The "Fifth Circuit Four" (or simply "The Four") were four judges of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit who, during the late 1950s, became known for a series of decisions (which continued into the late 1960s) crucial in advancing the
civil and political rights of
African Americans; in this they were opposed by fellow Fifth Circuit judge
Ben Cameron
Benjamin Peter Cameron (born 21 February 1981) is an Australian cricket coach and former player.
Cameron played for South Australia from 2004 to 2007, playing ten first-class games and nine List A games as a right-handed opening batsman. He ...
, a strong advocate of
states' rights. At that time, the Fifth Circuit included not only
Louisiana,
Mississippi, and
Texas (the limits of its jurisdiction since October 1, 1981), but also
Alabama,
Georgia,
Florida, and the
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...
.
"The Four" were Chief Judge
Elbert Tuttle and his three colleagues
John Minor Wisdom,
John Robert Brown, and
Richard Rives. All but Rives were
liberal Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
; Rives was a
Democrat and, according to
Jack Bass, an intimate of
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
justice
Hugo Black
Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. A ...
.
Quote
"The
Constitution is both color blind and color conscious. To avoid conflict with the
equal protection clause
The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...
, a classification that denies a benefit, causes harm, or imposes a burden must not be based on
race. In that sense the Constitution is color blind. But the Constitution is color conscious to prevent
discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
being perpetuated and to undo the effects of past discrimination. The criterion is the relevancy of color to a legitimate government purpose."
: - Judge John Minor Wisdom, writing for the majority in ''United States v. Jefferson County Board of Education'', 1966.
References
*Jack Bass,
The 'Fifth Circuit Four', ''The Nation'', May 3, 2004, p. 30-32.
*Jack Bass, ''Unlikely Heroes: The Dramatic Story of the Southern Judges of the Fifth Circuit who Translated the Supreme Court's Brown Decision Into a Revolution for Equality'' (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1981), , .
See also
*
Frank Minis Johnson – a
U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama whose rulings had a strong impact on civil rights in the American South
History of African-American civil rights
Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Quartets
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