Joseph Cornelius Waddy (May 26, 1911 – August 1, 1978) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...

Early and family life

Born in Louisa County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, Waddy moved to

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, Virginia when he was seventeen years old, in 1928. Ten years later, he won an oratorical contest on the American Negro's constitutional rights, sponsored by the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World. After his family moved across the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, he graduated from Dunbar High School.The Afro-American (Baltimore, August 12, 1978), p. 1 available at https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2211&dat=19780812&id=uSwmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dv4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3895,520487 In 1935 Waddy graduated with honors, receiving an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Lincoln University,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. After an additional three years of study, he received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from Howard University School of Law, graduating at the top of his class. He married Elizabeth H. Hardy and they had a son, Joseph C. Waddy Jr.

Career

After passing the District of Columbia bar exam and admission to that bar, Waddy began private practice with the law firm of

Charles Hamilton Houston Charles Hamilton Houston (September 3, 1895 – April 22, 1950) was a prominent African-American lawyer, Dean of Howard University Law School, and NAACP first special counsel, or Litigation Director. A graduate of Amherst College and Harvard La ...

, known for his tireless civil rights practice. Waddy remained in private practice in

, from 1939 to 1962, except from 1944 to 1946, when he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, rising to the rank of staff sergeant. After returning from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Waddy was a partner in the law firm of Houston, Waddy, Bryant and Gardner. Among the most important civil rights cases he helped litigate were ''Steele v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co.'', 323 U.S. 192 (1944) and '' Conley v. Gibson'', 355 U.S. 41 (1957). Waddy served on the Citizens Advisory Council to the District of Columbia Commissioners from 1958 to 1962, and as an adjunct professor at the Howard University School of Law from 1966 to 1967. In 1962, Waddy was appointed to the municipal court for the District of Columbia in the domestic relations branch.

Federal judicial service

Waddy was nominated by President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

on January 16, 1967, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Richmond Bowling Keech. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on March 2, 1967, and received his commission on March 4, 1967. His service terminated on August 1, 1978, due to his death.

Notable cases

Several cases which Waddy handled improved education in local schools (although he once was forced to hold the mayor in contempt of court), liberalizing abortion restrictions, and speeding the city's process for reissuing lost or stolen welfare checks. Waddy presided over ''

Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia ''Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia'', 348 F. Supp. 866 (D.D.C. 1972), was a lawsuit filed against the District of Columbia in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The court ruled that students with disab ...

'', an early case recognizing that disabled children could not constitutionally be excluded from public education. Together with the decision in '' Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania'', Waddy's opinion in ''Mills'' prompted the

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to pass legislation now known as the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. IDEA wa ...

. In addition to his federal judicial duties, beginning in 1971, Waddy served as Commissioner for the

National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws The Uniform Law Commission (ULC), also called the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, is a non-profit, American unincorporated association. Established in 1892, the ULC aims to provide U.S. states (plus the District of C ...

Death

Waddy died at

Washington Hospital Center MedStar Washington Hospital Center is the largest private hospital in Washington, D.C. A member of MedStar Health, the not-for-profit Hospital Center is licensed for 926 beds. Health services in primary, secondary and tertiary care are offered ...

on August 1, 1978, of

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

and a heart disorder.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waddy, Joseph Cornelius 1911 births 1978 deaths Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) alumni Howard University School of Law alumni African-American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia United States district court judges appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers Judges of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni