Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Film Marks 50th Anniversary of Thurgood Marshall’s Supreme Court Arrival



by Pete Williams

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court's elegant marble courtroom was the scene of a historic event 50 years ago, when Thurgood Marshall took his place as the nation's first African-American justice.

A movie opening Friday commemorates his arrival by featuring a lesser-known case from Marshall's pioneering work as a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Starring Chadwick Boseman, "Marshall" dramatizes his defense of a black chauffeur in Connecticut falsely accused of the rape and attempted murder of his white socialite employer. 

"Thurgood Marshall was almost single-handedly responsible for creating the concept of the civil rights lawyer," said Sherrilyn Ifill, the Legal Defense Fund's current president. "Before Marshall, it was unheard of — a lawyer who devoted his practice full-time to civil rights matters, and did so with the same level of excellence as attorneys practicing at the nation's top law firms."  

Click here for the full article.

Sources: NBC News and Open Road Films

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