Thurgood Marshall, Jr: A Call To Citizen Service
By Stacy Boulware Eurie
Photo by Sacramento Photography

SCBA President Joan Stone, Thurgood Marshall, Jr. and SCBA Secretary/Treasurer Stacy Boulware Eurie

Thurgood Marshall, Jr. has devoted much of his legal career to public service. He began his legal career as a law clerk to the United States District Judge Barri D. Parker. Later, Marshall Jr. served as a Counsel with the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, as well as the Governmental Affairs Committee. Marshall Jr. worked with then Senator Al Gore in the Senate and then as the Director of Legislative Affairs and Deputy Counsel for Vice President Gore. From 1997 to 2001, he served as Cabinet Secretary and Assistant to the President. Marshall Jr. was the liaison between the President and the agencies of the Executive Branch. Although Marshall Jr. has had an illustrious career serving the public, he is most widely known as the son of United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall.

May 17, 2004, marks the 50th Anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Under the guidance of Chief Justice Earl Warren, a unanimous Supreme Court declared that segregation of public schools deprived students of equal protection under the law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision marked the end of the legal doctrine of "separate but equal" as ratified by the same Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson sixty years earlier. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that education was perhaps the most important function of state and local government and Marshall Jr. believes that the Brown decision proved that point.

The victory in Brown was the crowning achievement in Thurgood Marshall's career as a lawyer. When asked about what he remembered of the Brown decision and the lawyers that worked on it, Marshall Jr. reflects that his father described the work and atmosphere with the other NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyers working on the case as one of "frenetic collegiality." That collegiality was also underscored by an intelligent mastery of a craft. In fact, Marshall Jr. finds that the Brown decision serves to highlight the craft of lawyering. Whether in context of the remedies crafted or the continuing jurisdiction that the Court maintained, he finds that there was a level of craftsmanship reflected in the decision that is in itself a legacy.

When speaking of his father, a twinkling smile comes over his face. Marshall Jr. describes his father as one who was never satisfied but who was never discouraged. Thurgood Marshall amassed an impressive record of challenging state-sponsored discrimination before and after Brown. Thurgood Marshall won 14 of the 19 cases he argued before the Supreme Court as the U.S. Solicitor General but his intellect and his power as an advocate is not all that Marshall Jr. recalls. Marshall Jr. has found memories of his father's rebellious side as well. In the movie "Separate But Equal," Thurgood Marshall is played by renowned actor Sidney Poitier. Although his father did not like being depicted in the movie playing poker until the middle of the night, Marshall Jr. recalls that his father proudly told the story that Marshall Jr. learned to take his first steps on a poker table. In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Brown decision, the Center for Youth Citizenship hosted an evening of art, music and a showing of the "Separate But Equal" film on April 22 at the Crest Theater.

It is clear that from the Brown decision and his time as a Supreme Court Associate Justice that Thurgood Marshall left a powerful legacy to his two sons and the nation. His son views the widespread legacy of his father from two perspectives. "One, he was part of a group of people . . . who all came together at the right time to steer the country on the right course with regard to equality, especially in education," Marshall Jr. said. "I also like to think of his legacy as one of encouraging lawyers of every color to contribute their skills to society."

Marshall Jr. says that rising to the call of citizen service should be a common expectation. He believes that community service continues to be relevant and is a multi-partisan imperative. He views the most effective way for lawyers to give back to their local communities is to find subject areas where they have expertise or interest so that they can genuinely throw themselves into it.

Over the last 10 years, Marshall Jr. has dedicated his own time to the impact of environmental conservation in under served communities. Currently working with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Marshall Jr. is trying to impress upon our youth the importance of environmental sciences and hard sciences. Marshall Jr. believes that this generation of students will be tested by the possibility of peace and that each individual can take the choice to make their community better. Making personal efforts to bridge gaps cuts across all colors and communities and it is a value that he is attempting to instill in his own two children. Marshall Jr. volunteers at a local food bank in the Washington, D.C. area with his younger son as one way to impress upon him the need to give back. Marshall Jr. appreciates that balancing a professional career, a healthy family life and community service is a real challenge of our time but he firmly believes that if we find ways to give back that match-up our unique skill sets as lawyers with the opportunity to involve our families and neighbors that such a balance can be achieved.