a's Past General President.. .
Brother "Dutch" Morial, Louisiana's First Black Judge of Circuit Court of Appeals I.IH1
Past General President
Morial
Brother Ernest N. Morial, whose life has been marked by a succession of "firsts," today became the first black man to serve on the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. Judge Morial was sworn in by Chief Judge Julian Samuel in a crowded courtroom before scores of relatives, friends and well-wishers on the second floor of the Civil Courts Building. He was praised by members of the bench and bar at the ceremony, sponsored by the New Orleans Bar Association. Judge Morial, former Juvenile Court Judge, will serve as one of nine appeal court jurists. His first case, scheduled at 7 tonight, will be the appeal of Jim Garrison, defeated candidate for re-election as district attorney, from the decision of Civil Judge Thomas A. Early dismissing his suit to overthrow the election of his opponent, Harry F. Connick. Connick defeated Garrison in the Dec. 15 Democratic runoff election by some 2,200 votes, Garrison has charged vote fraud. JUDGE MORIAL'S wife, mother and five children heard him extolled by the principal speaker, Dr. Norman C. Francis, president of Xavier University. "Today in Ernest N. Morial," Dr. Francis said, "we have embodied a lifetime of preparation for the wisdom, courage, judicial temperament that this court demands and expects." 42
Dr. Francis said that "we appreciate the loneliness which often must be a part of the life of a judge, or for that matter, those who are in the public eye. "In Ernest Morial we have a young man who, for the totality of his professional life, has served the best and proper interests of his country, his state and his locality." JUDGE MORIAL, responding, said that "this event could not have occurred without the sacrifices of the many people who have contributed their time and effort in my behalf." He said he implored the Holy Spirit "to sustain me in faith, hope, charity, prudence and wisdom in the performance of my judicial duties, which will now require an almost monastic existence." Participants in the program included Harry McCall Jr., president of the New Orleans Bar Association, Archbishop Philip M. Hannan, who gave the invocation; Lt. Gov. James E. Fitzmorris Jr., acting governor, who presented Judge Morial's commission. Chief Justice Samuel, judge Morial's children, Julie C. Morial, 16; Marc H. Morial, 15; Jacques E. Morial, 12; Cheri Morial, 7, and Monique, 3; who presented the judicial robe, and the Rev. A. L. Davis Jr., pastor of New Zion Baptist Church, who gave the benediction. Judge Morial succeeded to the post vacated by the retirement of Chief Judge Godfrey Z. Regan. Judge Morial had been appointed to the Juvenile Court and subsequently was elected to a full term without opposition. He was elected in the Nov. 7 general election last year. Judge Morial was the first black man to receive a degree from the Louisiana State University School of Law; the first black to serve in the Legislature in this century and the first black Juvenile Court judge. He is on the Board of Governors of the Tulane University Medical Center and the Board of Directors of Loyola University. Brother Morial is the immediate Past General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
Maryland . . . (Continued from page 41) Shackelford, Howard Webb, Sr., and Richarti Williams. Their initiation brought the Chapter's active roster to 57, compared to 47 and 42, respectively, for the previous years of the Chapter's life. The Chapter chartered with 35 in the fall of 1970. With this year's goal being 75 active Brothers, a vigorous reclamation effort is under way. Under the third-year leadership of President Robert Hatchel, the Chapter is seeking to achieve other ambitious goals during the current year, including presenting a career-day program and exhibit to help expand the career horizons of local Black youth, awarding at least one significant-sum scholarship to a deserving college-bound student, providing
KEYNOTE SPEAKER — James Farmer, former HEW Assistant Secretary, delivers the keynote address during the conference on Black Education. The citizens' conference was sponsored last May by the Fraternity's Silver Spring, Md., Chapter.
the leadership for organizing a local panhellenic Council for concerted community work among all Greeks, organizing an Alpha College Chapter at the University of Maryland, and co-sponsoring — with the Wives' Club — the Ebony Fashion Fair. Besides President Hatchel, other local officers this year are: John Diggs, Vice President; Percy Pollard, Recording Secretary; Hanley Norment, Corresponding Secretary; Kenneth Jackson, Financial Secretary; Edward Young, Treasurer; Flynn Wells, Chaplain; John Walker, Dean of Pledges; and Emerson White, Associate Editor to The Sphinx. by — Hanley J. Norment Tha Sphinx / February 1974