Bill Text: WV SR56 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Honoring Franklin D. Cleckley, former Justice of the WV Supreme Court of Appeals
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-2)
Status: (Passed) 2013-04-04 - Completed legislative action [SR56 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2013-SR56-Introduced.html
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 56
(By Senators Kessler (Mr. President), Stollings, Cann, Yost, Beach, Prezioso, Williams, Sypolt, Edgell, McCabe, Carmichael, Fitzsimmons, D. Hall, Jenkins, Wells and Unger)
Honoring Franklin D. Cleckley, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, author, professor and distinguished public servant.
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley served for two years as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, the first African-American to do so, and authored over one hundred majority opinions; and
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley authored the “Handbook on Evidence for West Virginia Lawyers” and the “Handbook on West Virginia Criminal Procedures”, volumes referred to as the “Bible for West Virginia’s judges and attorneys” by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia; and
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley has taught at the West Virginia University College of Law since 1969, educating and mentoring future judges, lawyers, state and national legislators, educators and business and community leaders for forty-four years; and
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley was the first African-American member of the faculty and staff at the West Virginia University College of Law, and the first full-time African-American professor at West Virginia University; and
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley established The Franklin D. Cleckley Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization that gives former convicts educational and employment opportunities; and
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley founded at West Virginia University an eponymous symposium to bring distinguished members of the civil rights and African-American communities to the campus; and
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley successfully argued important antidiscrimination cases as a civil rights lawyer that helped integrate West Virginia and bring social justice to the state; and
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley often represented clients who could not afford to pay, serving as a one-man legal aid society and earning the reputation of being the “poor man’s Perry Mason”; and
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley helped revive the Mountain State Bar Association, the oldest minority bar in the United States, founded in 1915; and
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley served with distinction in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps and was the most requested lawyer by defendants; and
Whereas, Franklin D. Cleckley is a legal icon in the State of West Virginia and widely considered one of the nation’s greatest legal minds; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate:
That the Senate hereby honors Franklin D. Cleckley, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, author, professor and distinguished public servant; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to Franklin D. Cleckley.
