Burke Marshall
Encyclopedia
Burke Marshall was an American
lawyer and head of the Civil Rights Division
of the United States Department of Justice
during the Civil Rights Era.
. He attended the Phillips Exeter Academy
, graduating in 1940, and received a BA from Yale University
in 1943. He joined the army, working in the intelligence corps as a Japanese
translator
and cryptoanalyst
. It was during his military service that he met Violet Person, whom he later married.
After World War II
Marshall returned to Yale University Law School, earning his LL.D. in 1951. He was admitted to the Washington, D.C. bar
the same year.
Marshall joined the Washington-based law firm of Covington & Burling
in 1952, where he worked for ten years, specializing in antitrust
law for clients like Standard Oil
.
in 1961 by Robert Kennedy
, who was Attorney General
in President John F. Kennedy
's administration. Despite Marshall's lack of civil rights experience, he was put in charge of the Civil Rights Division, as Robert Kennedy had already decided not to appoint a known rights leader.
The relationship between Marshall and Kennedy had a difficult beginning. During their initial meeting little was said, with Kennedy remarking, "I have nothing in common with that man." However, as the civil rights movement heated up in the South, events brought them together.
During his time in government Marshall was a significant contributor to a number of advances in civil rights. In 1961 segregation on interstate travel was banned. The following year, the University of Mississippi
was forced to admit James Meredith
, a well qualified black student. Marshall and the Attorney General persuaded President Kennedy to enforce the order using federal troops.
Marshall also ran a campaign to increase voter registration by blacks. Within two years of coming into office, he had launched 42 federal lawsuits against states to reform their electoral legislation.
Marshall's focus was on results. He argued to not to use the 14th Amendment
to overcome discrimination, instead favoring the federal government's constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. As this power was reserved to the government, states had few legal options of recourse. Marshall used this as a basis to write the 1964 Civil Rights Act
, which prohibited discrimination in public facilities, in government and in employment.
Marshall's reputation was not that of an office-based bureaucrat, but of a hands-on negotiator who dealt with many of the major figures across the civil rights drama from Martin Luther King
and Governor George Wallace
of Alabama
.
Marshall resigned his office in December 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson
wrote on Marshall's formal letter of resignation, "I have never known any person who rendered a better quality of public service."
and general counsel
at IBM
in 1965. He rose to senior vice president in 1969. Despite turning down the offer of a deanship at Yale Law School
when he resigned as Assistant Attorney General, he became a deputy dean
and professor
at YLS in 1970. In 1986 he was named Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor of Law, and later Professor Emeritus. He was also the George W. Crawford
Professorial Lecturer in Law. At the Yale Law School, Marshall taught courses in constitutional law, federal jurisdiction, and political and civil rights. Among his most innovative and well-known courses was "The Limits of the Law," which he co-taught at first with Professor Joseph Goldstein and later with both Professor Goldstein and Aharon Barak
, Chief Justice of the Israel Supreme Court. He also co-taught a course on Religion and the Law with Professor Perry Dane at a time when this subject was rarely taught as a course to itself at major law schools.
Marshall was the chair of the Vera Institute of Justice Board of Trustees between 1966 and 1986. He also chaired the Center for Employment Opportunities in 1996. In 1999 he received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights
.
, of complications of myelodisplasia, a bone marrow
disorder.
He was survived by his wife Violet P. Marshall, three daughters, Catie Marshall, Jane Marshall, both of Brooklyn, NY, and Josie Phillips of Plymouth, England
, as well as four grandchildren: Ian Marshall Bakerman and Morgan Montgomery Bakerman of Catie Marshall and Nelson Bakerman; and James Marshall Phillips and Samuel Burke Phillips, who are the sons of Josie and Greg Phillips.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer and head of the Civil Rights Division
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
of the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
during the Civil Rights Era.
Early years
Marshall was born in Plainfield, New JerseyPlainfield, New Jersey
Plainfield is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population increased to a record high of 49,808....
. He attended the Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
, graduating in 1940, and received a BA from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1943. He joined the army, working in the intelligence corps as a Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
and cryptoanalyst
Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves knowing how the system works and finding a secret key...
. It was during his military service that he met Violet Person, whom he later married.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Marshall returned to Yale University Law School, earning his LL.D. in 1951. He was admitted to the Washington, D.C. bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
the same year.
Marshall joined the Washington-based law firm of Covington & Burling
Covington & Burling
Covington & Burling LLP is an international law firm with offices in Beijing, Brussels, London, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, San Diego, and Washington, DC. The firm advises multinational corporations on significant transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters...
in 1952, where he worked for ten years, specializing in antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
law for clients like Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
.
