II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1150 

To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to Constance Baker 

Motley. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 12, 2013 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to 

Constance Baker Motley. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Tribute 

5 to Constance Baker Motley Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Constance Baker Motley was born in 1921, 

9 in New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of immi10 grants from the Caribbean island of Nevis. 


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1 (2) In 1943, Constance Baker Motley grad2 uated from New York University with a Bachelor of 

3 Arts degree in economics. 

4 (3) Upon receiving a law degree from Columbia 

5 University in 1946, Constance Baker Motley became 

6 a staff attorney at the National Association for the 

7 Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and 

8 Educational Fund, Inc. (in this Act referred to as 

9 the ‘‘LDF’’), and fought tirelessly for 2 decades 

10 alongside Thurgood Marshall and other leading civil 

11 rights lawyers to dismantle segregation throughout 

12 the United States. 

13 (4) Constance Baker Motley was the only fe14 male attorney on the LDF legal team that won the 

15 landmark desegregation case, Brown v. Board of 

16 Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). 

17 (5) Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major 

18 civil rights cases before the Supreme Court, winning 

19 all but one, including the case brought on behalf of 

20 James Meredith challenging the refusal of the Uni21 versity of Mississippi to admit him. 

22 (6) Constance Baker Motley’s only loss before 

23 the United States Supreme Court was in Swain v. 

24 Alabama, 380 U.S. 202 (1965), a case in which the 

25 Supreme Court refused to proscribe race-based peVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:08 Jun 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1150.IS S1150

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1 remptory challenges in cases involving African-Amer2 ican defendants, and which was later reversed in 

3 Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), on 

4 grounds that were largely asserted by Constance 

5 Baker Motley in the Swain case. 

6 (7) In 1964, Constance Baker Motley became 

7 the first African-American woman elected to the 

8 New York State Senate. 

9 (8) In 1965, Constance Baker Motley became 

10 the first African-American woman, and the first 

11 woman, to serve as president of the Borough of 

12 Manhattan. 

13 (9) Constance Baker Motley, in her capacity as 

14 an elected public official in New York, continued to 

15 fight for civil rights, dedicating herself to the revital16 ization of the inner city and improvement of urban 

17 public schools and housing. 

18 (10) In 1966, Constance Baker Motley was ap19 pointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as a judge 

20 on the United States District Court for the Southern 

21 District of New York. 

22 (11) The appointment of Constance Baker Mot23 ley made her the first African-American woman, and 

24 only the fifth woman, appointed and confirmed for 

25 a Federal judgeship. 


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1 (12) In 1982, Constance Baker Motley was ele2 vated to Chief Judge of the United States District 

3 Court for the Southern District of New York, the 

4 largest Federal trial court in the United States. 

5 (13) Constance Baker Motley assumed senior 

6 status in 1986, and continued serving on the United 

7 States District Court for the Southern District of 

8 New York with distinction for nearly 2 decades. 

9 (14) Constance Baker Motley passed away on 

10 September 28, 2005, and is survived by her husband 

11 Joel Wilson Motley, Jr., their son, Joel Motley III, 

12 her 3 grandchildren, her brother, Edmund Baker of 

13 Florida, and her sisters Edna Carnegie, Eunice 

14 Royster, and Marian Green, of New Haven, Con15 necticut. 

16 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

17 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President 

18 pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House 

19 of Representatives are authorized to make appropriate ar20 rangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of 

21 Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in com22 memoration of Constance Baker Motley, in recognition of 

23 her enduring contributions and service to the United 

24 States. 


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1 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 

2 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

3 of the Treasury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec4 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

5 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec6 retary. 

7 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

8 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre9 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

10 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 

11 sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, mate12 rials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and 

13 the cost of the gold medal. 

14 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

15 (a) NATIONAL MEDAL.—The medal struck under sec16 tion 3 is a national medal for purposes of chapter 51 of 

17 title 31, United States Code. 

18 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

19 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all duplicate medals 

20 struck under section 4 shall be considered to be numis21 matic items. 

22 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

23 SALE. 

24 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

25 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 


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1 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec2 essary to pay for the cost of the medals struck under this 

3 Act. 

4 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

5 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 4 shall be 

6 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

7 Fund. 

Æ 


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