John Minor Wisdom
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John Minor Wisdom, one of the "Fifth Circuit Four", and a liberal Republican from Louisiana, was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit during the 1950s and 1960s, when that court became known for a series of decisions crucial in advancing the civil rights of African-Americans. At that time, the Fifth Circuit included not only Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas (its jurisdiction since October 1, 1981), but also Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and the Panama Canal Zone.
President Eisenhower appointed Wisdom to the Fifth Circuit bench in 1957. He took senior status in 1977, but continued to hear cases until his death in 1999. President Bill Clinton awarded Wisdom the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993. On May 25, 1994, the Fifth Circuit's headquarters in New Orleans was renamed the John Minor Wisdom United States Court of Appeals Building.
As a young man, Wisdom was a Democrat, but he left that party in reaction to what he perceived as the corrupt administration of Louisiana governor Huey Long.
Judge Wisdom's former law clerks include U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander; Judge Martin Feldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana; Professor Philip Frickey of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law; Ricki Tigert Helfer, former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and Professor Barry Sullivan, former dean of the Washington and Lee University School of Law.
Wisdom's official biography is being written by Professor Joel William Friedman of the Tulane University Law School. Several chapters of the biography have been serialized to date in various law journals.
Quote
"The Constitution is both color blind and color conscious. To avoid conflict with the equal protection clause, 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 being perpetuated and to undo the effects of past discrimination. The criterion is the relevancy of color to a legitimate government purpose."
- - Wisdom, writing for the majority in U.S. v. Jefferson County Board of Education, 1967.
External links
- John Minor Wisdom U.S. Court of Appeals Building (http://www.lb5.uscourts.gov/History/JMWBldg/jmwbldg.pdf) (PDF)
- Friedman, Joel W., "Desegregating the South: John Minor Wisdom's Role in Enforcing Brown's Mandate". Tulane Law Review, Vol. 78, No. 6, 2004. [1] (http://ssrn.com/abstract=565022)