Government career
Marshall was appointed Assistant Attorney GeneralUnited States Assistant Attorney General
Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an Assistant Attorney General.The President of the United States appoints individuals to the position of Assistant Attorney General with the advice and consent of the Senate...
in 1961 by Robert Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
, who was Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
in President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's administration. Despite Marshall's lack of civil rights experience, he was put in charge of the Civil Rights Division, as Robert Kennedy had already decided not to appoint a known rights leader.
The relationship between Marshall and Kennedy had a difficult beginning. During their initial meeting little was said, with Kennedy remarking, "I have nothing in common with that man." However, as the civil rights movement heated up in the South, events brought them together.
During his time in government Marshall was a significant contributor to a number of advances in civil rights. In 1961 segregation on interstate travel was banned. The following year, the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
was forced to admit James Meredith
James Meredith
James H. Meredith is an American civil rights movement figure, a writer, and a political adviser. In 1962, he was the first African American student admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi, an event that was a flashpoint in the American civil rights movement. Motivated by President...
, a well qualified black student. Marshall and the Attorney General persuaded President Kennedy to enforce the order using federal troops.
Marshall also ran a campaign to increase voter registration by blacks. Within two years of coming into office, he had launched 42 federal lawsuits against states to reform their electoral legislation.
Marshall's focus was on results. He argued to not to use the 14th Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
to overcome discrimination, instead favoring the federal government's constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. As this power was reserved to the government, states had few legal options of recourse. Marshall used this as a basis to write the 1964 Civil Rights Act
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
, which prohibited discrimination in public facilities, in government and in employment.
Marshall's reputation was not that of an office-based bureaucrat, but of a hands-on negotiator who dealt with many of the major figures across the civil rights drama from Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
and Governor George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
Marshall resigned his office in December 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
wrote on Marshall's formal letter of resignation, "I have never known any person who rendered a better quality of public service."
Career after government service
After leaving government, Marshall returned to commercial legal practice, briefly rejoining Covington and Burling before becoming a vice presidentVice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
and general counsel
General Counsel
A general counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. The term is most used in the United States...
at IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
in 1965. He rose to senior vice president in 1969. Despite turning down the offer of a deanship at Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
when he resigned as Assistant Attorney General, he became a deputy dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
and professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at YLS in 1970. In 1986 he was named Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor of Law, and later Professor Emeritus. He was also the George W. Crawford
George W. Crawford
George Walker Crawford was a Georgia politician during the nineteenth century. He served as the 38th Governor of Georgia from 1843 to 1847 and United States Secretary of War 1849 to 1850. He was the cousin of William H...
Professorial Lecturer in Law. At the Yale Law School, Marshall taught courses in constitutional law, federal jurisdiction, and political and civil rights. Among his most innovative and well-known courses was "The Limits of the Law," which he co-taught at first with Professor Joseph Goldstein and later with both Professor Goldstein and Aharon Barak
Aharon Barak
Aharon Barak is a Professor of Law at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya and a lecturer in law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Yale Law School, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law....
, Chief Justice of the Israel Supreme Court. He also co-taught a course on Religion and the Law with Professor Perry Dane at a time when this subject was rarely taught as a course to itself at major law schools.
Marshall was the chair of the Vera Institute of Justice Board of Trustees between 1966 and 1986. He also chaired the Center for Employment Opportunities in 1996. In 1999 he received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights
Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights
The Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights was established in 1998 by the President of the United States Bill Clinton, honoring outstanding American promoters of rights in the United States....
.
Death
Marshall died June 2, 2003 aged 80 at his home in Newtown, ConnecticutNewtown, Connecticut
Newtown is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 27,560 at the 2010 census. Newtown was founded in 1705 and incorporated in 1711.-Government:...
, of complications of myelodisplasia, a bone marrow
Bone marrow
Bone marrow is the flexible tissue found in the interior of bones. In humans, bone marrow in large bones produces new blood cells. On average, bone marrow constitutes 4% of the total body mass of humans; in adults weighing 65 kg , bone marrow accounts for approximately 2.6 kg...
disorder.
He was survived by his wife Violet P. Marshall, three daughters, Catie Marshall, Jane Marshall, both of Brooklyn, NY, and Josie Phillips of Plymouth, England
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, as well as four grandchildren: Ian Marshall Bakerman and Morgan Montgomery Bakerman of Catie Marshall and Nelson Bakerman; and James Marshall Phillips and Samuel Burke Phillips, who are the sons of Josie and Greg Phillips.
External links
- CBS News, obituary, June 3, 2003
- New York Times, obituary, June 3, 2003
- Oral History Interview with Burke Marshall, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
- Yale Bulletin and Calendar, June 27, 2003
- The Guardian, obituary, June 6, 2003
- Vera Institute of Justice