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February 14, 2024 Gavel Talks | Season 6 - Episode 4

Farewell to a civil rights legend, Judge Arthur L. Burnett, Sr.

Hosted by Hon. Richard Ginkowski, Pleasant Prairie, WI

Retired Judge Arthur L. Burnett, Sr. was a remarkable man with many "Forrest Gump" moments in his 88 years.  He was tapped by a young Thurgood Marshall to attempt to integrate the University of Virginia Law School.  He was one of the first black attorneys hired by the United States Department of Justice and became Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy's "eyes and ears" on the civil rights movement, monitoring the activities of Dr. Martin Luther King, jr.  First legal advisor to the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department.  First African American United States Magistrate who, in that position, worked with Judge John Sirica on the Nixon Watergate cases.  President Jimmy Carter's point person for civil service and pension reform.  Retired from serving as District of Columbia Superior Court judge to become executive director of the National African American Drug Policy Coalition.  Just three months before his passing Judge Burnett sat down with host Richard Ginkowski to give us a glimpse of a life well lived.

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