William Wayne Justice
Encyclopedia
William Wayne Justice was an American
jurist. He served as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas and a Senior United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas.
Justice was appointed to the federal bench by President Lyndon B. Johnson
. He worked throughout his life to protect civil rights, uphold constitutional freedoms, and ensure equal justice for all. His public service earned awards and recognition, and the Center for Public Interest Law at the University of Texas at Austin honors his name and career. His landmark rulings have safeguarded the rights of minorities, the poor, and the politically powerless in many areas. These decisions addressed race discrimination in schools and housing, inhumane treatment in public facilities, the dilution of voting rights, inadequate education for immigrant and non-English speaking children, and the unnecessary institutionalization of the mentally retarded.
. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas, graduating from its School of Law in 1942. He joined the U.S. Army and served in India
during World War II
. In 1946, he began practicing law in Athens with his father, who was known as a voice for the disadvantaged. After serving as City Attorney in Athens for eight years, Judge Justice was selected by President John F. Kennedy
in 1961 to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, sitting in Tyler. Judge Justice took senior status
in 1998 and later sat by designation in the Western District of Texas.
On November 16, 2006, Justice received the first "Morris Dees Justice Award" given annually to a lawyer who has devoted his career to serving the public interest and pursuing justice, and whose work has brought about positive change in the community, state, or nation. It was created by the international law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and The University of Alabama School of Law to honor Morris Dees
for his life-long devotion to public service. Dees, who is co-founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center
in Montgomery
, Alabama
, presented the award at a ceremony in Skadden offices in New York City
.
Although his career on the bench has been a long and distinguished one, Justice was best known for Ruiz v. Estelle
and United States v. Texas.
In 1972, Texas prison inmate David Ruiz filed a fifteen page handwritten civil rights complaint alleging he was confined under unconstitutional conditions, harassed by prison officials, given inadequate medical care, and subjected to unlawful solitary confinement
. His complaint was combined with others to become Ruiz v. Estelle. The trial, which began in October 1978, lasted a year; 349 witnesses testified. The case resulted in a complete overhaul of the Texas prison system.
In November 1970, Judge Justice ordered the Texas Education Agency
to begin desegregating Texas public schools. The order, known as United States v. Texas applied to more than 1,000 school districts and 2 million students, and was upheld on appeal by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Justice died on October 13, 2009, in Austin
. Though Governor
William Perry Clements, Jr.
, had frequently quarreled with Justice, Bill Hobby, the Democrat from Houston
and the lieutenant governor
under both of Clements' nonconsecutive terms, lauded the judge: "Judge Justice dragged Texas into the 20th century. God bless him. He was very unpopular, but he was doing the right thing."
Roper v. Beto, 318 F. Supp. 662 (E.D. Tex. 1970)
United States v. Texas, 321 F. Supp. 1043 (E.D. Tex. 1970), supplemented by 330 F. Supp. 235 (E.D. Tex. 1971)
Duke v. North Texas State University, 338 F. Supp. 990 (E.D. Tex. 1971)
McGuire v. Roebuck, 347 F. Supp. 1111 (E.D. Tex. 1972)
Graves v. Barnes, 343 F. Supp. 704 (W.D. Tex. 1972)
Morales v. Turman, 383 F. Supp. 53 (E.D. Tex. 1974)
United States v. Hall, 468 F. Supp. 123 (E.D. Tex. 1979)
Wells v. Hutchinson, 499 F. Supp. 174 (E.D. Tex. 1980)
Jones v. Latexo Independent School District, 499 F. Supp. 223 (E.D. Tex. 1980)
Young v. Pierce, 544 F. Supp. 1010 (E.D. Tex. 1982)
Lelsz v. Kavanagh, 98 F.R.D. 11 (E.D. Tex. 1982)
Nash v. Texas, 632 F. Supp. 951 (E.D. Tex. 1986)
Young v. Pierce, 640 F. Supp. 1476 (E.D. Tex. 1986)
Texans Against Censorship, Inc. v. State Bar of Texas, 888 F. Supp. 1328 (E.D. Tex. 1995)
Ruiz v. Johnson, 37 F. Supp. 2d 855 (S.D. Tex. 1999)
Frew v. Gilbert, 109 F. Supp. 2d 579 (E.D. Tex. 2000)
Frew v. Hawkins, 401 F. Supp. 2d 619 (E.D. Tex. 2005)
"Burrs Under the Saddle." Texas Bar Journal 68 (July 2005): 609-610.
"Law Day Address at the University of Texas at Austin: The Enlightened Jurisprudence of Justice Thurgood Marshall." Texas Law Review 71 (May 1993): 1099-1114.
