Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree opens this panel by announcing, "This is a very momentous and emotional day
for me…, and I can imagine what all of these lawyers and judges here were feeling fifty years ago, on April 17th, 1954, as they awaited
the Supreme Court’s decision on the Brown case." As the Court had upheld the doctrine of separate but equal until the 1950s, no one
could know what the outcome of the Brown case would be. However, the lawyers were united by a shared faith and conviction that they were
on the side of right. The lawyers reflect on the case’s significance in 1954 and discuss "its continuing significance as a matter of
how our country deals with the issues of race, justice, and equality."
Professor Ogletree wants to make the "enormity of their contributions" clear so it is not lost upon any aspiring lawyers
"who may not realize what happened 50 years ago and how important it is in terms of where we are today." He introduces each of the
panelists according to their seating order:
Judge Robert Carter is a senior judge of the Southern district of New York, as well as a general counsel for the NAACP.
He has argued twenty two cases for US Supreme Court and has won twenty one of them.
Judge Louis Pollak sits on the Eastern district of the federal court in Pennsylvania. He was one of the extraordinary
lawyers called to assist the NAACP as they prepared for Brown. Even decades after Brown, he is very active in making sure people
comprehend its significance.
Judge Constance Baker Motley, from the southern district of New York, is a staff attorney of NAACP Legal Defense and
Education fund. She was recruited by Thurgood Marshall to assist in the Brown case.
Judge Jack Weinstein, from the Eastern district of New York, is a lawyer who also assisted during Brown.
Jack Greenberg replaced Thurgood Marshall as director counsel of the NAACP. He worked at the NAACP from 1949-1984, and
then assumed a position at Columbia University's law school.
Oliver Hill was a classmate of Thurgood Marshall. He was trained by Charles Hamilton Houston, and he was involved in
dozens of cases around the nation. He was one of lead attorneys in the Brown case.
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