Topic > The first African-American Supreme Court justice in the United States

Judge Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American Supreme Court justice in the United States. He was one of the most influential civil rights advocates who succeeded in ending segregation in schools. Justice Thurgood Marshall achieved accomplishments that made his place significant in U.S. history. During the era of Thurgood Marshall, his first major achievement was in the year 1934. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In 1934, Thurgood Marshall had begun working for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, also known as the NAACP. Justice Thurgood Marshall served full time as general counsel for the NAACP. While Marshall represented the NAACP as legal counsel, he argued and won numerous cases brought to the U.S. Supreme Court that helped remove multiple forms of legalized racism. At the age of 32, Justice Thurgood Marshall had achieved his first victory in the case known as Chambers v. Florida, in which he defended four black men convicted of murder, and it was determined that police coercion did not lead to usable confessions. This can be seen as a career achievement, achieving victory on the first case he had faced. However, the greatest achievement of Justice Thurgood Marshall's career was his victory in the case known as Brown v. Topeka Board Of Education in 1954. The case occurred because of a group of black parents in Topeka who reported that their children had been forced to attend segregated black-only schools. Marshall had taken this opportunity to challenge legal racial segregation, the “separate but equal” doctrine. On May 17, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools violated equal protection under the 14th Amendment. Justice Thurgood Marshall had achieved a victory on this case ending racial segregation in schools, which is one of his greatest achievements, this also increased his reputation in the United States and painted him as one of the most successful lawyers in America . Over the course of his career, Justice Thurgood Marshall had managed to bring thirty-two cases before the Supreme Court and of these thirty-two cases he had managed to win twenty-nine. Judge Thurgood Marshall had managed to win more cases than he could have lost in his career. Another couple of accomplishments throughout Justice Thurgood Marshall's career were the positions/titles he was able to obtain. In 1961, President John. F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall as a circuit judge, and Thurgood Marshall served as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for four years. During his time in office, his decisions had never been overturned by the Supreme Court. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Judge Thurgood Marshall as the first African-American Attorney General of the United States. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Then later in 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson had appointed Judge Thurgood Marshall as a Supreme Court Justice and on October 2, 1967, he succeeded in obtaining that position, becoming the first African-American to obtain that position. After being sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, he supported rulings that strongly protected individual rights and liberal interpretations of controversial social issues. Justice Thurgood Marshall could 1991.