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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).
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