I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3097 

To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to Constance Baker 

Motley. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. 

CLARKE, Mr. CLAY, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. KELLY of 

Illinois, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. 

NADLER, Mr. WATT, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

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: 


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

2 in New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of immi3 grants from the Caribbean island of Nevis. 

4 (2) In 1943, Constance Baker Motley grad5 uated from New York University with a Bachelor of 

6 Arts degree in economics. 

7 (3) Upon receiving a law degree from Columbia 

8 University in 1946, Constance Baker Motley became 

9 a staff attorney at the National Association for the 

10 Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and 

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

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

13 alongside Thurgood Marshall and other leading civil 

14 rights lawyers to dismantle segregation throughout 

15 the United States. 

16 (4) Constance Baker Motley was the only fe17 male attorney on the LDF legal team that won the 

18 landmark desegregation case, Brown v. Board of 

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

20 (5) In addition to writing briefs in Brown v. 

21 Board of Education, Motley was trial or appellate 

22 counsel in 57 civil rights cases in the United States 

23 Supreme Court, 82 cases in Federal courts of ap24 peals, 48 cases in Federal district courts, and nu25 merous cases in State courts. She argued four apVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Sep 14, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3097.IH H3097

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1 peals in desegregation cases in one day. She won 

2 cases that ended de jure segregation in White only 

3 restaurants and lunch counters. She protected the 

4 right of protestors to march, sit-in, freedom ride, 

5 and demonstrate in other ways. She represented Dr. 

6 Martin Luther King, Jr., and other jailed civil rights 

7 activists and forced their release when they were ar8 rested and locked up in Southern jails. She secured 

9 the right for Blacks to register, vote, and have ac10 cess to the political power structure. She won edu11 cation desegregation cases in almost every State in 

12 the South and the District of Columbia and secured 

13 the right for Blacks to attend formerly all White 

14 public schools, colleges, and universities including 

15 the representation of James Meredith against the 

16 University of Mississippi, Charlayne Hunter Gault 

17 and Hamilton Holmes against the University of 

18 Georgia, Autherine Lucy against the University of 

19 Alabama, Harvey Gantt against Clemson College, 

20 and Ernest Morial against Louisiana State Univer21 sity. Without her victories in the courtroom, the goal 

22 of ending racial segregation in public schools, col23 leges, and universities, public accommodations, and 

24 voting—a goal of the Civil Rights Movement—may 

25 not have been achieved. 


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1 (6) As the country celebrates the 50th Anniver2 sary of the ‘‘Birmingham Movement’’, it is noted 

3 that Motley was the attorney who went South and 

4 represented Dr. King, defended his right to march 

5 in Birmingham, Alabama, and Albany, Georgia, and 

6 obtained the court order which mandated the rein7 statement of over 1,000 school children who had 

8 been expelled from school for demonstrating with 

9 Dr. King in Birmingham fifty years ago. She rep10 resented ‘‘Freedom Riders’’ who rode buses to test 

11 the Supreme Court’s 1960 ruling prohibiting seg12 regation in interstate transportation. She protected 

13 the right of Blacks to ride and sit in any vacant seat 

14 on buses and trains, to use bathroom facilities and 

15 drink from fountains in bus and train stations, to be 

16 served and eat at lunch counters and restaurants, to 

17 vote, stay in hotels, and to go to parks, museums, 

18 and places of public accommodations on an equal 

19 basis with Whites. She won the case in the Supreme 

20 Court that led to the reversal of all arrests and con21 victions of all of the thousands of sit-in activists. 

22 (7) Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major 

23 civil rights cases before the Supreme Court, winning 

24 all but one. 


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1 (8) Constance Baker Motley’s only loss before 

2 the United States Supreme Court was in Swain v. 

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

4 Supreme Court refused to proscribe race-based pe5 remptory challenges in cases involving African-Amer6 ican defendants, and which was later reversed in 

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

8 grounds that were largely asserted by Constance 

9 Baker Motley in the Swain case. 

10 (9) In 1964, Constance Baker Motley became 

11 the first African-American woman elected to the 

12 New York State Senate. 

13 (10) In 1965, Constance Baker Motley became 

14 the first African-American woman, and the first 

15 woman, to serve as president of the Borough of 

16 Manhattan. 

17 (11) Constance Baker Motley, in her capacity 

18 as an elected public official in New York, continued 

19 to fight for civil rights, dedicating herself to the revi20 talization of the inner city and improvement of 

21 urban public schools and housing. 

22 (12) In 1966, Constance Baker Motley was ap23 pointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as a judge 

24 on the United States District Court for the Southern 

25 District of New York. 


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1 (13) The appointment of Constance Baker Mot2 ley made her the first African-American woman, and 

3 only the fifth woman, appointed and confirmed for 

4 a Federal judgeship. 

5 (14) In 1982, Constance Baker Motley was ele6 vated to Chief Judge of the United States District 

7 Court for the Southern District of New York, the 

8 largest Federal trial court in the United States. 

9 (15) Constance Baker Motley assumed senior 

10 status in 1986, and continued serving on the United 

11 States District Court for the Southern District of 

12 New York with distinction for nearly 2 decades. 

13 (16) Constance Baker Motley passed away on 

14 September 28, 2005, and is survived by her son, 

15 Joel Motley III, her 3 grandchildren, her brother, 

16 Edward Baker of Florida, and her sisters Eunice 

17 Royster and Marian Green, of New Haven, Con18 necticut. 

19 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

20 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President 

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

22 of Representatives are authorized to make appropriate ar23 rangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of 

24 Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in com25 memoration of Constance Baker Motley, in recognition of 


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1 her enduring contributions and service to the United 

2 States. 

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

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

5 of the Treasury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec6 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

7 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec8 retary. 

9 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

10 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre11 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

13 sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, mate14 rials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and 

15 the cost of the gold medal. 

16 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

17 (a) NATIONAL MEDAL.—The medal struck under sec18 tion 3 is a national medal for purposes of chapter 51 of 

19 title 31, United States Code. 

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

21 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all duplicate medals 

22 struck under section 4 shall be considered to be numis23 matic items. 


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

2 SALE. 

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

4 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

5 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec6 essary to pay for the cost of the medals struck under this 

7 Act. 

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

9 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 4 shall be 

10 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

11 Fund. 

Æ 


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