Assembly Resolution No. 463

BY: M. of A. Jaffee

COMMEMORATING the observance of the 6th Annual
Thurgood Marshall Day in New York on May 17, 2017

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body believes that creating a day to honor
Thurgood Marshall will ensure that the State of New York and its
residents commemorate and acknowledge the actions of Thurgood Marshall;
and

WHEREAS, The late Justice Thurgood Marshall was one of this
country's premier champions of civil rights; he championed the most
important premises of democratic government -- freedom, equality and
justice for all -- and successfully utilized the courthouse to advocate
for, and champion the cause of, equal treatment under the law; and

WHEREAS, The Honorable Thurgood Marshall is one of the most
well-known figures in the history of the civil rights movement in
America and the first African American United States Supreme Court
Justice, serving for 24 years between 1967 and 1991; and

WHEREAS, The Honorable Thurgood Marshall is most commonly known for
his stellar representation of the NAACP before the Supreme Court of the
United States in the matter of Brown v. The Board of Education, which
led the Supreme Court to declare the segregation of public schools
illegal in the United States; this year marks the 61st Anniversary of
this landmark decision; and

WHEREAS, In the 1940s, Thurgood Marshall successfully argued for the
desegregation of a school in Hillburn, New York, Rockland County; and

WHEREAS, The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity - Eta Chi Lambda Chapter has
worked tirelessly to ensure that the legacy of Thurgood Marshall is
recalled and honored; and

WHEREAS, Through the efforts of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity - Eta Chi
Lambda Chapter, a historical commemorative marker was erected in the
Village of Hillburn, New York, commemorating his efforts; and

WHEREAS, The Main School in Hillburn, New York, was added to the New
York State and National Registers of Historic Places for Thurgood
Marshall's work in desegregating the school in the 1940s; and

WHEREAS, In addition to desegregation of schools, Thurgood Marshall
was a lead advocate who successfully argued challenges against "white
only" primary elections and restrictive covenants in real property
against people of color; and

WHEREAS, Justice Thurgood Marshall passed away on January 24, 1993,
and, in his eulogy to the late Thurgood Marshall, Chief Justice William
H. Rehnquist, referring to the words above the front entrance to the
United States Supreme Court, "Equal Justice for All", stated "Surely no
one individual did more to make these words a reality than Thurgood
Marshall"; and

WHEREAS, The notion of Equal Justice Under Law requires constant and
personal attention by each and every citizen if it is to work for the
benefit of all; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the observance of the 6th Annual Thurgood Marshall Day in
New York on May 17, 2017.