LEGACY Alliance of Black Women Attorneys of Maryland, Inc

______LEGACY Alliance of Black Women Attorneys of Maryland, Inc. NEWSLETTER SPECIAL EDITION Vol. 2, No. 1 June 1, 2004

A MESSAGE FROM THE for not allowing education, income and PRESIDENT status to separate us. We honor these ladies for reminding us that we are all Dear Colleagues, cut from the same cultural cloth and we all have the same responsibility for This year, many Americans are continuing to knock down barriers which celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the have historically prevented the black historic decision of Brown v Board of community from receiving equal Education. Most importantly, we all treatment. Finally, we honor these will celebrate the heroic efforts of ladies for providing us with a forum to Thurgood Marshall and his team of cultivate change. attorneys. These individuals fought endlessly to ensure that blacks would be Yes, we pause today to celebrate given equal treatment in educational the many pioneers that have ensured that opportunities. However, this paramount we are properly equipped to continue the decision transformed society into an fight. arena of equal treatment in all public arenas. Robyn C. Scates, President 2003-2004

As America pauses to celebrate these individuals, the Alliance of Black LEGAL COMMUNITY MOURNS Women Attorneys pauses to honor and LOSS OF CHRISTANA celebrate the heroism of our founders. MARIA GUTIERREZ These women have forged a path to ensure that Black women attorneys have By Gus G. Sentementes a voice and that we stay connected to our Sun Staff community. They have taught us to Originally published January 31, 2004 never underestimate the community work that has brought us to these places Maria Cristina Gutierrez, a criminal of power. defense lawyer known in Maryland's legal community for her passionate We honor these ladies for and pugnacious style, died of a heart reaching the upper echelons of their attack yesterday at St. Joseph chosen fields and opening doors that Medical Center in Towson. The 52- were once closed. We honor these ladies year-old woman's ailment was exacerbated by multiple sclerosis. Throughout the 1990s, Ms. Gutierrez The second of 10 children, Ms. argued cases with a tenacity that Gutierrez attended Notre Dame earned the respect of her peers. Preparatory School, but didn't go to Upon graduating from the University college upon graduation. Instead, she of Baltimore School of Law in 1980, began working in the anti-war, civil she began her career as an assistant rights and labor movements. She public defender in Baltimore. eventually finished college at Antioch College in Baltimore in 1976. Ms. Gutierrez, a longtime Baltimore resident, honed her trial skills in that But Ms. Gutierrez's ailing health job for several years before going began to affect her career. She had into private practice in the mid- difficulty keeping up with her 1980s. Known as a skillful caseload. Clients complained; a state communicator before juries, Ms. investigation was launched. Ms. Gutierrez earned a reputation as a Gutierrez agreed to be disbarred in tough foe for prosecutors. 2001.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Clifton J. "She just got to the point where she Gordy said that when Ms. Gutierrez couldn't do it anymore. She was too was practicing, she would have been weak," Mr. Dantes said. the first defense lawyer he would have called if he were charged with In keeping with her tough-as-nails a serious crime. "And that's the image, she "wasn't all soft and biggest compliment one lawyer can flowery" in her personal life, her give another," he said. brother, Keith Carlos Gutierrez, said yesterday. "But deep down inside, Ms. Gutierrez defended Baltimore we knew she loved us, and we loved City Comptroller Jacqueline F. her. She died in a hospital room, and McLean, who eventually pleaded all of her nine siblings were there, guilty to stealing more than $25,000 and her parents, too." from taxpayers. Ms. Gutierrez is survived by a son, Other well-known cases included her Roberto Gutierrez; a daughter, successful defense of an Anne Micajaela Orallia Gutierrez; her Arundel schoolteacher accused of father, Roberto Gutierrez; her having sex with a student; a Howard mother, Mary Theresa Gutierrez of County mother and son accused of Towson; six brothers, Robert molesting children at their day care Gutierrez of Timonium, David center; and two mothers accused of Gutierrez of Salisbury, Richard killing their children. Gutierrez of Lutherville, Keith Carlos Gutierrez of Towson, and Glen "She wouldn't give up if she thought Gutierrez and John Gutierrez, both of an injustice was being perpetrated," Baltimore; and three sisters, Claire said Phillip Dantes, a lawyer and Keane of Berlin, Elizabeth Reitz of friend. Towson and Diana Gutierrez of Lutherville; and 19 nieces and continue this annual public service nephews. activity. At the MSBA Bar President’s Sun researcher Paul McCardell Conference on Oct. 23, 2003, the Alliance won an award for Best Service contributed to this report. to the Public Project for their first presentation of this event. The Alliance

thanks all those participating attorneys and students who gave so generously of FOOD FOR THOUGHT: their time. Anyone who is interested in "He enjoys true leisure who volunteering to participate in the has time to improve his seminar next year should contact Alliance corresponding secretary, Cheryl soul's estate." – Haskins days at 443-984-2301, or Henry David Thoreau [email protected].

