George N. Leighton facts for kids

George Neves Leighton (born George Neves Leitão; October 22, 1912 – June 6, 2018) was an American judge. He served as a federal judge in Illinois. Judge Leighton was known for handling cases related to housing, voting, and jury service. He especially focused on cases where people faced unfair treatment, particularly due to racism.

Early Life and Family

George Neves Leitão and his twin sister Georgina were born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Their parents, Ana Silva Garcia and António Neves Leitão, were immigrants from Brava, Cape Verde. At home, the family spoke a language called Crioulo.

When George was young, a teacher said she couldn't say his last name, "Leitão." So, his name was changed to "Leighton." He left school after sixth grade to help his father pick berries. He also worked on an oil tanker. Even without much schooling, he loved to read. In 1934, he started attending night school to catch up on his education.

Education and Military Service

In 1936, George Leighton won a scholarship and applied to Howard University. He was first turned down because he didn't have a high school diploma. However, the school's registrar, F.D. Wilkinson, gave him a chance. He said if George could do well without a diploma, they would let him become a full student.

Even though he felt his English wasn't great, George made the Dean's List in his first semester. This meant he was doing very well in his classes. He stayed on the Dean's List every semester. In 1940, he graduated with high honors (magna cum laude) with a degree in history. He also earned a military commission from Howard's AROTC program. Later, he was accepted into Harvard Law School.

During his second year of law school, World War II began. George Leighton was sent to Fort Benning in Georgia in March 1942. He then went to Fort Huachuca in Arizona. After that, he served in the Pacific Theater as part of the segregated 93rd Infantry Division. He became a military captain and earned several awards for his service, including the Bronze Star Medal. After the war ended in 1945, he returned to Harvard Law School and earned his law degree in 1946.

Law Career and Judgeships

After passing the bar exam in Massachusetts in 1946, George Leighton moved to Chicago. He was impressed that a Black congressman, William Dawson, had been elected there. He passed the Illinois Bar exam in 1947.

In his early years as a lawyer, he worked in private practice. From 1947 to 1952, he led a local Democratic organization. In 1949, he was elected Assistant State Attorney General of Illinois. He served two terms. In 1951, he helped start one of the largest Black law firms in the United States, Moore, Ming, and Leighton. At this time, Chicago was still very segregated. He couldn't rent an office from a white landlord. So, he moved his office to the South Side. Many of his clients were poor, so he often worked for free.

In 1964, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley asked Leighton to run for Circuit Court judge. He won by a lot, even though he was the only Black person on the Democratic ticket. The next year, he started teaching at the John Marshall Law School.

In 1969, he was asked to serve on the Illinois Court of Appeals. He accepted and worked in that role for 11 years. He was the first Black man to be appointed to this position. In 1975, he was recommended to President Gerald Ford to become a United States District Court judge. He took on this role until 1987. He stepped down because his wife, Virginia, became ill. He became a "senior judge" the year before, which meant he could work less. After leaving the bench, he worked for a law firm to earn money for his wife's medical care. He finally left that job in 2011, when he was 99 years old.

Judge Leighton often traveled to the South to help with civil rights issues. He met many important Black leaders. He mentored lawyers like Barack Obama and even had Martin Luther King Jr. as a client at one point.

Important Cases

George Leighton worked on many important cases that helped fight unfairness and segregation.

Schnell v. Davis (1949)

This case was about a rule called the Boswell Amendment. This rule made people take a test to explain a part of the U.S. Constitution before they could vote. This test was used to stop Black people from voting.

Leighton went to Mobile, Alabama, to help 10 Black people who were told their answers were not good enough. Meanwhile, white people with less education were allowed to register. Leighton argued that the Boswell Amendment was unfair and against the Constitution. The court agreed, saying the rule was used to stop people from voting based on their race. This was against the Fifteenth Amendment.

Harrisburg School Desegregation (1951)

In 1950, schools in Harrisburg, Illinois, stopped Black children from going to schools other than the all-Black Lincoln School. Leighton represented six parents and their 14 children. He filed a lawsuit to make the Harrisburg schools desegregate, meaning they had to allow all children to attend any school, regardless of race. He also pointed out that Black-only schools had worse facilities. He argued that segregation went against the Fourteenth Amendment.

In March 1951, the court ordered Harrisburg schools to desegregate by October 1. The school board agreed to let Black children go to the schools closest to their homes and to close the Black-only school. In October 1951, inspectors checked the schools to make sure desegregation had happened.

