Donald V. Watkins
| Donald V. Watkins | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1948 Parsons, Kansas |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Southern Illinois University, 1970; University of Alabama School of Law, 1973 |
| 💼 Occupation | Commercial Banker, American Trial Lawyer, and International Business Entrepreneur. |
| 🏡 Home town | Montgomery, AL |
| 👴 👵 Parent(s) | Dr. Levi Watkins, Sr. and Mrs. Lillian Bernice Varnado Watkins |
Donald V. Watkins is an American trial attorney.
Early life
Watkins was born in Parsons, Kansas on September 8, 1948, the fifth of six children of Dr. Levi Watkins, Sr. (1911–1994) and Mrs. Lillian Bernice Varnado Watkins (1917–2013). Levi was president of Alabama State University from 1962-1981. Lillian was an educator by training and certification. Donald Watkins was raised in Montgomery, Alabama. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was his family's friend and pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Rosa Parks, civil rights pioneer, was also a friend of the family. “Watching those civil rights figures before they became famous taught me how to focus under incredible circumstances and hostility,” Watkins told the New York Daily News. [1]
College and law school
Watkins attended Southern Illinois University from 1966 to 1970. In September 1970, Watkins was one of two black students to desegregate the University of Alabama School of Law. Three black law students broke the color barrier at the law school the prior academic year. Watkins attended the three-year law school program on a Herbert Lehman Scholarship awarded by the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City. Lehman Scholarships were awarded to young African-American students in the 1970s who demonstrate an interest in advancing the cause of civil rights and/or serving the public interest.[2]
Personal life
Watkins is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Watkins was married to DeAndra Y. Johnson Watkins from 1968 until 2003. He is the father of four sons and one daughter, all of whom are adults. [1] Watkins had five siblings, and "they’re all smarter than I am," he told the Minneapolis StarTribune. They include two surgeons—his older brother, Levi, performed the world's first human implantation of an automatic heart defibrillator; a mathematics Ph.D., a school principal; and a music teacher.[1]
Legal career
After graduation from law school, Watkins started his law practice in the Montgomery, Alabama office of Fred D. Gray, Rosa Parks's attorney.[3] In 1979, he became the youngest person ever elected to the Montgomery City Council where he served as a council member from 1979 to 1983. In 1985, Watkins expanded his law practice into Birmingham, Alabama, and became a confidant and Special Counsel to Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington, Jr., the City’s first African-American mayor. Watkins served as Mayor Arrington’s Special Counsel until 1998.[1]
Cases
During his legal career in Alabama, cases Watkins handled included:
Clarence Norris, the last known surviving "Scottsboro Boy"
On November 26, 1976, Watkins won a full and unconditional pardon from the state of Alabama for Clarence Norris, the last known surviving "Scottsboro Boy". The nine Scottsboro Boys were falsely accused in 1931 of raping two white girls on a train running through Paint Rock, Alabama. All were arrested, tried, convicted of rape, and sentenced to death on multiple occasions. The U.S. Supreme Court saved the Scottsboro Boys on three occasions within hours of their scheduled execution.
The Clarence Norris pardon was based upon a finding of "innocence" of the criminal charge of rape, as proclaimed by the Alabama Pardons and Parole Board. This was the first pardon ever granted by the state to a person who was originally sentenced to death and who was later declared innocent of the charges for which he was convicted. [4]
The Estate of Bernard Whitehurst v. The City of Montgomery, Alabama, et al.
In December 1975, Watkins represented the Estate of Bernard Whitehurst in a wrongful death case against the Montgomery police department. Whitehurst was an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by Montgomery police officer Donnie Foster. The police initially claimed that Whitehurst was a fleeing felon who shot at Foster while on the run. Watkins's investigation, which included exhuming Whitehurst's body, revealed that Whitehurst was shot in the back, and that the gun found beside his body was "planted" by police after his death. The case resulted in the resignations of Montgomery’s mayor and police commissioner, the indictment of three police officers, and the firing or resignation of eight others.
This scandal was headlined in the April 3, 1977, edition of the Washington Post as "Alabama’s Watergate". More recently, this shooting was featured in a December 19, 2015, edition of the New York Daily News in an article titled, "Innocent Alabama man murdered by cops 40 years ago, police heard saying 'We done shot the wrong n-----'".
