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Show TheSalt e Tribune OPINION Friday, May 28, 1999 Al7 Judge Wisdom’s 5th Circuit Court Stood for the Equality of All Men James Meredith wasthe first black were Southerners throughandthrough ROBYN BLUMNER admitted to the University ofMissis. Wisdom’s father had been apallbearer at Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's funeral — together they dismantled the De South's ingrained social structureof ra Bul it didn’t comeea: \rmed with a federal court orderis- law also was found lacking because its written test on the Constitution pre 2d poorly educated blacks from vot ng. In that 1965 opinion, Wisdom wrote “A wall stands in Louisiana bet on reg. istered voters and unregistered eligible Negro voters This wall, built to bar ied by the United States Court of Ap- cial hierarchy by ruling consistently for jwals for the 5th Circuit, Meredithtried to men’s equality inthe eyesofthe law. This zister for class at Ole Miss four times id was each time turned away — onceby simple and just idea branded them as traitors. Negroes from access to the franchise, Until 1981, when Florida, Georgia and Alabama were split off into the newly rules that kept blacks out of public parks and community pools, off juries andout of Actually,they were heroes. the governor himself, who flew to the ¢g@upus at Oxford to take over as the :Gfwol’s registrar for the sole purpose of Hacking Meredith's entry. —Hofore the former Air Force enlisted n Was finally able to begin his studies ve would be two people dead in ariot, is) federal marshals injured, with 28 ounded by gunfire, and 6,000 federal roops called out to restore order. Meredith and those who cameafter hin owe their opportunities to a handful {judges on the 5th Circuit whoactedas a ‘ tituttonal bulwark againstthe segretionist South. The courageous 1962 de- ision to admit himwaswritten by Judge Jon Minor Wisdom. On May 15, Judge igdom (ied, two days before his 94th inthday and the 45th anniversary of ST. PETERSBURG TIMES created 11th Circuit, the Sth Circuit en Brownvs. Board of Education, the land mark school desegregation case that he compassed muchofthe old Confederacy 2 a, andhis court spent an embattled decade breathing life into. Wisdom had been thelast surviving memberof “the Four,” a group of South: ern judges onthe 5th the Circuit who paved y for civil rights. The nickname camefromadissenting opinionbyafellow judge from Mississippi, whousedit derisively to describe the group as demolishers of the 's and traditions of the Old South. Eventhough Wisdom of Louisiana, Elbert Tuttle of Georgia, John Brown of Texas and Richard Rives of Alabama Alabama, Mississip During the 1960s, cuit was repeatedlycalled upon to go noseto nose with hard-coresegrega. tionist state legislatures and governors on issues involving civil rights. Each time, in ions frequently authored by the y Wisdom, the court rose to the challenge. riking down the South’s “in genious devices” designed to circumvent desegregation. When Louisiana attempted to bypass school desegregation by closing its public chools, the court in 1961 threw out the cheme. Louisiana’s voter registration must come down.” And down it came, as did laws and jobs. The court's ruling extending “one man, onevote” to state legislatures kept Southern lawmakersfrom nullifying black votin the aength of those who were able to registe: The work of the 5th Circuit was deeply despised within thestates it served. Wis: domhad two of his dogs poisoned and a Sadly, today’s 5th Cireuit is nothing like its predecessor. It's marke ny deference to local government actions and dismissiveness toward the Constitution Since President Ronald Reagan's appointments took over th: t ane Sth Circuit has upheld a Da nors, denying the city process before effectively under house arrest every placing them night. [t upheld a Texas school district's } “student-initiated” school pr Vv permitting at public duation ceremonies. scuttling the constitutional separation of church and state. And it routinely gives little consideration to death-row appeals, widening the powerofprosecutors. Infact, the court today has so little interest in standing upforbroad principles of social rattlesnake thrown on his lawn. Hate callers kept him awake through the night with their obscenity-laced rantings. But Wisdom and his colleagues persevered, justice that it would warm the spite personal risks. political winds to stand for the equality of all men, regardless of color or social st: tion. There may neve in be a cause as keeping a vigil on the Constitution, deIt's hard to imagine a court today with that kind of intellectual honesty and single-minded devotion to the ruleof law. anyboll weevil’s heart cockles of With Wisdom’s death. an era truly comes to an end. He represented a time whentheSth Circuit stecled itself against worthy, nora court as great Srumbling Republicans: GOP No LongerIdentified With Clear Setof Goals WASHINGTON The sound you ee coming from Capitol Hill these days is t nutiering of Republicans eo il thejr leadership. The opinion polls raising the minimumwageandregulat ing health maintenance organizations. JACK GERMOND JULES WITCOVER Meanwhile, they have not been able to fashion what amountstoafirmparty po sition on their ownfirst priority, tax reduction. how the Democrats at a distinct advan‘e right now, so someonehasto take the Some Republicans, moreover, areal: blame. ready looking aheadtotheendofthe year and another showdown with President '.In the Senate, the immediate target is Majority LeaderTrent Lott, whois being blamed for the clumsyhandlingofthe gun Clinton over how much to spend on which programs within the tight budget caps. They recognize that the president will control legislation that allowed Vice _-President Al Gore to play the hero and enjoyfar more leverage becausetheywill ist the decidingvoteforthe keybill. Republicans. who suspect that vote may show up in some campaign commercials next year, point out that the tie could have I avoided by asking somepolitically afe Republicanto switch onthebill. Asit playedout, the Democrats were dolighted with another piece of evidence sting Lott is not politically attuned to anyone except the 54 other Republicans leads, ioc di the House, there is grumbling about sigweaker Dennis Hastert’s management of » various measures expressing support this one played tit, the several votes taken together pro«4 jxoted the imageofthe Republicans taking ya partisan line against President Clinton owe question of war andpeace. That is iiel never again use their ultimate weapon andshut downthe government. There are still vivid memories of how their constit TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES. neversoundpolitics. The House Republicans haveaparticular reason for concern, of course, because they enjoy onlyafive-seat majority that might well be lost if the vote were taken today and the opinionpolls are uents reacted the last time the govern- The Republicans have been thrown on the de! ive even on issues they have “owned” in the past the most obvious being crime. Polls show voters put more trust in Clinton and the Democrats than in the Republicans to handle law enforce: ment questions. Meanwhile, with manyvoters the Republicans have becomeidentified first andforemost withsocial issues that may be very important to a few but are not likely to be decisive nationally. For example, like their counterpartsin the Senate this year, many House Republicans seem to think their mission inlife is helping the gun lobbyreversethe ban on The fundamental problem for the Re: publicans, however, goes far beyondthe automatic weapons. Others search militantlyfor opportunities to voice their oppositionto abortion rights by putting new strings on old programs mentwasshut down fouryearsago. unimpressive performances of Lott and It is true, of course, that the next con- Hastert in the current session of Con gressional election is still 17 months showDemocrats about 10 percent ahead gress. The problem is simply that the party no longer has aclearset of goals away. Andit is equally true that the outcomeof the Houseand Senate races may of Republicans on the general questionof party preference for Congress. The overall picture again assuming with which to beidentified. Theendof the Cold War has taken the communist threat off the table. And the balanced federal be influenced importantly by the results ofthe presidential election, where the reasonably urate, The latest surveys the polls are reasonably reflective is one of the Republicans on the “wrong” side of a whole list of issues, including gun control, campaign finance reform, budget, coupled with the booming econ: omy andresulting tide of revenues, has taken muchof the relevance out of the traditional demands forless spending. Republican prospects appear somewhat brighterright now. Moreover, there is no way to predict now how Americans will view the two parties in the context of issues that may Trent Lott not even have emerged yet. 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