HR 9101 2003
1	House Resolution
2	A resolution honoring Jesse J. McCrary, Jr.
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4	WHEREAS, born in Blitchton, Florida, the son of a Baptist
5	preacher, Jesse J. McCrary, Jr., lived his life according to the
6	principles he was taught from early childhood, and
7	WHEREAS, Jesse McCrary became active in America's civil
8	rights struggle in 1956, organizing sit-ins in Tallahassee while
9	he was a political science major at Florida Agricultural and
10	Mechanical University, the institution to which he returned
11	after serving an honorable stint in the United States Army and
12	from which he earned a law degree in 1965, and
13	WHEREAS, Jesse J. McCrary, Jr., was the first African
14	American to serve Florida as Assistant Attorney General; the
15	first African American to sit as a judge on the Industrial
16	Relations Commission for the state; and, as Secretary of State
17	under Governor Reubin Askew, the first African American since
18	Reconstruction to hold a cabinet position in Florida, and
19	WHEREAS, a preeminent authority on constitutional law,
20	Jesse McCrary has lectured extensively at prestigious law
21	schools throughout the country, has won 10 landmark cases
22	presented before the Florida Supreme Court, and, as the first
23	African American to plead on behalf of a southern state before
24	the United States Supreme Court, successfully argued Williams v.
25	State of Florida, a case that established the right to a jury of
26	less than 12 persons, and
27	WHEREAS, for more than 40 years, Jesse McCrary has served
28	his community, his state, and his nation with remarkable fervor
29	and distinction as an attorney, a civil rights and community
30	activist, a motivational speaker, a mentor, and a treasured
31	friend, NOW, THEREFORE,
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33	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
34	Florida:
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36	That the House of Representatives pauses in its
37	deliberations to pay homage to Jesse J. McCrary, Jr., a living
38	legend who has distinguished himself in his profession and given
39	of himself in the service of mankind.
40	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
41	presented to Jesse J. McCrary, Jr., as a tangible token of the
42	sentiments expressed herein.
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