Bill Text: NY J00437 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Celebrating the life and legacy of The Honorable Hugh B. Scott, United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of New York

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 43-20)

Status: (Passed) 2021-03-02 - ADOPTED [J00437 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-J00437-Introduced.html

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Assembly Resolution No. 80

BY: M. of A. Wallace

        CELEBRATING  the  life and legacy of The Honorable
        Hugh B. Scott, United States  Magistrate  Judge  for
        the  Western  District  of  New  York, distinguished
        citizen and devoted member of his community

  WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to publicly mourn
the death of prominent citizens of the State of New York whose  lifework
and civic endeavor served to enhance the reputation of the State; and

  WHEREAS, It is with feelings of deepest regret that this Legislative
Body  records  the  passing  of  The Honorable Hugh B. Scott, noting the
significance of the loss of  a  man  whose  altruistic  spirit  will  be
greatly missed; and

  WHEREAS,  A  native  of  Buffalo, New York, Judge Hugh B. Scott, who
spent more than three decades on the bench, died on  Saturday,  February
20, 2021; and

  WHEREAS,  Hugh  B.  Scott  grew  up on Buffalo's Woodlawn Avenue and
moved to Amherst with his family as a teenager, where he was one of just
three black students to graduate from Sweet Home High  School  in  1967;
and

  WHEREAS,  Just  four  years  later, Hugh B. Scott was one of a small
number of Blacks to graduate from Niagara University; he then went on to
become a member of the University at Buffalo Law School's Class of 1974;
and

  WHEREAS, Hugh B. Scott began his legal career as an assistant county
attorney with the Erie  County  Law  Department  and  later  joined  the
Buffalo  Law  Department  as  an  assistant corporation counsel; he then
served as the first African-American assistant  U.S.  Attorney  for  the
Western District of New York; and

  WHEREAS,  In 1979, Hugh B. Scott joined the state attorney general's
Buffalo Office as deputy assistant attorney general-in-charge of  claims
and    litigation;   he   went   on   to   become   assistant   attorney
general-in-charge of the Buffalo regional office of the New  York  State
Department of Law, and was the first African-American to head the second
largest regional office in the State of New York; and

  WHEREAS,  His  illustrious  judicial  career  began  when he ran for
Buffalo City Court judge in 1984, and was elected  to  a  10-year  term,
then  re-elected in 1994; he left that position in 1995 to ascend to the
federal bench as a United States Magistrate Judge, the esteemed position
he held until stepping down in 2015; and

  WHEREAS, A longtime champion of equal access to the justice  system,
Judge Hugh B. Scott created the U.S. District Court's Re-entry Court, in
which  convicted  defendants  who have served their sentence receive job
training, legal assistance, and other help to ease their transition back
into society; and

  WHEREAS, Furthermore, this revered man served as a  role  model  and
mentor  for  countless  law students and practitioners; he held numerous
leadership roles in Buffalo community organizations,  including  Niagara
University,  Canisius  College, Buffalo Urban League, the New York State
Judicial  Task  Force on Domestic Violence, Sisters of Charity Hospital,
the National Federation for Just Communities of Western  New  York,  and
many more; and

  WHEREAS,  An  emeritus  member of the Dean's Advisory Council, Judge
Hugh B.  Scott also served UB Law  as  an  adjunct  professor,  teaching
trial  technique  courses for both the J.D. program and the criminal law
and general Master of Laws programs; additionally, he presided over  the
first  federal  court  trial  held  in the law school's Francis M. Letro
Courtroom; and

  WHEREAS, The proud recipient of numerous awards and accolades, Judge
Hugh  B.  Scott  was  honored  by  The  Buffalo  Law  Review   for   his
distinguished  service  to  the  Western  New  York community and UB Law
School; he was also named recipient of the 2021 Edwin F. Jaeckle  Award,
the  highest  honor  bestowed  by  UB  School  of Law and the Law Alumni
Association; and

  WHEREAS, Judge Hugh B. Scott devoted his  life  to  the  pursuit  of
justice and recognized that our system of justice depends vitally on the
humanity  of  those  working  in it; as a prosecutor and as a jurist, he
exuded those human traits which both instill confidence in  and  breathe
life  into  our  system  of  justice:  impartiality,  fairness, decency,
efficiency, and above all, heart; and

  WHEREAS, Blending wisdom and wit, Judge Hugh B. Scott had an uncanny
ability to connect, in a heartfelt way, with  all  who  appeared  before
him,  and  sincerely  earned the admiration, esteem and affection of his
colleagues; and

  WHEREAS, Though he was truly a trailblazer,  serving  as  the  first
black Assistant United States Attorney and the first black federal judge
ever  in the Western District, Judge Hugh B. Scott's greatness was truly
defined not by the color of his skin but by the  contents  of  both  his
remarkable character and his overflowing heart; and

  WHEREAS,  While  he  was passionate about many things, above all his
greatest passion was being a husband to his devoted wife, Trudy,  and  a
father to his two beloved sons, Hugh Jr. and Everett; and

  WHEREAS,  Armed with a humanistic spirit, and imbued with a sense of
compassion, Judge Hugh B. Scott's life was  a  portrait  of  service,  a
legacy  which  will long endure the passage of time and will remain as a
comforting memory to all he served and befriended; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
celebrate  the  life  and  legacy  of  The  Honorable Hugh B. Scott, and
expressing its deepest condolences to his family; and be it further

  RESOLVED, That a copy of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted to the family of The Honorable Hugh B. Scott.