Dear Diary,
Interesting reference request to locate the decisions of cases cited in a Washington Times article, titled "Same-sex parent rulings spark debate in California." http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050823-105215-5319r.htm
1) Reversed 16 Cal. Rptr. 3d 123
2)Reversed 13 Cal. Rptr. 3d 136
3)Reversed 13 Cal. Rptr. 3d 494
I attended an inspiring speech by 2 quite exceptional African-American Judges, the Honorable Judge Anne Williams http://www.nd.edu/~lawvisit/reflections_alumni.html, and the Honorable Judge George N. Leighton.
Judge Williams spoke of her foundation Just the Beginning http://www.jtbf.org/.
Judge Leighton spoke of having a post office named after him, a first of its kind occurrence http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/07-05/07-24-05/a04lo505.htm and http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r109:H04MY5-0029: and http://www.gop.gov/Committeecentral/bills/hr1542.asp
Background
Judge Leighton was born George Neves Leitao to Cape Verde immigrants Anna Silva Garcia and Antonio Neves Leitao, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on October 22, 1912. He attended grade school in New Bedford and on Cape Cod until he left the seventh grade to take a job on an oil tanker. But, he continued his education by reading books, attending night schools, and studying in Works Progress Administration classes. He went on to attend Howard University, after winning an essay contest, without EVER ATTENDING High School or completing Grade School!.
He worked an assortment of menial jobs and graduating with a degree from the College of Liberal Arts in 1940, magna cum laude. In September, 1940, he enrolled in the Harvard University School of Law, but his studies were interrupted by military service in World War II. He was awarded the Bronze Star for service during World War II. He received his LL.B. degree from Harvard in November of 1946.After graduation, Judge Leighton established a highly successful law practice in Chicago. He started his judicial career as a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, serving from 1964 to 1969; then he served as a Judge of the Appellate Court, First District from 1969 to 1976. In 1976, President Ford appointed Judge Leighton to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois where he served until 1987 when he became Counsel to the Chicago law firm of Earl L. Neal & Associates.
Among his many accomplishments and honors, Judge Leighton was the first African-American lawyer to sit on the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association, the first African-American judge to serve as a Chancellor in the Circuit Court of Cook County, and the first African-American judge to sit on the Illinois Appellate Court. Additionally, Judge Leighton has been a professor of law at the John Marshall Law School for twenty-seven years.
