Current:Home > Contact-usMaryland Supreme Court posthumously admits Black man to bar, 166 years after rejecting him-InfoLens
Maryland Supreme Court posthumously admits Black man to bar, 166 years after rejecting him
View Date:2024-12-23 16:51:30
BALTIMORE, Md. (AP) — More than a century after Edward Garrison Draper was rejected for the Maryland Bar due to his race, he has been posthumously admitted.
The Supreme Court of Maryland attempted to right the past wrong by hold a special session Thursday to admit Draper, who was Black, to practice law in the state, news outlets reported.
Draper presented himself as a candidate to practice law in 1857 and a judge found him “qualified in all respects” — except for his skin color and so he was denied.
“Maryland was not at the forefront of welcoming Black applicants to the legal profession,” said former appellate Justice John G. Browning, of Texas, who helped with the petition calling for Draper’s admission. “But by granting posthumous bar admission to Edward Garrison Draper, this court places itself and places Maryland in the vanguard of restorative justice and demonstrates conclusively that justice delayed may not be justice denied.”
Maryland Supreme Court Justice Shirley M. Watts said it was the state’s first posthumous admission to the bar. People “can only imagine” what Draper might have contributed to the legal profession and called the overdue admission an indication of “just how far our society and the legal profession have come.”
Judge Z. Collins Lee, who evaluated Draper in 1857, wrote that the Dartmouth graduate was “most intelligent and well informed” and would be qualified “if he was a free white Citizen of this State,” according to a transcription in a petition for the posthumous bar admission.
veryGood! (619)
Related
- 'America's flagship' SS United States has departure from Philadelphia to Florida delayed
- Courteney Cox Showcases Her Fit Figure in Bikini Before Plunging Into an Ice Bath
- Henry Cavill Reveals Why He Doesn't Like Sex Scenes
- Postal Service, once chided for slow adoption of EVs, announces plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions
- Britney Spears reunites with son Jayden, 18, after kids moved in with dad Kevin Federline
- Workers who cut crushed quartz countertops say they are falling ill from a deadly lung disease: I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy
- Powerball winning numbers for Monday night's drawing, with jackpot now at $214 million
- SZA speaks out about losing album of the year to Taylor Swift at the Grammys
- Why Cynthia Erivo Needed Prosthetic Ears for Wicked
- Student arrested, no injuries after shots fired at South Carolina State University
Ranking
- To Protect the Ozone Layer and Slow Global Warming, Fertilizers Must Be Deployed More Efficiently, UN Says
- Meta says it will label AI-generated images on Facebook and Instagram
- How the art world excludes you and what you can do about it
- Black churches, home for prayer and politics alike, get major preservation funds
- Cavaliers' Darius Garland rediscovers joy for basketball under new coach
- Federal judge denies temporary restraining order in Tennessee's NIL case against NCAA
- Town manager quits over anti-gay pressure in quaint New Hampshire town
- FAA tells Congress not to raise the mandatory retirement for pilots until it can study the issue
Recommendation
-
Research reveals China has built prototype nuclear reactor to power aircraft carrier
-
Slain CEO’s parents implore Maryland lawmakers to end good behavior credits for rapists
-
Break-up pizza: Goodbye Pies from Pizza Hut will end your relationship for you
-
Why AP called the Nevada Democratic primary for Joe Biden
-
Sean Diddy Combs' Lawyers File New Motion for Bail, Claiming Evidence Depicts a Consensual Relationship
-
NTSB says key bolts were missing from the door plug that blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9
-
Olympian Gabby Douglas Officially Returning to Gymnastics, Reveals Plans for 2024 Paris Olympics
-
How many Super Bowls have Chiefs won? Kansas City's championship history explained