The AAJ Minority Caucus has chosen to honor Judge U. W. Clemon with the 2008 Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Soaring Eagles Award. The award was presented to Judge Clemon at the Minority Caucus Reception on July 15, 2008, during AAJ's Annual Convention in Philadelphia, PA.
U.W. Clemon is one of nine children of Mississippi sharecroppers who migrated to the steel mills of Fairfield, Alabama two years before his birth. Educated in the segregated public schools of Jefferson County, he decided to become a civil rights lawyer at age thirteen, agitated by a racial incident and inspired by the venerable Thurgood Marshall.
While a student at Miles College, he was one of the leaders of the 1962 boycott of the downtown stores of Birmingham. A year later, he was a foot soldier in Dr. Martin Luther King's historic Birmingham demonstrations and was specifically assigned to desegregate the Birmingham Public Library. He was president of the student body and valedictorian of the Miles College Class of 1965 and is a graduate of Columbia Law School's Class of 1968.
As a civil rights lawyer for twelve years, and a member of the Adams, Baker & Clemon law firm, Clemon specialized in school desegregation and employment discrimination cases. In 1969, he brought the lawsuit against the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant to desegregate the University of Alabama's football team. His employment discrimination cases included many of the larger employers of Alabama, not to mention his police brutality cases that led to the establishment of the Birmingham Community Affairs Committee and the election of the city’s first black mayor. As an attorney, Clemon was highly respected for his legal abilities and was well known for taking a stand, even when doing so meant he stood alone. Clemon is also a founding member of the Alabama Lawyers Association, established in 1971 as the Alabama Black Lawyers Association, dedicated to the fellowship and professional advancement of minority lawyers.
In 1974, he became one of the first two blacks to be elected to the Alabama State Senate since Reconstruction. In his two terms, he chaired the Rules and Judiciary Committees, respectively, and vigorously opposed Governor George C. Wallace on various racial issues.
President Jimmy Carter appointed Judge Clemon as Alabama's first black federal judge in 1980. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate. Under his supervision, more than a billion dollars have been paid out to victims of discrimination and environmental contamination. He served as chief judge of the court from 1999-2006. Under his administration, the court adopted a more juror-friendly and representative jury plan, increased minority presence in the workforce of the court, and transitioned to electronic case filing and management. He has served on the executive committee of the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Council.
The Honorable U.W. Clemon is the recipient of awards and commendations too numerous to mention. These include the Alabama Bar Association's Judicial Award of Merit, the highest award of the National Bar Association, the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association's Howell T. Heflin Award, and the Drum Major Award of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Two streets in Birmingham, as well as a Birmingham-Southern College pre-law scholarship, bear his name.
His wife, Barbara, is a retired public school teacher. Their daughter, Addine Michelle, is a graduate of Yale College and Columbia Law School, and is a vice-president of the McWane Corporation. His son, Herman Isaac, is a graduate of the Berklee School of Music, and is a New York City musician.
Judge Clemon is a member of Sixth Avenue Baptist Church of Birmingham, where he serves as a deacon and member of the 100-voice Male Chorus. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the Shriners, and the Prince Hall Thirty-Third Degree Masons. The Minority Caucus is proud to honor Judge U.W. Clemon with the Johnny L. Cochran, Jr. Soaring Eagles Award for 2008.
