HR 118 (LSB 6256YH (4) 87)

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 118

BY  NUNN

A Resolution designating the week of September 24 through 29, 2018, as the sesquicentennial celebration of the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision in Clark v. Board of Directors.

   WHEREAS, the 1868 Iowa Supreme Court decision in Clark v. Board of Directors (of Muscatine Schools), holding racial segregation of the public schools unconstitutional, is one of the most important court decisions in the history of American jurisprudence, and was hailed by Chief Justice Mark Cady in his 2018 State of the Judiciary Address as “a defining moment for Iowa and the nation”; and
   WHEREAS, the Iowa Supreme Court, relying upon the constitutional “principle of equal rights to all, upon which our government is founded,” was the first and one of only four state courts in the nineteenth century to strike down school segregation under state law; and
   WHEREAS, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected government-imposed segregation in public education 86 years before the United States Supreme Court did in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954; and
   WHEREAS, the Clark v. Board of Directors decision continues to have great vitality and relevance today, not only in its rejection of segregation and racism, but also as the precedent that demonstrated that the Iowa Constitution provides great protection for individual rights independent of the United States Constitution; and
   WHEREAS, both law schools in the state have close ties to the Clark v. Board of Directors decision, as Justice Chester Cole, the author of the Court’s opinion, was the co-founder and long-time dean and faculty member of the Drake Law School, and Alexander Clark, Jr. and Alexander Clark, Sr., the brother and father of plaintiff Susan Clark, were the first African-American graduates of the University of Iowa College of Law; and
   WHEREAS, in collaboration with the Iowa Supreme Court, Drake University and its law school, and the University of Iowa College of Law, will host a series of celebratory programs and events the week of September 24 through 29 to commemorate the historic Clark v. Board of Directors decision and the extraordinary civil rights leadership of Justice Cole and Alexander Clark, Sr.; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That the House of Representatives designates the week of September 24 through 29, 2018, as the sesquicentennial celebration of the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision in Clark v. Board of Directors.