Retired U.S. District Judge Sam C. Pointer Jr., who served nearly 30 years on the court and endured death threats for his school integration rulings in Birmingham, has died. He was 73. Pointer, who died Saturday at a hospital from illness, his wife said, had retired from the court about eight years ago.
"The legal community revered Judge Pointer for both his brilliance and his wonderful temperament," said Chief U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn. "Judge Pointer's legacy of service to this court and to the nation may one day be equaled, but never surpassed."Pointer helped desegregate school systems in Birmingham and surrounding Alabama areas. That was spurned on by the Civil Rights movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. Since Pointer also presided over the litigation of some 26,000 silicone-gel breast implant lawsuits in the 1990s, we guess Pointer's career ran the gamut from King to Cone.
[Al.com]
