|
|
|
|
|
1
|
House Resolution |
|
2
|
A resolution honoring Jesse J. McCrary, Jr. |
|
3
|
|
|
4
|
WHEREAS, born in Blitchton, Florida, the son of a Baptist |
|
5
|
preacher, Jesse J. McCrary, Jr., lived his life according to the |
|
6
|
principles he was taught from early childhood, and |
|
7
|
WHEREAS, Jesse McCrary became active in America's civil |
|
8
|
rights struggle in 1956, organizing sit-ins in Tallahassee while |
|
9
|
he was a political science major at Florida Agricultural and |
|
10
|
Mechanical University, the institution to which he returned |
|
11
|
after serving an honorable stint in the United States Army and |
|
12
|
from which he earned a law degree in 1965, and |
|
13
|
WHEREAS, Jesse J. McCrary, Jr., was the first African |
|
14
|
American to serve Florida as Assistant Attorney General; the |
|
15
|
first African American to sit as a judge on the Industrial |
|
16
|
Relations Commission for the state; and, as Secretary of State |
|
17
|
under Governor Reubin Askew, the first African American since |
|
18
|
Reconstruction to hold a cabinet position in Florida, and |
|
19
|
WHEREAS, a preeminent authority on constitutional law, |
|
20
|
Jesse McCrary has lectured extensively at prestigious law |
|
21
|
schools throughout the country, has won 10 landmark cases |
|
22
|
presented before the Florida Supreme Court, and, as the first |
|
23
|
African American to plead on behalf of a southern state before |
|
24
|
the United States Supreme Court, successfully argued Williams v. |
|
25
|
State of Florida, a case that established the right to a jury of |
|
26
|
less than 12 persons, and |
|
27
|
WHEREAS, for more than 40 years, Jesse McCrary has served |
|
28
|
his community, his state, and his nation with remarkable fervor |
|
29
|
and distinction as an attorney, a civil rights and community |
|
30
|
activist, a motivational speaker, a mentor, and a treasured |
|
31
|
friend, NOW, THEREFORE, |
|
32
|
|
|
33
|
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of |
|
34
|
Florida: |
|
35
|
|
|
36
|
That the House of Representatives pauses in its |
|
37
|
deliberations to pay homage to Jesse J. McCrary, Jr., a living |
|
38
|
legend who has distinguished himself in his profession and given |
|
39
|
of himself in the service of mankind. |
|
40
|
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be |
|
41
|
presented to Jesse J. McCrary, Jr., as a tangible token of the |
|
42
|
sentiments expressed herein. |
|
43
|
|
