___________________________________
LEGACY
Alliance of Black Women Attorneys of Maryland, Inc.
NEWSLETTER
SPECIAL EDITION
Vol. 2,
No. 1
A MESSAGE FROM THE
PRESIDENT
Dear Colleagues,
This year, many Americans are
celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the
historic decision of Brown v Board of
Education. Most importantly, we all
will celebrate the heroic efforts of
Thurgood Marshall and his team of
attorneys.
These individuals fought
endlessly to ensure that blacks would be
given equal treatment in educational
opportunities. However, this paramount
decision transformed society into an
arena of equal treatment in all public
arenas.
As America pauses to celebrate
these individuals, the Alliance of Black
Women Attorneys pauses to honor and
celebrate the heroism of our founders.
These women have forged a path to
ensure that Black women attorneys have
a voice and that we stay connected to our
community. They have taught us to
never underestimate the community
work that has brought us to these places
of power.
We honor these ladies for
reaching the upper echelons of their
chosen fields and opening doors that
were once closed. We honor these ladies
June 1, 2004
for not allowing education, income and
status to separate us. We honor these
ladies for reminding us that we are all
cut from the same cultural cloth and we
all have the same responsibility for
continuing to knock down barriers which
have historically prevented the black
community from receiving equal
treatment.
Finally, we honor these
ladies for providing us with a forum to
cultivate change.
Yes, we pause today to celebrate
the many pioneers that have ensured that
we are properly equipped to continue the
fight.
Robyn C. Scates, President 2003-2004
LEGAL COMMUNITY MOURNS
LOSS OF CHRISTANA
MARIA GUTIERREZ
By Gus G. Sentementes
Sun Staff
Originally published January 31, 2004
Maria Cristina Gutierrez, a criminal
defense lawyer known in Maryland's
legal community for her passionate
and pugnacious style, died of a heart
attack yesterday at St. Joseph
Medical Center in Towson. The 52year-old woman's ailment was
exacerbated by multiple sclerosis.
Throughout the 1990s, Ms. Gutierrez
argued cases with a tenacity that
earned the respect of her peers.
Upon graduating from the University
of Baltimore School of Law in 1980,
she began her career as an assistant
public defender in Baltimore.
Ms. Gutierrez, a longtime Baltimore
resident, honed her trial skills in that
job for several years before going
into private practice in the mid1980s.
Known
as
a
skillful
communicator before juries, Ms.
Gutierrez earned a reputation as a
tough foe for prosecutors.
Baltimore Circuit Judge Clifton J.
Gordy said that when Ms. Gutierrez
was practicing, she would have been
the first defense lawyer he would
have called if he were charged with
a serious crime. "And that's the
biggest compliment one lawyer can
give another," he said.
Ms. Gutierrez defended Baltimore
City Comptroller Jacqueline F.
McLean, who eventually pleaded
guilty to stealing more than $25,000
from taxpayers.
Other well-known cases included her
successful defense of an Anne
Arundel schoolteacher accused of
having sex with a student; a Howard
County mother and son accused of
molesting children at their day care
center; and two mothers accused of
killing their children.
"She wouldn't give up if she thought
an injustice was being perpetrated,"
said Phillip Dantes, a lawyer and
friend.
The second of 10 children, Ms.
Gutierrez attended Notre Dame
Preparatory School, but didn't go to
college upon graduation. Instead, she
began working in the anti-war, civil
rights and labor movements. She
eventually
finished
college
at
Antioch College in Baltimore in 1976.
But Ms. Gutierrez's ailing health
began to affect her career. She had
difficulty keeping up with her
caseload. Clients complained; a state
investigation was launched. Ms.
Gutierrez agreed to be disbarred in
2001.
"She just got to the point where she
couldn't do it anymore. She was too
weak," Mr. Dantes said.
In keeping with her tough-as-nails
image, she "wasn't all soft and
flowery" in her personal life, her
brother, Keith Carlos Gutierrez, said
yesterday. "But deep down inside,
we knew she loved us, and we loved
her. She died in a hospital room, and
all of her nine siblings were there,
and her parents, too."
