II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1317 

To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to Constance Baker 

Motley. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2007 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mrs. CLINTON, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. 

BAYH, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SALAZAR, 

Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. PRYOR, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. HAGEL, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, 

Mr. ENZI, Mr. REID, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. REED) 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 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 


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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., and fought tirelessly for 2 

12 decades alongside Thurgood Marshall and other 

13 leading civil rights lawyers to dismantle segregation 

14 throughout the country. 

15 (4) Constance Baker Motley was the only fe16 male attorney on the legal team that won the land17 mark desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Edu18 cation. 

19 (5) Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major 

20 civil rights cases before the Supreme Court, winning 

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

22 James Meredith challenging the University of Mis23 sissippi’s refusal to admit him. 

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

25 the United States Supreme Court was in Swain v. 


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1 Alabama, a case in which the Court refused to pro2 scribe race-based peremptory challenges in cases in3 volving African-American defendants, and which was 

4 later reversed in Batson v. Kentucky on grounds 

5 that had been largely asserted by Constance Baker 

6 Motley in the Swain case. 

7 (7) In 1964, Constance Baker Motley became 

8 the first African-American woman elected to the 

9 New York State Senate. 

10 (8) In 1965, Constance Baker Motley became 

11 the first African-American woman, and the first 

12 woman, to serve as president of the Borough of 

13 Manhattan. 

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

15 an elected public official in New York, continued to 

16 fight for civil rights, dedicating herself to the revital17 ization of the inner city and improvement of urban 

18 public schools and housing. 

19 (10) In 1966, Constance Baker Motley was ap20 pointed by President Johnson as a United States 

21 District Court Judge for the Southern District of 

22 New York. 

23 (11) The appointment of Constance Baker Mot24 ley made her the first African-American woman, and 


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1 only the fifth woman, appointed and confirmed for 

2 a Federal judgeship. 

3 (12) In 1982, Constance Baker Motley was ele4 vated to Chief Judge of the United States District 

5 Court for the Southern District of New York, the 

6 largest Federal trial court in the United States. 

7 (13) Constance Baker Motley assumed senior 

8 status in 1986, and continued serving with distinc9 tion for nearly 2 decades. 

10 (14) Constance Baker Motley passed away on 

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

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

13 her 3 grandchildren, her brother, Edmund Baker of 

14 Florida, and her sisters Edna Carnegie, Eunice 

15 Royster, and Marian Green, of New Haven, Con16 necticut. 

17 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

18 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President 

19 Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House 

20 of Representatives are authorized to make appropriate ar21 rangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of 

22 Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in com23 memoration of Constance Baker Motley, in recognition of 

24 her enduring contributions and service to the United 

25 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. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS. 

15 (a) NATIONAL MEDAL.—The medal struck under this 

16 Act is a national medal for purposes of chapter 51 of title 

17 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 this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

21 items. 

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

23 SALE. 

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

25 are authorized to be charged against the United States 


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1 Mint Public Enterprise Fund, such sums 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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