James Madison Nabrit III (June 11, 1932 – March 22, 2013) was an African American civil rights

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

who won several important decisions before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was also a long-time attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Biography

Nabrit III was born in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

James Nabrit, Jr. James Madison Nabrit Jr. (September 7, 1900 – December 27, 1997) was a prominent American civil rights attorney who won several important arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, served as president of Howard University for much of the 1960s, a ...

, a prominent civil rights attorney, law professor and later President of Howard University. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where he attended segregated public schools through part of high school. He finished high school at the Mount Hermon School for Boys, now Northfield Mount Hermon, in Massachusetts. Nabrit III graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine in 1952 and Yale Law School in 1955. Nabrit began his career with the law firm of Reeves, Robinson & Duncan, served two years in the U.S. Army and then spent 30 years (1959–89) as an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. He argued many important civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and various U.S. Court of Appeals, including ''

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education ''Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education'', 402 U.S. 1 (1971), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with the busing of students to promote integration in public schools. The Court held that busing was an appropriate ...

'' in 1972, and ''

Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham ''Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham'', 394 U.S. 147 (1969), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Supreme Court struck down a Birmingham, Alabama ordinance that prohibited citizens from holding parades and processions on city streets witho ...

'' in 1969. He argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court and won 9. Nabrit died on March 22, 2013 in a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland of lung cancer at the age of 80.

References

External links

DC Bar BioBates College Bio

1946 photographic portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nabrit, James 1932 births 2013 deaths African-American lawyers People from Houston People from Washington, D.C. Presidents of Howard University Bates College alumni Activists for African-American civil rights Yale University alumni Activists from Texas Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people