JUDGE J. SKELLY WRIGHT AND THE RACIAL DESEGREGATION OF LOUISIANA

Abstract

Judge J. Skelly Wright’s principal claim to historic prominence resides in rulings he made on behalf of racial justice. Over the course of his thirty-seven years on the bench, he made notable contributions in other areas as well, including the protection of fairness in commercial transactions and the protection of federal constitutional civil liberties in disputes involving the press, protestors, and criminal defendants. But the decisions for which he is most highly esteemed, the opinions that most prompt our celebration, the rulings that have proven to be the most durably instructive are those in which Judge Wright struggled against racial injustice.