Charles Morgan, Jr.

Charles "Chuck" Morgan Jr., (March 11, 1930 – January 8, 2009) was an American civil rights attorney from Alabama who played a key role in establishing the principle of "one man, one vote" in the Supreme Court of the United States decision in the 1964 case Reynolds v. Sims and represented Julian Bond and Muhammad Ali in their legal battles.

Morgan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 11, 1930, and was raised in Kentucky. He moved with his family to Birmingham, Alabama, at the age of 15. Morgan attended the University of Alabama, where he earned his law degree and met his wife, the former Camille Walpole.^[1]

The day after the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four black girls in Birmingham in September 1963, Morgan spoke out publicly to blame community leaders for their role in failing to stand up to the climate of racial hatred, stating that "Every person in this community who has in any way contributed during the past several years to the popularity of hatred is at least as guilty, or more so, than the demented fool who threw that bomb". His statements harmed his legal practice and led to death threats against him and his family.^[2][1]

In 1964, he established the Southern Regional Office for the American Civil Liberties Union in Atlanta.^[3]

Morgan and a group of other lawyers filed a lawsuit in 1962 that aimed to require reapportionment of the Alabama Legislature, to undo a system under which rural counties in southern Alabama had far greater voting strength than areas in the urbanized northern portion of the state. In the 1964 Supreme Court case Reynolds v. Sims, Morgan successfully argued that districts in state legislatures needed to be of nearly equal size, establishing the principle of "one man, one vote" to effectively end the use of gerrymandering that gave greater political power to the rural legislators who controlled the Alabama Legislature.^[1][3]

After Julian Bond was prevented from taking his seat in the Georgia House of Representatives after having made statements opposing United States involvement in the Vietnam War, Morgan appealed to the United States Supreme Court successfully to have Bond seated.^[3]

He also served on Muhammad Ali's legal team that appealed his conviction on draft evasion after Ali refused to serve during the Vietnam War citing religious objections, and successfully appealed the case before the U.S. Supreme Court.^[3]

In 1967, Morgan represented Captain Howard Levy who was subjected to a court martial in 1967 at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, after Levy refused an order to teach dermatology to medical aidmen serving in the Green Berets as he considered the Special Forces "killers of peasants and murderers of women and children".^[1] Morgan raised the Nuremberg Defense on behalf of Levy, arguing that U.S. troops were committing atrocities in Vietnam and that American soldiers can lawfully refuse to obey orders related to Vietnam service.^[4] Levy was sentenced to three years in prison, and was released after serving more than two years.^[1]

In 1972, the American Civil Liberties Union named Morgan as the legislative director of its national office in Washington, D.C.^[3]

At a party in Washington, D.C., an attendee from New York indicated that he would not vote for Jimmy Carter for president because of his Southern accent, to which Morgan replied "That's bigotry, and that makes you a bigot." Aryeh Neier, the ACLU's executive director, reprimanded Morgan, and criticizing Morgan's taking a public position on a candidate for public office.^[1] Morgan resigned from his post in April 1976, citing efforts by the bureaucracy at the ACLU to restrict his public statements.^[5]

After leaving the ACLU, he spent the remainder of his career in private practice. He represented the Tobacco Institute in its opposition to smoking bans and won a number of cases for Sears, Roebuck and Company in which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had accused the company of discrimination based on race and sex.^[1]

Morgan died at age 78 on January 8, 2009, at his home in Destin, Florida, as a result of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Reed, Roy. "Charles Morgan Jr., 78, Dies; Leading Civil Rights Lawyer", The New York Times, January 9, 2009. Accessed January 12, 2009.
2. ^ "A Time to Speak: a speech by Charles Morgan", September 16, 1963. Accessed January 12, 2009.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Weaver, Kendal of the Associated Press. "Charles Morgan Jr., 78, argued for '1 man, 1 vote'", Sun-Sentinel, January 12, 2009. Accessed January 12, 2009.
4. ^ Bigart, Homer. "Court Martial; Levy Pleads the 'Nuremberg Defense' Complexion Changes Defense Strategy Soldier's Rights", The New York Times, May 21, 1967. Accessed January 12, 2009.
5. ^ Illson, Murray. "WASHINGTON CHIEF OF A.C.L.U. RESIGNS; Charles Morgan Jr. Charges Superiors Tried to Restrict His Public Statements", The New York Times, April 10, 1976. Accessed January 12, 2009.

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Name	Morgan, Charles Jr.
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Date of birth	March 11, 1930
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Date of death	January 8, 2009
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