美国名人最高法院大法官瑟古德·马歇尔.docx

美国名人最高法院大法官瑟古德马歇尔ThurgoodMarshall,1908-1993:FirstAfricanAmericantoServeontheUSSupremeCourtplaystopmutemaxvolume00:00-15:32repeatByPaulThompson2008-7-26VOICEONE:ThisisGwenOuten.VOICETWO:AndthisisDougJohnsonwithPeopleinAmericainVOASpecialEnglish.EveryweekwetellaboutapersonwhowasimportantinthehistoryoftheUnitedStates.TdaywetellaboutamanwhohelpedchangetheracialseparationlawsofAmerica,ThurgoodMarshall.(MUSIC)VOICEONE:ThurgoodMarshallwasbornafreeman.Butthefatherofhisgrandfatherwasaslave.HehadlivedinwhatwastheCongoareaofAfrica.AmanfromtheeasternAmericancityofBaltimore,Maryland,broughthimtotheUnitedStates.Helatersethimfree.ThurgoodMarshallThurgoodMarshallwasborninBaltimoreonJulysecond,nineteen-oh-eight.Inthatcity,andinmanyotherpartsoftheUnitedStatesatthattime,blackpeoplewereseparatedfromwhitepeoplebylaw.Blackchildrendidnotgotoschoolwithwhitechildren.Blackpeoplelivedonlyinareaswhereotherblackslived.VOICETWO:Overtheyears,ThurgoodMarshallbecameaverygoodstoryteller.Hetoldstoriesabouthimsetoraboutplaceshehadvisited.Often,thestorieswerefunny.Butmostalsohadaseriousmessage.OnestorywasaboutbeingintroublewithhisteacherswhenhewasaboyinBaltimore.MisterMarshallsaidoneofhisteacherspunishedhimbysendinghimtotheroomwheretheschool'sheatingequipmentwaskept.TherehewastoldtoreadandrememberthewordsoftheConstitutionoftheUnitedStates.TheConstitutionisalongdocument.ThurgoodMarshallsaidhereadallofit-morethanonceandlearnedtoremembermostofit.Hesaidthisschoolboypunishmentgavehimalife-longrespectfortheConstitution.Ashegrewolder,hebegantothinkabouttheConstitution'sguaranteesoffreedom.Thoseguarantees,hebelieved,shouldbeforpeopleofallraces,notjustforwhitepeople.(MUSIC)VOICEONE:ThurgoodMarshallattendedLincolnUniversityinthestateofPennsylvania.Hecompletedhisstudies,withhonors,innineteenthirty.HewantedtogotolawschoolattheUniversityofMaryland.Butofficialsatthatschoolrefusedtolethimattendbecausehewasblack.SohewenttolawschoolatHowardUniversityinWashingtonD.C.HowardUniversitywasaschoolforAfricanAmericans.ThurgoodMarshallgraduatedfirstinhisclass.Aftercompletinghislawstudies,heacceptedthecaseofayoungblackmanwhowantedtobecomealawyer;too.TheyoungmanwantedtoattendtheUniversityofMarylandlawschool.ItwasthesameschoolthathadrefusedtoadmitThurgoodMarshall.Again,theschoolrefusedtoletablackmanbecomeastudent.So,MisterMarshalltooklegalaction.Hewonthecase.Theyoungblackmanwaspermittedtoattendtheuniversity'slawschool.ThurgoodMarshallwouldgoontowinmanymorecasesdealingwithracialseparationlaws.AndyearslatetheUniversityofMarylandwouldnameitslawlibraryinhishonor.VOICETWO:ThurgoodMarshallwasaverygoodlawyer.Thepeopleherepresentedincourtwereblackandpoor.Heneverearnedmuchmoney.Buthisnamesoonbecamewellknown.TheNationalAssociationfortheAdvancementofColoredPeopleofferedhimajob.Hewenttoworkasoneofitslegalrepresentatives.Intime,hebecametheorganization'schieflegalrepresentative.HetraveledacrosstheUnitedStates.Hefoughtagainstracialseparationlaws.Healsodefendedblackpeoplewhowerechargedwithacrime,butwhodidnothavethemoneytopayforlegalhelp.ManyofthosecasesreachedAmerica'shighestcourt,theSupremeCourtoftheUnitedStates.Duringhislifeasalawyer,ThurgoodMarshallarguedcasesbeforetheSupremeCourtmorethanthirtytimes.Helostonlyafewcases.Slowly,thelawsofracialseparationinAmericabegantochange.ManyofthosechangesweretheresultoftheworkofThurgoodMarshall.VOICEONE:1.egalexpertssaythatThurgoodMarshall'smostimportantcasewastheoneknownas"BrownversusBoardofEducation."ThecaseinvolvedthecityofTopekainthemiddlewesternstateofKansas.Alawtheresaidthathavingseparateschoolsforblackstudentsandwhitestudentswaslegal,iftheschoolswerethesame.Itwastheideaof"separatebutequal".Buttheschoolswerenotequal.Whitechildrenreceivedabettereducationthanblackchildren.ThurgoodMarshallagreedtoarguethecasebeforetheSupremeCourt.Whennewspapersreportedthis,hebegangettingmessagesthreateninghimwithdeath.Othercivilrightslawyerssaidhewasmovingtooquickly.TheysaidadefeatintheBrowncasewouldgreatlydamagethecauseofcivilrights.Theytoldhimtowait,tomovemorecarefullyandslowly.VOICETWO:ThurgoodMarshalldidnotlistentothethreatsagainsthislife.Andhedidnotlistentothosewhosaidheshouldmovemoreslowly.TheSupremeCourtheardthecaseinnineteenfifty-four.MisterMarshallsaiditwasaviolationoftheConstitutiontoseparatepeoplebecauseoftheirrace.So,heargued,theraciallyseparatedschoolsinTopeka,Kansas,wereillegal.Headdedthatnothingcouldbeequalinraciallyseparatedschools.OneSupremeCourtjusticeaskedhimtoexplainwhathemeantbythewordequal.Heanswered:"Equalmeansgettingthesamething,atthesametime,andinthesameplace."TheSupremeCourtagreed.ItruledthatnoonecouldberejectedfromaschoolinTopekabecauseofrace.VOICEONE:Thecaseof"BrownversusBoardofEducation"providedthebasisforothercourtdecisions.IthelpeddestroytheterriblewalloflegalracialseparationthroughouttheUnitedStates.SomepeoplesayitisthemostimportantSupremeCourtdecisionofthetwentiethcentury.ThatdecisionwasthebeginningofyearsoflegalbattlesagainstracialseparationinAmerica'sschools.ItalsosentamessagetothepeopleofthenationthatblackAmericanshadthesamerightsaswhiteAmericans.ManyAfricanAmericanssaidMisterMarshall'svictoryinnineteenfifty-fourchangedtheirlivesandtheirfutures.VOICETWO:Innineteensixty-one,PresidentJohnKennedynamedThurgoodMarshalltobeajudgeofafederalappealscourt.Duringhisyearsonthatcourt,JudgeMarshallwrotemorethanonehundredopinionsondifferentlegalissues.SeveralofhisopinionsfromthosedayshavebeenapprovedaslawbyamajorityoftheSupremeCourt.JusticeMarshallservedontheSupremeCourtfor24yearsInnineteensixty-seven,PresidentLyndonJohnsonnominatedThurgoodMarshalltotheSupremeCourt.PresidentJohnsonsaidthenominationwastherightthingtodo,andtherighttimetodoit.ThurgoodMarshallbecamethefirstblackpersontoserveasaSupremeCourtJustice.Heservedfortwenty-fouryears.JusticeMarshallwroteopinionsaboutlegalrepresentationinAmerica'scriminaljusticesystem.Hesaideveryonehastherighttoberepresentedbyagoodlawyer;nomatterhowguiltytheymaybe.InhislastyearsontheSupremeCourt,heoftenvotedagainstthemajorityofthemoreconservativemembers.JusticeMarshallalwaysvotedindissentincasesinwhichthemajorityvotedthatadeathsentencewaslegal.Hesaidnooneshouldbeputtodeathforanyreason.VOICEONE:Innineteenninety-one,ThurgoodMarshallannouncedthathewouldretirefromtheSupremeCourt.Somereportssaidhenolongerwantedtofightagainsttheconservativemajorityofthecourt.Atanewsconference,areporteraskedhimwhyhewasretiring.JusticeMarshalllookedatthemanandsaid,simply:"Iamgettingoldandcomingapart."AnotherreporteraskedJusticeMarshallhowhewouldliketoberemembered.Hesatquietlyforamoment.ThenThurgoodMarshallsaid:"IwanttoberememberedfordoingthebestIcouldwithwhatIhad."(MUSIC)VOICETWO:ThisprogramwaswrittenbyPaulThompson.ItwasproducedbyLawanDavis.ThisisDougJohnson.VOICEONE:AndthisisGwenOuten.ListenagainnextweekforPeopleinAmericainVOASpecialEnglish.