Bill Text: VA HR421 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Celebrating the life of the Honorable Arthur L. Burnett, Sr.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-08 - Bill text as passed House (HR421ER) [HR421 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HR421-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, the Honorable Arthur L. Burnett, Sr., a trailblazing jurist who broke down racial barriers over the course of his exceptional career, which included judicial appointments from multiple United States presidents, died on November 20, 2023; and
WHEREAS, Arthur Burnett was born in Spotsylvania County and grew up during the Jim Crow era; he graduated summa cum laude from Howard University and had been tapped by Thurgood Marshall to attempt to integrate the University of Virginia School of Law, but ultimately attended the New York University School of Law, where he completed seven years of coursework in six years and graduated in the top 10 percent of his class; and
WHEREAS, Arthur Burnett was accepted into the Attorney General's Honors Program at the U.S. Department of Justice, but was drafted and served the nation as a member of the military for several years; after returning to civilian life, he served as a liaison to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, reporting on significant developments in the civil rights movement, and later became the first general counsel to the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia; and
WHEREAS, in 1969, at the age of 34, Arthur Burnett was appointed as a United States Magistrate, becoming the first Black American appointed as a magistrate judge in the nation; he oversaw numerous reforms to the judicial system, such as strengthening the quality of arrest and search warrants issued by federal magistrates and reevaluating bail processes; and
WHEREAS, in 1975, Arthur Burnett became the assistant general counsel in charge of the Legal Advisory Division of what was then the United States Civil Service Commission to act on harmonizing the affirmative action and merit systems; and
WHEREAS, after President Jimmy Carter established a major initiative to revise the Federal Civil System, Arthur Burnett was assigned to work with the White House Counsel's Office and was the principal drafter of the legislation that became the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, leading to the creation of the Office of Personnel Management, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and the Office of Special Counsel to deal with Hatch Act allegations; and
WHEREAS, in January 1980, Arthur Burnett was again appointed to an eight-year term as a United States Magistrate in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, where he served until he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in November 1987; he began serving as a senior judge in 1998 and continued actively hearing cases until 2004; and
WHEREAS, while retaining his status as a senior judge, Arthur Burnett took a sabbatical in 2004 and assumed the position of national executive director of the National African American Drug Policy Coalition, Inc., in which capacity he advocated for equity in drug policy enforcement and later became one of the leading advisors on drug policy matters to the Obama administration; and
WHEREAS, over the course of his legal career, Arthur Burnett also visited and consulted with judges around the world and served as a briefing judge for the U.S. Department of State, advising foreign judges about the legal and judicial systems of the United States; and
WHEREAS, Arthur Burnett inspired young men and women in the legal field as an adjunct professor in trial advocacy at the Howard University School of Law and as an adjunct professor at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America; and
WHEREAS, Arthur Burnett officially retired from the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on February 15, 2013, having served the nation with the utmost integrity, dedication, and distinction; and
WHEREAS, among countless awards and accolades for his personal and professional achievements, Arthur Burnett was selected in 2020 as a Top Judge of the Decade by the International Association of Top Professionals, and was inducted into the organization's Hall of Fame, a high honor that recognized his more than 60 years of experience in the legal field; and
WHEREAS, Arthur Burnett will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his wife of 63 years, Frisbieann; his children, Darnellena, Arthur II, Daryl, Darlisa, and Dionne, and their families; and numerous other family members, friends, and colleagues; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Delegates hereby note with great sadness the loss of the Honorable Arthur L. Burnett, Sr., an esteemed former judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia who touched countless lives over the course of his incomparable career; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of the Honorable Arthur L. Burnett, Sr., as an expression of the House of Delegates' respect for his memory.
