SENATE RESOLUTION

                                                                  1993-8604

By Senators Franklin, Oke, Sellar, Haugen, M. Rasmussen, Bauer, Wojahn, Talmadge, Owen, Snyder, Pelz, Sutherland, Williams, Winsley and Quigley

            WHEREAS, Equality of all human beings is the fundamental principle upon which our nation was founded; and

            WHEREAS, Equal protection of the law is guaranteed to all people by our Constitution; and

            WHEREAS, Thurgood Marshall pursued the fight for equality and justice throughout his life with persistence, intelligence, and dignity; and

            WHEREAS, Thurgood Marshall, as general counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund for twenty-five years, was the principal architect of the strategy of using the courts to assure African-Americans the full rights of citizenship and in so doing strengthened the rights of all citizens; and

            WHEREAS, Thurgood Marshall successfully argued that a racially segregated system of "separate but equal" public education was inherently unequal in the case of Brown v. Board of Education before the United States Supreme Court in 1954, which signaled the beginning of the end of segregation and created new educational opportunity for many in our country; and

            WHEREAS, Thurgood Marshall compiled an unparalleled record of success as an advocate and as a judge, including twenty-nine victories in thirty-two cases argued before the United States Supreme Court, and one hundred fifty federal court decisions of which not one was overturned on appeal; and

            WHEREAS, Thurgood Marshall served with distinction as a member of the 2nd United States Circuit Court of Appeals from 1961-1965, as Solicitor General of the United States from 1965 until his appointment to the United States Supreme Court in 1967, and as the first African-American Justice of the highest court in the land until his retirement in 1991; and

            WHEREAS, Mr. Justice Thurgood Marshall died on Sunday, January 24, 1993, at the age of 84; and

            WHEREAS, In his passing our nation and its people have lost a true American hero for the causes of freedom, liberty, and equality;

            NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT  RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate hereby honors the life and work of Mr. Justice Thurgood Marshall and recognizes his contribution to the continuing struggle for civil rights; and

            BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate joins with the people of our state in remembering Thurgood Marshall and his legacy.

I, Marty Brown, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 1993-8604,

adopted by the Senate January 26, 1993.

MARTY BROWN

Secretary of the Senate