Maryland's public law library has been renamed in honor of Thurgood Marshall, a Maryland native and the first African-American justice on the United States Supreme Court. The renaming ceremony took place in Annapolis, attended by leaders from the Judiciary and state government.
Court of Appeals Judge Michele D. Hotten spoke at the event, stating, "He was the very best of us." She highlighted Justice Marshall's vision of the U.S. Constitution as a tool to end legal segregation and racism while protecting individual rights.
Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore in 1908. Despite being barred from attending the University of Maryland law school due to its segregationist policy, he graduated from Howard University School of Law in 1933. He worked with the NAACP and played a pivotal role in landmark cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
Marshall served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and later became the U.S. Solicitor General before his appointment to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967.
The newly named Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library is located within Annapolis' Courts of Appeal Building and is open to the public, providing resources for understanding legal information.
Retired Chief Judge Robert M. Bell emphasized that "equal justice under the law necessarily requires access," aligning with both Marshall's objectives and those of the library.
Professor Larry Gibson praised Justice Marshall's legacy, noting his significant impact on American law across various fields such as housing, criminal justice, employment, education, freedom of speech and assembly, transportation, and voting rights.
Steve Anderson, Director of the Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library, discovered evidence that Justice Marshall visited the library during his early career days through an old sign-in log dated November 1934.
The bill to rename the library was passed by Maryland's General Assembly in 2019 and signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan. Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera remarked on its significance: "The people’s law library … now and forever carries his name."