2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 21
BY SENATOR BOUDREAUX
A RESOLUTION
To commend and congratulate Marion Overton White upon his induction into the St. Landry
Parish Democratic Party Hall of Fame.
WHEREAS, Marion Overton White was born to Valery White and Rosella
Sam-White in Plaisance, Louisiana, and graduated from Plaisance High School, and he and
his wife Doris Morein-White have raised their children, John Valley White, Lia
White-Allen, Ahmed White, Ismael White, and Corrine White in St. Landry Parish; and
WHEREAS, Mr. White attended Southern University and is a "Golden Alumni
Delegate" from Southern University Law School; and
WHEREAS, Marion White has served as counsel of record for the Louisiana Chapter
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, known almost
exclusively as the "NAACP", and was involved in numerous important civil rights cases
filed in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, Mr. White served as president of the Louisiana Chapter of the NAACP
and was also a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Louisiana advisory
committee; and
WHEREAS, White was the only attorney of record in the filing of a desegregation
case against the St. Landry School Board and was victorious in this important civil rights
case in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, Mr. White played an essential role as the attorney for the plaintiffs in
several cases that produced landmark decisions dealing with race relations and the struggle
to secure the right to equal opportunity for all in America, regardless of race; and
WHEREAS, while legal counsel and lead attorney for important civil rights
organizations such as the J. K. Haynes Foundation and Legal Defense Fund, Inc. Education
Division, Marion White also found time to represent many poor clients in numerous police
brutality cases on a pro bono basis; and
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WHEREAS, Mr. White has been the recipient of more that one hundred fifty awards
honoring a legal career devoted to fighting for the guarantee and for participating in the
struggle for equal rights in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, as a celebrated authority on the struggle for civil rights in Louisiana,
Marion White has been sought for comments in such works as Race and Democracy: The
Civil Rights Struggle in Louisiana, 1915-1972 by Adam Fairclough and numerous peer
reviewed journals, such as the ABA Journal and the Justice Journal; and
WHEREAS, Mr. White's accomplishments in the courts of law in a wide range of
civil rights cases were recognized when he was named to the Southern University Law
School Hall of Fame, honorary chair of the Southern Mutual Health Association, and his
longtime service as a member of the Louisiana Council on Human Rights; and
WHEREAS, the St. Landry Democratic Parish Executive Committee annually names
persons of high ethical and moral character who have promoted the principles of
constitutional equality, personal liberty, economic opportunity, and government and fiscal
responsibility whose impact has positively influenced the entire parish and the state; and
WHEREAS, the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, who is then considered to
be a member of the St. Landry Democratic Party Hall of Fame, is also a person who
recognizes and respects the diversity of all Americans and promotes the common unity of
all, leading his political party and displaying strong leadership throughout his career; and
WHEREAS, Marion Overton White has demonstrated a devotion to all of these
principles of the St. Landry Democratic Party with a lifetime of efforts in the legal arena
championing these principles that are so essential to the ideals of American democracy.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana that
Marion Overton White is hereby congratulated upon his induction into the St. Landry Parish
Democratic Party Hall of Fame.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Marion Overton White.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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