SEMINAR FOR LAKE AMENDED BY-LAWS READY FOR CLIFTON/EASTERN LEGAL DISTRIBUTION STUDENTS A HUGE SUCCESS! Last year the Membership approved the ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ amended By-Laws for the organization. Copies On Wednesday, April 21, 2004, of the By-Laws will be distributed to all current the Alliance hosted a seminar for members at the at general body meetings students in the Law-Related Education throughout the year. Program at Lake Clifton/Eastern High School. The program was co-sponsored GENERAL BODY MEETI NG & by the Baltimore City Solicitor’s Office, NOMINATION OF NEW The Monumental City Bar Association, OFFICERS and the Women’s Law Center. Inc. Approximately 40 students participated On May 17, 2004, the Alliance in the seminar, which was held in the held a General Body Meeting. At this Curran Conference Room in City Hall. meeting nominations were accepted for The program agenda included, Executive Board Members for the 2004 civil and criminal panel discussions, a – 2005 year. President-Elect is Erica presentation/role play on domestic LeMon, Esq. The offices include: violence by the Women’s Law Center, a discussion of Brown vs. Board of President-Elect; Treasurer; Recording Education and Affirmative Action led by Secretary; Corresponding Secretary; Alliance President, Robyn C. Scates, Member(s)-at-Large; Historian, and Esq., a roundtable discussion about law Student Representative(s). school, undergraduate studies and alternative legal careers, breakfast and We will also need: Chair of Professional lunch. Deputy City Solicitor Donald R. Development Committee; Chair of Huskey, Esq. presented an eloquent Membership/Recruitment & Retention closing speech to the students. The Committee; Chair of Special Events students and teachers, as well as the Committee, and Chair of Judicial participants, thoroughly enjoyed the Selection Committee. event, and the Alliance looks forward to R E M I N D E R up) is included at the end of this issue of Legacy. Please contact President- Remember, in order to vote at Elect, Robyn C. Scates at the Annual Meeting (date, place & time [email protected] or 443-865-7194 if TBD), you must pay your dues for the you are interested in a vacant position, 2003-2004 year. A membership or have any questions or concerns. application (including committee sign- ______

* * * * * *

Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court

Justice

Born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was the grandson of a slave. His father, William Marshall, instilled in him from youth an appreciation for the United States Constitution and the rule of law. After completing high school in 1925, Thurgood followed his brother, William Aubrey Marshall, at the historically black Lincoln University in Chester, Pennsylvania. His classmates at Lincoln included a distinguished group of future Black leaders such as the poet and author Langston Hughes, the future President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, and musician Cab Calloway. Just before graduation, he married his first wife, Vivian "Buster" Burey. Their twenty-five year marriage ended with her death from cancer in 1955.

In 1930, he applied to the University of Maryland Law School, but was denied admission because he was Black. This was an event that was to haunt him and direct his future professional life. Thurgood sought admission and was accepted at the Howard University Law School that same year and came under the immediate influence of the dynamic new dean, Charles Hamilton Houston, who instilled in all of his students the desire to apply the tenets of the Constitution to all Americans. Paramount in Houston's outlook was the need to overturn the 1898 Supreme Court ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson which established the legal doctrine called, "separate but equal." Marshall's first major court case came in 1933 when he successfully sued the University of Maryland to admit a young African American Amherst University graduate named Donald Gaines Murray. Applauding Marshall's victory, author H.L. Mencken wrote that the decision of denial by the University of Maryland Law School was "brutal and absurd," and they should not object to the "presence among them of a self-respecting and ambitious young Afro- American well prepared for his studies by four years of hard work in a class A college."

Thurgood Marshall followed his Howard University mentor, Charles Hamilton Houston to New York and later became Chief Counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). During this period, Mr. Marshall was asked by the United Nations and the United Kingdom to help draft the constitutions of the emerging African nations of Ghana and what is now Tanzania. It was felt that the person who so successfully fought for the rights of America's oppressed minority would be the perfect person to ensure the rights of the White citizens in these two former European colonies. After amassing an impressive record of Supreme Court challenges to state-sponsored discrimination, including the landmark Brown v. Board decision in 1954, President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In this capacity, he wrote over 150 decisions including support for the rights of immigrants, limiting government intrusion in cases involving illegal search and seizure, double jeopardy, and right to privacy issues. Biographers Michael Davis and Hunter Clark note that, "none of his (Marshall's) 98 majority decisions was ever reversed by the Supreme Court." In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson appointed Judge Marshall to the office of U.S. Solicitor General. Before his subsequent nomination to the United States Supreme Court in 1967, Thurgood Marshall won 14 of the 19 cases he argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of the government. Indeed, Thurgood Marshall represented and won more cases before the United States Supreme Court than any other American.

