Judge Myron H. Thompson – A Lifetime of Distinguished Service

A Supreme Court Celebration

Our classmate, Myron Thompson, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, was recently feted with a dinner in his honor in the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court of the United States.  Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Sonia Sotomayor and the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation hosted the dinner.

The purpose of the dinner was to honor Myron for a long and distinguished career that, as retired Justice Anthony Kennedy commented, has been in service to the words above the entrance to the Supreme Court Building: “Equal Justice Under the Law.”

Grammy award-winning musician Jon Batiste performed in Myron’s honor.

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Before the dinner, Myron had no less of an honor when he spoke to the Maryland State Appellate Court Bench, where he met Cal Ripken, Jr., the husband of Judge Laura Ripken, who serves on the 5th Appellate Circuit in Maryland.

Myron’s career has been marked by singular achievements.  After graduating from Yale Law School in 1972, he returned to Alabama and became the first Black Assistant Attorney General in state history.  Indeed, he was the first Black state employee other than a teacher or a janitor.

After a stint in private practice, he was appointed to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter, moving into the seat previously occupied by Judge Frank Johnson.  Over the years, Myron has been a powerful advocate for civil rights and equality, issuing landmark rulings on desegregation, prison reform, voting rights, and women’s health.

A Tireless and Effective Public Servant

Beyond the bench, he worked to preserve the Montgomery Greyhound bus station, where Freedom Riders were once attacked, transforming it into the Freedom Rides Museum, a site of reflection and remembrance.  He was also a Founding Director and Board Chair of the Alabama Legal Services Corporation, a precursor to Legal Services Alabama, the only non-profit law firm providing free civil legal assistance to low-income Alabamians and the only LSC-funded program in Alabama.

His rulings have reshaped Alabama’s legal and civic landscape—from desegregation and prison reform to voting rights and women’s health. Beyond the bench, he spearheaded preservation of the Montgomery Greyhound bus station, transforming it into the Freedom Rides Museum. He also co-founded the Alabama Legal Services Corporation, providing critical civil legal assistance to low-income residents.

In September 2022, in celebration of Judge Thompson’s four decades on the bench, former President Jimmy Carter, in a letter, “commended” Judge Thompson for his “enduring commitment to fairness, civil rights, and protecting the rule of law,” and observed that he has “emerged as a national leader in the effort to guarantee that all litigants receive equal justice before the law.”

Along with other luminaries, Myron was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by Yale at the 2022 Commencement. The honor was accompanied by the following statement: “Audacious advocate and learned legal scholar, you have made justice both a career and a calling. In the courtroom, you tenaciously defend equity, liberty and dignity for all; in the classroom, you teach others to walk the same path. Your long service to your home state inspires us; your commitment to your alma mater humbles us. As a testament to your impact, and with the utmost pleasure, we award you your third Yale degree, Doctor of Laws.”

National Recognition

Across three decades, Myron has been honored by leading institutions nationwide:

• • 1998-1999 Scholar in Residence at NYU Law School
  • 2004 Keynote speaker for the Dean’s Lecture at Yale Law School
  • 2005 Mark De Wolfe Howe Award from the Harvard Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review “for his Unyielding Commitment to Advancing the Personal Freedoms and Human Dignities of the American People.”
  • 2008 Judge Jane M. Bolin Service Award from the Yale Law School BLSA in recognition of his “Outstanding Dedication and Support to Yale BLSA and Contributions to the Legal Community”
  • 2009 Honorary J.D. degree from Touro School of Law on Long Island, NY
  • 2010 Honorary J.D. degree and the 2009 Ernestine Sapp Justice Award from Thomas Goode Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama
  • 2013 National Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award for his “personal contributions and extraordinary commitment to the advancement of civil rights and for being a role model for members of the bench and bar”
  • 2015 Stanford Law School National Public Service Award recognizing his “work on behalf of the public” that has made a national impact
  • 2017 Yale Law School Award of Merit, the highest award the law school may give to a graduate and faculty member, for having made a substantial contribution to public service and the legal profession
  • 2017 Named an Alabama Humanities Foundation fellow honoring his achievements and commitment to the Humanities in Alabama
  • 2021 Jurist in Residence at Pace Law School
  • 2022 Awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by Yale University

Each accolade reinforces the enduring impact of Myron’s career as both jurist and public servant.

Continuing the Legacy: The Myron H. Thompson Courtroom

Perhaps the greatest honor he will receive is to have the Frank M. Johnson Courtroom in the Frank M. Johnson Courthouse in Montgomery, Alabama renamed in his honor – the Myron H. Thompson Courtroom.

Before Myron moved into Judge Johnson’s seat, the courtroom was the setting for many of the nation’s most historic civil rights cases:

• In 1956, Judge Johnson ruled in favor of Rosa Parks, striking down the “blacks in the back of the bus” law of the city of Montgomery Alabama, as unconstitutional;
• he issued orders in 1961 and 1962 desegregating the bus depots and the Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama’s Middle judicial district;
• in 1961, he ordered the Ku Klux Klan and Montgomery police to stop the beating and harassment of Freedom Riders attempting to integrate interstate bus travel; and
• in March 1965, Judge Johnson ruled that activists had the right to undertake the Selma to Montgomery march as a means to petition the government, overturning Governor George Wallace‘s prohibition of the march as contrary to public safety.  The march was integral to passage by Congress of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The courtroom is a national historic treasure.

Myron has continued Johnson’s legacy of decisions affirming what Justice Kennedy described as “Equal Justice Under the Law” for all people. In 2002, Myron famously ordered the removal of the Ten Commandments monument that Roy Moore, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, had installed in the Alabama Supreme Court building.

Recently, the Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall threatened to bring felony charges against anyone assisting a pregnant Alabamian who was seeking access to a legal out-of-state abortion.  Myron ruled that restricting cross-border travel to obtain a legal abortion is patently unconstitutional.

And recently, Myron issued an historic 600-page opinion finding the Alabama prison system unconstitutional in many respects by creating “cruel and unusual” conditions and ordering the state to engage in massive remediation.

The renaming ceremony will occur on September 17th at the courthouse, and one of the most historic courtrooms in America will bear the name of our classmate – Myron H. Thompson.  It is an honor well deserved.