Obama era needs a ­Thurgood Marshall

Created on Wednesday, 23 January 2013 10:53 Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 January 2013 10:53 Published on Wednesday, 23 January 2013 10:53 Written by Courier Newsroom Hits: 1010

THURGOOD MARSHALL

by Bankole Thompson
(RTNS)—As America officially enters the Obama era with President Barack Obama preparing to take the oath of office Monday on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, laying his hand on the Bibles of President Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., swearing to defend the Constitution, the buzz among many inaugural attendees is that this is the time for another Justice Thurgood Marshall on the U.S. Supreme Court.
And two names Attorney General Eric Holder and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick are been circulated around as individuals who meet the qualification to inherit the legacy of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black to serve on the nation’s highest court.
The legacy of Justice Marshall who was replaced on the court with conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, an African-American is one that has far reaching implications given the weight of history and the legendary work of Marshall on civil rights at the height of Jim Crow.
But first that would mean an opening on the court which many observers expect to come soon in the Obama era with the possible retirement of one of the current justices.
“I think President Obama should appoint either Attorney General Holder or Governor Patrick. Either of them would serve with the same type of professionalism, understanding of the law and the sensitivity of what’s happening to people of color in the world at large,” said Jeff Wardford, a business and political analyst attending the inauguration. “ I would probably lean toward Holder because he is probably more aware on the real challenges out there and particularly with the law in his current role as Attorney General.”