopp said, per the Post, it was unusual for us,
but he was so nice. We forgot he was black
and he treated her so well, so yeah, they had
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to forget he was back.