Demetrius Caiphus Newton (March 15, 1928 – September 11, 2013) was an American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

attorney and politician. He filed lawsuits to end

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...

, and represented

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "th ...

, and others in cases related to civil rights. He then served in the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contain ...

, representing the 53rd district, from 1986 to his death in 2013. He became the first Black

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

pro tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

in the history of the Alabama House, serving in the role from 1998 through 2010.

Early life

Newton was born in

Fairfield, Alabama Fairfield is a city in western Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Birmingham metropolitan area and is located southeast of Pleasant Grove. The population was 11,117 at the 2010 census. History This city was founded ...

. He graduated from Fairfield Industrial High School. He received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates i ...

and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from the

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an el ...

in 1952. The state of Alabama paid Newton to attend a law school outside of the state, in order to prevent having to desegregate the

University of Alabama School of Law The University of Alabama School of Law, (formerly known as the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at The University of Alabama) located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is a nationally ranked top-tier law school and the only public law school in the st ...

or create a law school for Blacks. At Boston University, Newton met

, who was enrolled as a seminary student at the time. After he graduated from law school, Newton served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

's 325th Infantry Regiment of the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops Magazine'', 25 November 2012. Archived from thor ...

from 1952 to September 1954 during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

era. He was a private first class and worked as a defense council in the judge advocate section."PFC Demetrius C. Newton To End Army Tour Of Duty"
''Alabama Tribune'', Montgomery, Alabama, volume 14, number 19, page 1.

Career

Upon completion of his tour in the army, he moved to Birmingham, Alabama and set up a general practice law office where he worked as a

attorney. He became a member of the

Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) was an American civil rights organization in Birmingham, Alabama, which coordinated boycotts and sponsored federal lawsuits aimed at dismantling segregation in Birmingham and Alabama during the ...

and filed numerous lawsuits that were aimed at defeating

segregationist Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Interna ...

laws. He represented King during the

Selma to Montgomery marches The Selma to Montgomery marches were three Demonstration (protest), protest marches, held in 1965, along the 54-mile (87 km) highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery. The marches were organized ...

. Newton also filed the first lawsuit under Title VII of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration req ...

. He also worked on

' defense following her arrest for refusing to move from the "Whites Only" section of a bus. Newtown ran for Fairfield

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

in 1956.

Richard Arrington Jr. Richard Arrington Jr. (born October 19, 1934 in Livingston, Alabama) was the first Black mayor of the city of Birmingham, Alabama (U.S.), serving 20 years, from 1979 to 1999. He replaced David Vann and, upon retiring after five terms in offi ...

, a childhood friend and the mayor of Birmingham, appointed Newton as the

city attorney A city attorney is a position in city and municipal government in the United States. The city attorney is the attorney representing the municipality. Unlike a district attorney or public defender, who usually handles criminal cases, a city at ...

of Birmingham. He represented Blacks who were arrested during the Birmingham riot of 1963. From 1972 to 1978, he served as a judge in

Brownville, Alabama Brownville, also known as Brownsville, Hog Eye, Red Valley, and Sulpher Springs, is a ghost town formerly located in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, United States. History The community was originally called Sulpher Springs, named for the nearby m ...

. He was elected to the

in 1986, and was elected as the

in 1998, becoming the first Black speaker pro tempore in Alabama's history. He served in the role until 2010, when Republicans became the majority party. While a member of the Alabama House, Newton campaigned for a

constitutional convention Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...

to replace the

Constitution of Alabama The Constitution of the State of Alabama is the basic governing document of the U.S. state of Alabama. It was adopted in 2022 and is Alabama's seventh constitution. History Alabama has had seven constitutions to date, all but the current one est ...

, written in 1901, which he contended contains language that disenfranchises Blacks and the poor. Newton died following a long illness on September 11, 2013. After his death,

Seth Hammett Seth Merrill Hammett (born June 24, 1946) is an American educator, politician, and economic development professional who was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives from 1979 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Spea ...

described Newton as "a gentleman and a scholar", while

Robert J. Bentley Robert Julian Bentley (born February 3, 1943) is an American former politician and physician who served as the 53rd governor of Alabama from 2011 until 2017 upon his resignation after a sex scandal involving a political aide and subsequent arre ...

called Newton a "fine gentleman", saying they "had a strong mutual respect for each other".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Demetrius 1928 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people People from Fairfield, Alabama Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives American civil rights lawyers Wilberforce University alumni Boston University School of Law alumni African-American state legislators in Alabama Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama United States Army soldiers Activists from Birmingham, Alabama Lawyers from Birmingham, Alabama United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Military personnel from Alabama