"The New Awakening: Judicial Activism in a Conservative Age." Southwestern Law Journal 43 (October 1989): 657-676.
"Recognizing the Ninth Amendment's Role in Constitutional Interpretation." Texas Law Review 74 (May 1996): 1241-1244.
"A Relativist Constitution." University of Colorado Law Review 52 (1980–1981): 19-32.
"The Two Faces of Judicial Activism." George Washington Law Review 61 (November 1992): 1-13.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jurist. He served as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas and a Senior United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas.
Justice was appointed to the federal bench by 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...
. He worked throughout his life to protect civil rights, uphold constitutional freedoms, and ensure equal justice for all. His public service earned awards and recognition, and the Center for Public Interest Law at the University of Texas at Austin honors his name and career. His landmark rulings have safeguarded the rights of minorities, the poor, and the politically powerless in many areas. These decisions addressed race discrimination in schools and housing, inhumane treatment in public facilities, the dilution of voting rights, inadequate education for immigrant and non-English speaking children, and the unnecessary institutionalization of the mentally retarded.
Early life
Justice was born in 1920 in Athens, TexasAthens, Texas
Athens is a city in Henderson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,710. It is the county seat of Henderson County. According to the Texas Legislature, Athens is the "Original Home of the Hamburger"...
. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas, graduating from its School of Law in 1942. He joined the U.S. Army and served in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
during 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...
. In 1946, he began practicing law in Athens with his father, who was known as a voice for the disadvantaged. After serving as City Attorney in Athens for eight years, Judge Justice was selected by 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....
in 1961 to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, sitting in Tyler. Judge Justice took senior status
Senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges, and judges in some state court systems. After federal judges have reached a certain combination of age and years of service on the federal courts, they are allowed to assume senior status...
in 1998 and later sat by designation in the Western District of Texas.
Honors and recognition
In 2004, the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law was established in his honor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. The Justice Center promotes equal justice for all through legal education, scholarship and public service.On November 16, 2006, Justice received the first "Morris Dees Justice Award" given annually to a lawyer who has devoted his career to serving the public interest and pursuing justice, and whose work has brought about positive change in the community, state, or nation. It was created by the international law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and The University of Alabama School of Law to honor Morris Dees
Morris Dees
Morris Seligman Dees, Jr. is the co-founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center , and a former direct mail marketeer for book publishing. Along with his law partner, Joseph J...
for his life-long devotion to public service. Dees, who is co-founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
in Montgomery
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, 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...
, presented the award at a ceremony in Skadden offices in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Although his career on the bench has been a long and distinguished one, Justice was best known for Ruiz v. Estelle
Ruiz v. Estelle
Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F. Supp. 1265 , filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, eventually became the most far-reaching lawsuit on the conditions of prison incarceration in American history...
and United States v. Texas.
In 1972, Texas prison inmate David Ruiz filed a fifteen page handwritten civil rights complaint alleging he was confined under unconstitutional conditions, harassed by prison officials, given inadequate medical care, and subjected to unlawful solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
. His complaint was combined with others to become Ruiz v. Estelle. The trial, which began in October 1978, lasted a year; 349 witnesses testified. The case resulted in a complete overhaul of the Texas prison system.
In November 1970, Judge Justice ordered the Texas Education Agency
Texas Education Agency
The Texas Education Agency is a branch of the state government of Texas in the United States responsible for public education. The agency is headquartered in the William B...
to begin desegregating Texas public schools. The order, known as United States v. Texas applied to more than 1,000 school districts and 2 million students, and was upheld on appeal by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Justice died on October 13, 2009, in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. Though Governor
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...
William Perry Clements, Jr.
Bill Clements
William Perry "Bill" Clements, Jr. was the 42nd and 44th Governor of Texas, serving from 1979 to 1983 and 1987 to 1991. Clements was the first Republican to have served as governor of the U.S. state of Texas since Reconstruction...
, had frequently quarreled with Justice, Bill Hobby, the Democrat from Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
and the lieutenant governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
under both of Clements' nonconsecutive terms, lauded the judge: "Judge Justice dragged Texas into the 20th century. God bless him. He was very unpopular, but he was doing the right thing."
