Jawn Sandifer

Jawn Ardin Sandifer (June 6, 1914 – September 1, 2006) was an American civil rights attorney, judge and New York State Supreme Court Justice.[1] Sandifer headed the NAACP's New York State branch and was involved in cases, including school segregation.[1] He argued Henderson v. United States (1950) before the U.S. Supreme Court.[2]

Early life and education

Born John Sandifer[3] on June 6, 1914, in Greensboro, North Carolina,[1] he was one of Charles and Nettie Sandifer's nine children.[1] In college, he changed his first name from John to Jawn.[3] Sandifer graduated from Johnson C. Smith University in 1935[1] and in 1938 he earned his law degree from the Howard University School of Law.[4]

Career

Early in his legal career, Sandifer was dedicated to fighting Jim Crow laws.[3] During World War II, he served in the Army's criminal investigation unit.[5] In 1949, he moved to New York City and opened a private legal practice in Harlem.[5] The same year, he was elected to serve as one of the two lawyers for the New York branch of NAACP, working with Thurgood Marshall.[3] In 1950, while working with the NAACP, he had the opportunity to argue a key discrimination case for the U.S. Supreme Court case, Henderson v. United States.[5]

His judicial career started in 1964, when he was appointed to the civil court bench in New York City by mayor Robert F. Wagner.[2][3] In 1982, Sandifer won the election for State Supreme Court in Manhattan.[6] He retired in 1992.[3]

New York City Sanitation Department case

In 1986, there was a case involving a change to the City Sanitation Department entrance exam. The union, Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association, alleged that the most recent entrance test for the job was too easy and "noncompetitive".[7][8] The older, 1974 version of the entrance test and examination, had involved obstacle courses with scaling eight-foot walls, and was unrelated to the job of hauling garbage.[7] Of 45,000 people who took the 1986 version of the exam, 44,000 earned the highest grade and 1,710 of those were women.[8] Sandifer approved the use of the current version of the entrance exam, siding with the City Sanitation Department in his ruling and allowed the City Sanitation Department to hire its first women.[7]

Thomas Wirth, who had AIDS and a brain infection,[9][10][11] drafted a living will in April 1987 with his legal guardian. It stated that if he could not be restored to a "meaningful quality of life," he wished to be allowed the right to die "without extraordinary medical measures".[9] In July 1987, Judge Sandifer sided with Bellevue Hospital, the hospital giving life prolonging treatment to Wirth, because it had not been proven that Wirth's brain infection was not treatable.[11] Wirth died in August of the same year, of an AIDS-related brain infection.[9]

Personal life

Sandifer was married to Laura Sandifer until her death in 1993.Together they had a son named Floyd. Sandifer's second wife was Elsa Krueger–Sandifer [1]

Sandifer died at age 92 on September 1, 2016, due to cancer.[4] Sandifer is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor, New York.[3]

References
  1. Hevesi, Dennis (2006-09-07). "Jawn Sandifer, Civil Rights Lawyer, Dies at 92". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  2. "Jawn A. Sandifer, 92; Civil Rights Lawyer, N.Y. Supreme Court Justice". Los Angeles Times. 2006-09-12. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  3. Zaloudek, Mark (2006-09-06). "Judge's passion was to overturn Jim Crow laws". Sarasota Herald. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
  4. "Jawn Ardin Sandifer's Obituary on Herald Tribune". Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  5. "Jawn A. Sandifer, 92; Civil Rights Lawyer, N.Y. Supreme Court Justice". Los Angeles Times. 2006-09-12. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  6. Smothers, Ronald (1982-11-04). "MANHATTAN LIBERALS WIN SUPREME COURT RACE". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  7. Johnson, Kirk (1986-07-29). "RULING PAVES THE WAY FOR HIRING CITY'S FIRST FEMALE TRASH HAULERS". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  8. "State Judge's Order Prevents Hiring of Sanitation Workers". The New York Times. 1986-06-29. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  9. "Thomas Wirth, Sought The Legal Right to Die". The New York Times. 1987-08-22. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  10. Johnson, Kirk (1987-07-28). "Judge in a Right-to-Die Case Backs Treating AIDS Patient". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  11. "Judge refuses to let AIDS victim die". United Press International (UPI). 1987-07-28. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
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