Until his retirement from the highest court in the land, Justice Marshall established a record for supporting the voiceless American. Having honed his skills since the case against the University of Maryland, he developed a profound sensitivity to injustice by way of the crucible of racial discrimination in this country. As an Associate Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall leaves a legacy that expands that early sensitivity to include all of America's voiceless. Justice Marshall died on January 24, 1993.

A Thurgood Marshall timeline: provided by A Deeper Shade of Black .

1930 Mr. Marshall graduates with honors from Lincoln U. (cum laude) Receives law degree from Howard U. (magna cum laude); begins private 1933 practice in Baltimore Receives law degree from Howard U. (magna cum laude); begins private

practice in Baltimore 1934 Begins to work for Baltimore branch of NAACP 1935 With Charles Houston, wins first major civil rights case, Murray v. Pearson 1936 Becomes assistant special counsel for NAACP in New York 1940 Wins first of 29 Supreme Court victories (Chambers v. Florida) Successfully argues Smith v. Allwright, overthrowing the South's "white 1944 primary" Wins Shelley v. Kraemer, in which Supreme Court strikes down legality of 1948 racially restrictive covenants Wins Supreme Court victories in two graduate-school integration cases, 1950 Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents Visits South Korea and Japan to investigate charges of racism in U.S. armed 1951 forces. He reported that the general practice was one of "rigid segregation". Wins Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, landmark case that 1954 demolishes legal basis for segregation in America Defends civil rights demonstrators, winning Supreme Circuit Court victory in 1961 Garner v. Louisiana; nominated to Second Court of Appeals by President J.F. Kennedy Appointed circuit judge, makes 112 rulings, all of them later upheld by 1961 Supreme Court (1961-1965) Appointed U.S. solicitor general by President Lyndon Johnson; wins 14 of 965 the 19 cases he argues for the government (1965-1967) Becomes first African American elevated to U.S. Supreme Court (1967- 1967 1991) 1991 Retires from the Supreme Court 1993 Dies at 84

Source: This biography is provided by Thurgood Marshall College.

History 122 Hill/Thomas HIST 122 Syllabus * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

EARLY CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLES: BROWN v BOARD OF EDUCATION

In the early 1950's, racial segregation in public schools was the norm across America. Although all the schools in a given district were supposed to be equal, most black schools were far inferior to their white counterparts.

In Topeka, Kansas, a black third-grader named Linda Brown had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. Linda's father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white elementary school, but the principal of the school refused. Brown went to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topeka's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and asked for help. The NAACP was eager to assist the Browns, as it had long wanted to challenge segregation in public schools. With Brown's complaint, it had "the right plaintiff at the right time." [4] Other black parents joined Brown, and, in 1951, the NAACP requested an injunction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka's public schools. [5]

The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas heard Brown's case from June 25-26, 1951. At the trial, the NAACP argued that segregated schools sent the message to black children that they were inferior to whites; therefore, the schools were inherently unequal. One of the expert witnesses, Dr. Hugh W. Speer, testified that:

"...if the colored children are denied the experience in school of associating with white children, who represent 90 percent of our national society in which these colored children must live, then the colored child's curriculum is being greatly curtailed. The Topeka curriculum or any school curriculum cannot be equal under segregation." [6]

The Board of Education's defense was that, because segregation in Topeka and elsewhere pervaded many other aspects of life, segregated schools simply prepared black children for the segregation they would face during adulthood. The board also argued that segregated schools were not neccessarily harmful to black children; great African Americans such as Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and George Washington Carver had overcome more than just segregated schools to achieve what they achieved. [7]

The request for an injunction put the court in a difficult decision. On the one hand, the judges agreed with the expert witnesses; in their decision, they wrote:

Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children...A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. [8] On the other hand, the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson allowed separate but equal school systems for blacks and whites, and no Supreme Court ruling had overturned Plessy yet. Because of the precedent of Plessy, the court felt "compelled" to rule in favor of the Board of Education. [9]