Cicero Race Riots (1951)

In 1951, a Black family tried to rent an apartment in Cicero, Illinois, which was an all-white area. They were turned away. Leighton gave them legal permission to rent the apartment. When they returned in July 1951, about 4,000 white residents rioted. The apartment building was set on fire.

Even though 60 police officers were there, they didn't control the crowd. The mob caused a lot of damage. Leighton and five other people were accused of causing the riot. Three months later, the charges against Leighton were dropped. He later said this experience helped him understand when defendants claimed they were innocent. All the charges were eventually dropped, except for the one against the Cicero Police Chief, who was accused of not stopping the riot.

The family later moved to Detroit. After the riot, another Black family bought the home and rented it to anyone, especially war veterans.

Earl Howard Pugh (1955)

In 1936, Earl Howard Pugh was wrongly arrested for a crime. He was sentenced to life in prison. In 1951, Leighton discovered that the police had forced a false confession from Pugh. They had also hidden documents that would have shown he was innocent. Pugh was released in 1955 after 19 years in prison. He was given money by the state of Illinois as a form of apology for the injustice.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1960)

In 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for a traffic violation in Georgia. He was falsely charged with driving without a license. He was put on probation, meaning if he broke any more laws, he would go to jail. A few days later, he took part in a peaceful protest (a sit-in) at a department store. He was arrested again and sentenced to four months in prison.

Leighton and Thurgood Marshall helped represent him during his appeal. While in jail, King contacted presidential candidates. John F. Kennedy's brother, Robert F. Kennedy, contacted the judge, and the decision was changed.

Lloyd Eldon Miller Jr. v. Pate (1967)

This was a very important case where Leighton worked pro bono (for free) starting in 1963. Lloyd Eldon Miller Jr. had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. Leighton argued that the lawyers for the state had hidden important evidence that would have shown Miller was innocent.

Over time, new information came out. A journalist found out that two young girls had seen Miller at the time of the crime, which meant he couldn't have done it. Also, one of Miller's ex-girlfriends admitted she had lied in court because a police officer paid her to. She said Miller had told her he was going to be blamed for the crime, not that he committed it.

Miller also said that after his arrest, he was held for a long time without being able to contact his family or a lawyer. He was tricked into signing a paper he didn't realize was a confession.

In 1967, Miller's legal team found that prosecutors had hidden a key piece of evidence for over eight years: a strand of hair found at the scene did not belong to Miller. This information was known before the first trial. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court quickly and unanimously overturned Miller's conviction. They said they would not allow a conviction that was based on false evidence that the state knew about. Miller was released from prison in March 1967 after 11 years.

Memberships and Leadership

George Leighton was part of many different groups and held many leadership roles. He was involved in:

• Political groups, including the Democratic Party.
• Law groups, such as the American Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association.
• Civil rights groups, like the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP. He was even chairman of the NAACP Chicago chapter's Legal Redress Committee.
• University groups, including alumni associations for Howard University and Harvard University.

Personal Life and Death

George Leighton met his wife, Virginia Berry Quivers, at Howard University. They got married and had two daughters, Virginia Anne and Barbara Elaine. Virginia had several strokes in the late 1980s. George retired from his judge position to earn more money in private practice so she could have constant medical care. Virginia passed away in 1992.

George Leighton lived to be 100 years old in October 2012. He spent his last years in Massachusetts. He died from pneumonia on June 6, 2018. He was survived by his two daughters, five grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. He always wanted to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and his family made sure that happened.

Leighton loved playing chess. He traveled often for big chess tournaments across the country. He stopped traveling for tournaments in 1997 and played his last one in 2002. In the 1980s, he even beat a very high-level chess player called a Grandmaster.

Legacy and Honors

George Leighton received many awards and honors for his important work:

• In 2005, a USPS building in his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts was named the "Honorable Judge George N. Leighton Post Office Building."
• In 2008, Harvard Law School created the Honorable George N. Leighton Endowed Fund to help other promising students.
• In 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court created the "Honorable George N. Leighton Justice Award." This award recognizes people who have done great service in the legal community. George Leighton was the very first person to receive this award.
• In 2012, the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago was renamed the "Hon. George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building."
• In 2019, he was given the Medal of Merit First Class from the Republic of Cape Verde.

See also

• List of African-American jurists