PRESIDENT ’ S MESSAGE
PRESIDENT ’ S MESSAGE
Grasford W . Smith 2023-24 PBCBA President
February is celebrated as Black History Month . The precursor to this month was " Negro History Week " which was created in 1926 . Today , versions of Black History Month are celebrated in various countries / continents throughout the world . This piece is focused on two prominent black attorneys / judges who changed the national and local landscapes .
I am honored to work on the ad hoc committee which focuses on the development of exhibition content at the main courthouse . In that regard , I recently had an extensive conversation with Judge Daniel Hurley centered around some of the luminaries in the Palm Beach County legal community who left an indelible mark on the local landscape . One of these legal giants is Judge Edward Rodgers who was the first black county prosecutor in Palm Beach County . This was followed by an appointment to the County Court bench as the Circuit ’ s first black judge in 1973 . He was elevated to the Circuit Court Bench in 1977 and he later served as Chief Judge from 1983-1985 . After a distinguished legal career , Judge Rodgers retired from the bench in 1995 . Judge Rodgers ' influence was also felt outside of the courtroom when he served as the Mayor of Riviera Beach and as a member of the Palm Beach County Ethics Committee . The PBCBA honored Judge Rodgers ' legacy by naming its Diversity Award in his honor , which we will present at the upcoming Bench Bar Conference to a deserving individual who exemplifies the traits of Judge Rodgers .
Before he passed away , Judge Rodgers personally committed to me that he wanted to donate funds to support the PBCBA ' s Diversity Internship Program . After his death , his family honored Judge Rodgers ' commitment with a donation . The F . Malcolm Cunningham , Sr . Bar Association has also offered scholarships to deserving law students in the honor of Judge Rodgers . I was proud to be the inaugural donor in 2019 of the Judge Edward Rodgers Scholarship to the Editor in Chief of the FAMU Law Review .
The work of Judge Rodgers would not be possible without the contributions of United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall who helped set the national stage for the advancement of civil rights throughout the United States . Justice Marshall was born in July 1908 in Baltimore , Maryland . His father was the grandson of a slave . After graduating from college , Marshall applied to the University of Maryland Law School and was denied admission because of his race . Marshall attended Howard Law School instead , where he was mentored by Charles Hamilton Houston , the Dean of Howard Law School . Charles Hamilton Houston is often referred to as the father of the civil rights movement . Houston ' s most notable quote , which I frequently use in my speeches , is " A lawyer ’ s either a social engineer or … a parasite on society … A social engineer [ is ] a highly skilled , perceptive , sensitive lawyer who [ understands ] the Constitution of the United States and [ knows ] how to explore its uses in the solving of problems of local communities and in bettering conditions of the underprivileged citizens ." ( Emphasis added ). After graduating from Howard Law School , Marshall worked for the NAACP where he won numerous civil rights cases , including the landmark case Brown v . Board of Education in which the high court struck down the separate but equal doctrine in the field of public education . This case became legal precedent for numerous other court victories throughout the United States . During his time with the NAACP , Marshall argued 32 cases before the United States Supreme Court and won 29 of them . Some of his notable cases as an advocate ( documented on the NAACP website ) include : 1 . Smith v . Allwright ( 1944 ), which found that states could not exclude Black voters from primaries . 2 . Shelley v . Kraemer ( 1948 ), which struck down race-based restrictive housing covenants . 3 . Sweatt v . Painter ( 1950 ), which deemed separate facilities for Black professional and graduate students unconstitutional .
In 1961 , Marshall was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit . He remained on that court for four years . In 1965 , Marshall left the bench to serve as Solicitor General until 1967 . In 1967 , President Johnson nominated Marshall to serve on the United States Supreme Court . On October 2 , 1967 , Marshall was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice , becoming the first African American to serve on the nation ' s highest court . Justice Marshall would serve on the court until 1991 , during which time he authored numerous majority and dissenting opinions on topics such as the death penalty , abortion rights , and affirmative action .
I will end this piece with a quote from Dr . Martin Luther King who stated : " Life ’ s most persistent and urgent question is ‘ What are you doing for others ?'" These two great men worked to answer that question and changed the lives of many as a result , including mine .
PBCBA BAR BULLETIN 3