Brown and the NAACP appealed to the Supreme Court on October 1, 1951 and their case was combined with other cases that challenged school segregation in South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware. The Supreme Court first heard the case on December 9, 1952, but failed to reach a decision. In the reargument, heard from December 7-8, 1953, the Court requested that both sides discuss "the circumstances surrounding the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868." [10] The reargument shed very little additional light on the issue. The Court had to make its decision based not on whether or not the authors of the Fourteenth Amendment had desegregated schools in mind when they wrote the amendment in 1868, but based on whether or not desegregated schools deprived black children of equal protection of the law when the case was decided, in 1954. [11]

On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the decision of the unanimous Court:

"We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does...We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. [12]

The Supreme Court struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy for public education, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and required the desegregation of schools across America. The Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision did not abolish segregation in other public areas, such as restaurants and restrooms, nor did it require desegregation of public schools by a specific time. It did, however, declare the permissive or mandatory segregation that existed in 21 states unconstitutional. [13] It was a giant step towards complete desegregation of public schools. Even partial desegregation of these schools, however, was still very far away, as would soon become apparent.

______CONGRATULATIONS

The Alliance of Black Women Attorneys of Maryland, Inc. Extends CONGRATULATIONS TO HARRY S. JOHNSON, ESQ. ON HIS EXTRAORDINARILY SUCCESSFUL YEAR AS PRESIDENT OF THE MARYLAND STATE BAR ASSOCIATION.

______CONDOLENCES

The Alliance of Black Women Attorneys of Maryland, Inc. Extends Most Sincere Condolences to the following Members in their recent losses of loved ones: President, Robyn C. Scates (Father) Member, Sheila Brooks-Tahir (Mother) Student Member, Samantha Granderson (Mother) Member-at-Large, Stephanie C. Rawlings (Father) Our prayers are with you all – may faith be your constant companion.

ALLIANCE HOSTS RESUME WRITING AND INTERVIEW SEMINAR And ESSAY WRITING CONTEST * * * * * * * In March and April of this year, Alliance President, Robyn C. Scates organized and hosted a two-part resume writing and interview seminar for the students in the Lake Clifton-Eastern Law-Related Education Program. In the first session, students were instructed on how to organize and prepare a resume in the second session, students participated in mock interviews. They were also advised on how to dress, how to speak, and how to maintain composure during job interviews. At the close of the interview session, students were given fliers asking them to participate in an Essay Writing Contest. The theme was, “My Goals for the Future and How I will Obtain Them.” Students were asked to write no more than 500 words, and were judged on grammar, content and format. Each student that submitted an essay was presented a Certficate of Participation at the Seminar on April 21st, and each will receive a monetary award this spring. The Alliance is extremely proud of the achievements of the students we mentor.

* * * * * * * * * * * * THE ALLIANCE JOINS IN CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LANDMARK DECISION: BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION

The Alliance of Black Women Attorneys of Maryland, Inc. has included a discussion of Brown in both of the seminars held for the students in the Lake Clifton-Eastern Law-Related Education Program. At last year’s seminar, Associate Dean Tony Torain of the University of Baltimore School of Law led the discussion with the students. This year, President, Robyn C. Scates led the discussion, including affirmative action as related to Brown. Each year, the students were given a copy of the decision, along with a study guide on how to read a case and background biographical material about Justice Thurgood Marshall.

The students were well prepared to participate in the discussion about Brown and affirmative action, raising many valid points about how Brown compares to the quality of education today.

One serious question that was raised is, “Is ‘separate but equal’ still in existence today?” LEGACY welcomes all editorial responses. Please e-mail them to [email protected].

UPCOMING EVENTS SAVE THE DATES!

June, 2004

June 16 – 19, 2004

MARYLAND STATE BAR ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING – Clarion Hotel, Ocean City, MD. For information visit the MSBA website at www.msba. org.

June 2004

ALLIANCE OF BLACK WOMEN ATTORNEYS GENERAL BODY MEETING – Date, time and place to be determined. Notice will be sent out soon. Contact President Robyn C. Scates at 443-865-7194 for information.

December, 2004

December 12th

ALLIANCE OF BLACK WOMEN ATTORNEYS – Annual Tea – 3:00 pm – Location – TBD.

PLEASE SUBMIT ARTICLES AND CALENDAR INFORMATION TO [email protected]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

MONUMENTAL CITY BAR ASSOCIATION NEWS

FOR MONUMENTAL CITY BAR ASSOCIATION INFORMATION CONTACT James Butler – [email protected]

* * * * * * * * *

R E M I N D E R

NOMINATIONS ARE STILL BEING ACCEPTED FOR 2004-2005 OFFICERS FOR THE ALLIANCE OF BLACK WOMEN ATTORNEYS OF MARYLAND, INC.