Other notable cases
Montgomery v. White, 320 F. Supp. 303 (E.D. Tex. 1969)Roper v. Beto, 318 F. Supp. 662 (E.D. Tex. 1970)
United States v. Texas, 321 F. Supp. 1043 (E.D. Tex. 1970), supplemented by 330 F. Supp. 235 (E.D. Tex. 1971)
Duke v. North Texas State University, 338 F. Supp. 990 (E.D. Tex. 1971)
McGuire v. Roebuck, 347 F. Supp. 1111 (E.D. Tex. 1972)
Graves v. Barnes, 343 F. Supp. 704 (W.D. Tex. 1972)
Morales v. Turman, 383 F. Supp. 53 (E.D. Tex. 1974)
United States v. Hall, 468 F. Supp. 123 (E.D. Tex. 1979)
Wells v. Hutchinson, 499 F. Supp. 174 (E.D. Tex. 1980)
Jones v. Latexo Independent School District, 499 F. Supp. 223 (E.D. Tex. 1980)
Young v. Pierce, 544 F. Supp. 1010 (E.D. Tex. 1982)
Lelsz v. Kavanagh, 98 F.R.D. 11 (E.D. Tex. 1982)
Nash v. Texas, 632 F. Supp. 951 (E.D. Tex. 1986)
Young v. Pierce, 640 F. Supp. 1476 (E.D. Tex. 1986)
Texans Against Censorship, Inc. v. State Bar of Texas, 888 F. Supp. 1328 (E.D. Tex. 1995)
Ruiz v. Johnson, 37 F. Supp. 2d 855 (S.D. Tex. 1999)
Frew v. Gilbert, 109 F. Supp. 2d 579 (E.D. Tex. 2000)
Frew v. Hawkins, 401 F. Supp. 2d 619 (E.D. Tex. 2005)
Publications in his honor
- Blais, Lynn E. "William Wayne Justice: The Life of the Law." Texas Law Review 77.1 (Nov. 1998): 1-7.
- "Dedication and Tributes. Judge William Wayne Justice." Annual Survey of American Law 1986 (Apr. 1987): vii-xx.
- Dubose, Louis. "A Texas ‘Advocate for Justice.'" The Nation 13 November 2000: 20-22.
- Elliot, Janet. "Justice Recognized for a Career built on Seminal Cases." Houston Chronicle 4 December 2006.
- Gamino, Denise. "High-profile Justice Hitting Trail to Austin." The Austin-American Statesman 25 May 1998: A1.
- Hall, Michael. "Justice Is Not Done." Texas Monthly, October 2006.
- Hood, Lucy. "Educating Immigrant Students." Carnegie Reporter 4.2 (Spring 2007).
- Ivins, Molly. "Texas-size Void Left with Exodus of Judge Justice." The Fresno Bee, 13 May 1998: B7.
- Jackson, Bruce. "Texas Prisons Go On Trial." The Nation 28 October 1978: 437-9.
- Kemerer, Frank R. William Wayne Justice: A Judicial Biography. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991.
- Klimko, Frank, and Evan Moore. "'Czar of Texas'/William Wayne Justice Takes Heavy Criticism with Grace." The Houston Chronicle 11 January 1987: 1.
- Maraniss, David. "Justice, Texas Style." The Washington Post 28 February 1987: G1.
- Martin, Steve J. Texas Prisons: The Walls Came Tumbling Down. Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1987.
- Mithoff, Richard. "William Wayne Justice: Blessed by the Gifts of This Judicial Giant." The Houston Chronicle 15 November 1998: 1.
- Mithoff, Richard Warren. "A Tribute to Justice." Texas Law Review 77.9 (November 1998): 9-12.
- Politz, Henry A. "Judge Justice." Texas Law Review 77.13 (November 1998): 13-15.
- Vara-Orta, Francisco. "'Activist' Judge Still Battling Injustice." Austin American-Statesman 12 August 2006: 1.
- Walt, Kathy. "Judge Justice Left Footprints on Host of Social Reforms." The Houston Chronicle 8 February 1998: 1.
- Ward, Mike. "Judge Says Reforms Worked For Awhile." Austin American-Statesman 6 May 2007: A7.
- Ward, Mike. "Prisons Lawsuit Drawing to Close." Austin American-Statesman 8 June 2002:1
Scholarly publications
"Address: The Origins of Ruiz v. Estelle." Stanford Law Review 43 (November 1990): 1-12."Burrs Under the Saddle." Texas Bar Journal 68 (July 2005): 609-610.
"Law Day Address at the University of Texas at Austin: The Enlightened Jurisprudence of Justice Thurgood Marshall." Texas Law Review 71 (May 1993): 1099-1114.
"The New Awakening: Judicial Activism in a Conservative Age." Southwestern Law Journal 43 (October 1989): 657-676.
"Recognizing the Ninth Amendment's Role in Constitutional Interpretation." Texas Law Review 74 (May 1996): 1241-1244.
"A Relativist Constitution." University of Colorado Law Review 52 (1980–1981): 19-32.
"The Two Faces of Judicial Activism." George Washington Law Review 61 (November 1992): 1-13.