Chuck Morgan

Charles "Chuck" Morgan, Jr (born c. 1930 in Birmingham - died January 8, 2009 in Destin, Florida) was an attorney noted for leading numerous Civil Rights cases in the 1960s.

Morgan was a graduation of the University of Alabama School of Law and took an interest in Civil Rights cases early on.

His arguments in the Alabama reapportionment case "Reynolds v. Sims" (1964) led the Supreme Court to establish the "one man, one vote" principle for federal elections. He established the American Civil Liberties Union office in Atlanta that same year. On behalf of the group he appealed a case brought against the Georgia House of Representatives for refusing to seat Julian Bond (1966) and appealed Muhammad Ali's conviction for draft evasion (1967). Both appeals went to the Supreme Court.

In 1972 he left to become legislative director for the national ACLU office in Washington D.C. In 1977 he left the ACLU to open his own practice. His client list included Watergate figure John Mitchell and the Sears Roebuck Co.

Morgan died in Destin, Florida at the age of 78 from complications from Alzheimer's disease. His son, Charles Morgan III, owns Chuck's Fish restaurant in Tuscaloosa, which was named for Morgan.

Publications

• Morgan, Charles (1964) A Time to Speak: The Story of a Young American Lawyer's Struggle for His City, and for Himself. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. ISBN 0030505763
• Morgan, Charles (1979) One Man, One Voice. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. ISBN 0030139619

References

• Weaver, Kendal (January 8, 2009) "Charles Morgan, civil rights-era lawyer from Alabama, dies in Florida; Bond, Ali among clients." Associated Press