[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 36 (Monday, February 24, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE LIFE OF JUDGE L. CLIFFORD DAVIS

  (Mr. VEASEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the extraordinary 
life of Judge L. Clifford Davis who passed away February 15 at 100 
years old.
  Judge Davis was a remarkable man and had been a judge. He was 
appointed by Governor Mark White back in the eighties to serve as a 
criminal justice judge.
  However, what he will be known and remembered for is that he was the 
lawyer back in the 1950s who worked to desegregate the Mansfield 
Independent School District. Before Judge Davis worked on this case, 
Black children from Mansfield literally were bused on Trailways buses 
from Mansfield all the way out in the country into Fort Worth every day 
just so they could get an education.
  Judge Davis worked with Thurgood Marshall and other lawyers to make 
sure that school systems like Mansfield were integrated. It was ugly. 
They hung effigies up of Judge Davis in the school, and the principal 
literally let them stay there for weeks just to make a point that they 
were standing against integration.
  His mentorship to so many young lawyers around Tarrant County and the 
things that he accomplished in his life to help make Tarrant County, 
Fort Worth, and Mansfield a better place for all will never be 
forgotten.

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