Ms. Gutierrez is survived by a son,
Roberto Gutierrez; a daughter,
Micajaela Orallia Gutierrez; her
father,
Roberto
Gutierrez;
her
mother, Mary Theresa Gutierrez of
Towson;
six
brothers,
Robert
Gutierrez
of
Timonium,
David
Gutierrez of Salisbury, Richard
Gutierrez of Lutherville, Keith Carlos
Gutierrez of Towson, and Glen
Gutierrez and John Gutierrez, both of
Baltimore; and three sisters, Claire
Keane of Berlin, Elizabeth Reitz of
Towson and Diana Gutierrez of
Lutherville;
nephews.
and
19
nieces
and
Sun researcher Paul McCardell
contributed to this report.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
"He enjoys true leisure who
has time to improve his
soul's estate." –
Henry David Thoreau
SEMINAR FOR LAKE
CLIFTON/EASTERN LEGAL
STUDENTS A HUGE SUCCESS!
~~~~~~~~~~~
On Wednesday, April 21, 2004,
the Alliance hosted a seminar for
students in the Law-Related Education
Program at Lake Clifton/Eastern High
School. The program was co-sponsored
by the Baltimore City Solicitor’s Office,
The Monumental City Bar Association,
and the Women’s Law Center. Inc.
Approximately 40 students participated
in the seminar, which was held in the
Curran Conference Room in City Hall.
The program agenda included,
civil and criminal panel discussions, a
presentation/role play on domestic
violence by the Women’s Law Center, a
discussion of Brown vs. Board of
Education and Affirmative Action led by
Alliance President, Robyn C. Scates,
Esq., a roundtable discussion about law
school, undergraduate studies and
alternative legal careers, breakfast and
lunch. Deputy City Solicitor Donald R.
Huskey, Esq. presented an eloquent
closing speech to the students. The
students and teachers, as well as the
participants, thoroughly enjoyed the
event, and the Alliance looks forward to
continue this annual public service
activity.
At the MSBA Bar President’s
Conference on Oct. 23, 2003, the
Alliance won an award for Best Service
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
their time.
Anyone who is interested in
volunteering to participate in the
seminar next year should contact
Alliance corresponding secretary, Cheryl
Haskins days at 443-984-2301, or
[email protected].
AMENDED BY-LAWS READY FOR
DISTRIBUTION
Last year the Membership approved the
amended By-Laws for the organization. Copies
of the By-Laws will be distributed to all current
members at the at general body meetings
throughout the year.
GENERAL BODY MEETING &
NOMINATION OF NEW
OFFICERS
On May 17, 2004, the Alliance
held a General Body Meeting. At this
meeting nominations were accepted for
Executive Board Members for the 2004
– 2005 year. President-Elect is Erica
LeMon, Esq. The offices include:
President-Elect; Treasurer; Recording
Secretary; Corresponding Secretary;
Member(s)-at-Large;
Historian,
and
Student Representative(s).
We will also need: Chair of Professional
Development
Committee;
Chair
of
Membership/Recruitment & Retention
Committee; Chair of Special Events
Committee, and Chair of Judicial
Selection Committee.
REMINDER
Remember, in order to vote at
the Annual Meeting (date, place & time
TBD), you must pay your dues for the
2003-2004 year.
A membership
application (including committee sign-
up) is included at the end of this issue of
Legacy.
Please contact PresidentElect,
Robyn
C.
Scates
at
[email protected] or 443-865-7194 if
you are interested in a vacant position,
or have any questions or concerns.
_______________________________________
******
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 AfroAmerican 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)
1933
Receives law degree from Howard U. (magna cum laude); begins private
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)
1944
1948
1950
1951
Successfully argues Smith v. Allwright, overthrowing the South's "white
primary"
Wins Shelley v. Kraemer, in which Supreme Court strikes down legality of
racially restrictive covenants
Wins Supreme Court victories in two graduate-school integration cases,
Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents
Visits South Korea and Japan to investigate charges of racism in U.S. armed
forces. He reported that the general practice was one of "rigid segregation".
1954
Wins Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, landmark case that
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
1961
965
1967
Appointed circuit judge, makes 112 rulings, all of them later upheld by
Supreme Court (1961-1965)
Appointed U.S. solicitor general by President Lyndon Johnson; wins 14 of
the 19 cases he argues for the government (1965-1967)
Becomes first African American elevated to U.S. Supreme Court (19671991)
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.
Copyright © 1995 Lisa Cozzens (http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/feedback.html
________________________________________________________________________
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]
*********
REMINDER
NOMINATIONS ARE STILL BEING ACCEPTED FOR 2004-2005
OFFICERS FOR
THE ALLIANCE OF BLACK WOMEN ATTORNEYS OF MARYLAND, INC.