AL SJR37

Commends Fred D. Gray, pioneer civil rights attorney and former Alabama State Representative, for his 70-year legal career and contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.

Recognizes Gray's representation of Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin in cases that resulted in a Supreme Court ruling declaring bus segregation unconstitutional and ordering Montgomery and Alabama to desegregate.

Acknowledges Gray's legal representation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Congressman John Lewis, the Freedom Riders, Selma to Montgomery Marchers, and major civil rights organizations including the NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Congress of Racial Equality.

Notes Gray's awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joseph Biden, the American Bar Association's Medal, the Legal Defense Fund's Thurgood Marshall Award, and his portrait's permanent installation in the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery.

References the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights hosting an Inaugural National Symposium on March 14-15 in Montgomery, Alabama to address ongoing civil rights issues.