Allen, et al. v. Alabama State Board of Education
In 1981, Watkins represented a group of black teachers and teacher applicants challenging the constitutionality of Alabama's newly instituted teacher testing program. In 1985, Watkins reached a settlement in the case in which the State Board of Education agreed to halt the testing program.[5]
SCLC v. The City of Gadsden, Alabama
Beginning in 1978, Watkins filed a series of civil rights lawsuits on behalf of the SCLC against the City of Gadsden, Alabama seeking to desegregate its fire, police and civil service departments. Gadsden’s city hall, fire and police departments were all white at the time. All of the cases were successful, and resulted in the full integration of City Hall and the fire, police, and civil service departments. [6]
Sidney Williams v. The City of Montgomery, Alabama
In 1975, Watkins represented black police corporal Sidney Williams, who sought a promotion in the Montgomery police department to sergeant. His promotion was blocked because the department was using racially biased promotional tests that had not been validated in accordance with EEOC Guidelines. Watkins won the case and the tests were scrapped. This victory cleared the way for a host of black officers to rise through the ranks of the department all the way up to the rank of police chief. Williams retired as a major in the department. After his retirement, Williams became the chairman of the Alabama Pardons and Parole Board, where he served as a board member with distinction for eight years. [7]
U.S. v. U.W. Clemon
In 1996, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles formally notified U.S. District Judge U. W. Clemon (in Birmingham, Alabama) of their intent to indict him on various fraud-related charges arising from his sister’s operation of a non-profit school in Los Angeles. Watkins represented the lead political group responsible for Clemon's appointment to the federal bench in 1980. Watkins launched an investigation into allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the case. Watkins's investigation produced a report to the U.S. Attorney General on the prosecutorial misconduct. Based upon the Watkins report, the Department of Justice terminated the criminal investigation of Clemon with no charges filed.[citation needed]
U.S. v. Richard Scrushy
In 2003, Watkins represented Richard M. Scrushy, the former CEO of HealthSouth. Scrushy was originally indicted on 85 felony counts of Sarbanes Oxley and related accounting fraud charges. If convicted on all charges, he faced 650 years in prison. Scrushy was the first CEO in the nation charged with violating Sarbanes Oxley. The case was featured on 60 Minutes. In 2005, Scrushy walked out of the federal courthouse in Birmingham a free man. Watkins defeated prosecutors on all charges in Scrushy’s case. The July 25, 2005, edition of Fortune magazine profiled the case in a feature article titled, “Donald Watkins: The Man Who Saved Richard Scrushy”. Watkins was labeled the “real legal mastermind of the case” in a front-page article in the February 2, 2005, edition of the Wall Street Journal. No white-collar criminal defendant before or since the Scrushy case has defeated 85 felony charges in an individual case. [8]
In addition to his legal career, Watkins received national media coverage for his attempts to purchase the Minnesota Twins[9] and the Anaheim Angels[10] in 2002. The owner of the Twins decided against selling his baseball team and the Angels were sold to Arturo Moreno.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Henderson, Ashyia (2003). Contemporary Black Biography. Detroit, MI: Gale Cengage Learning. pp. Vol. 35, Pages 190-192. ISBN 978-0-7876-6331-5. Search this book on
- ↑ "The HistoryMakers, an African American Video Oral History Collection". May 1, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.(subscription required)
- ↑ "Biography/Interview Donald V. Watkins".
- ↑ Johnson, Thomas (October 26, 1976). "Last of Scottsboro 9 Is Pardoned; He Draws a Lesson for Everybody". New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ↑ United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (April 22, 1987). "Allen vs, Alabama State Board of Education". OpenJurist.
- ↑ "Watkins remembers celebrates and challenges at local king program". The Gadsden Times. January 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- ↑ "United States vs. City of Montgomery, AL". Justia US Law. March 19, 1992.
- ↑ Helyar, John (July 25, 2005). "The Man Who Saved Richard Scrushy". Fortune Magazine.
- ↑ "Ventura To Watkins: Hip, Hip, Hooray!". CBS News: Eye on Sports. 2002-01-15. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
- ↑ "Former slugger Canseco will pitch his own book". ESPN.com. 2002-09-04. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
Periodicals
- American Banker, May 9, 2001, p. 7.
- Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 21, 1991, p. El; February 13, 2002, p. CI.
- Daily News (New York), February 3, 2002, p. 67; February 14, 2002, p. 90.
- Forbes, April 1, 2002, p. 60.
- Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, December 21, 2001, p. K1487.
- Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2002, p. D7; April 19, 2002, p. D1; May 28, 2002, p. D1; June 29, 2002, p. D8; July 13, 2002, part 4, p. 8.
- Montreal Gazette, February 14, 2002, p. C7.
- New York Times, March 4, 2002, p. D1.
- Star-Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), December 22, 2001, p. A1; December 29, 2001, p. A1; May 2, 2002, p. B1.
- Washington Post, April 3, 1977, p. C1; March 13, 1983, p. A2.
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