Gray talk about the judge whom in 1958 he complimented for being a fair judge who treated him courteously, and who went on to become the governor of Alabama-Governor George Wallace. King by an all-white jury in Montgomery of criminal charges of tax evasion his role in investigating the infamous "Tuskegee Syphilis Study" and securing compensation for the numerous victims and many other historically significant matters. In his autobiography, Bus Ride to Justice, Gray also describes his representation of Claudette Colvin, the 15-year-old who was arrested on a Montgomery bus nine months before Rosa Parks his securing an acquittal of Dr. Lightfoot, in which the Court rejected the racial gerrymandering of Tuskegee. That led to a career of landmark cases defeating segregation throughout Alabama, including the Supreme Court case of Gomillion v. King called him "the brilliant young Negro who later came chief counsel for the protest movement."įred Gray opened his law practice in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954 with the mission of "destroying everything segregated I could find." One year later, this rookie lawyer represented his friend Rosa Parks and Dr. With OLLI instructor and speaker Doug MishkinĬongressman John Lewis called Fred Gray one of "the Founding Fathers of modern America." Meet the Lawyer for Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr.Ī Conversation with Pioneering Civil Rights Hero Fred Gray
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