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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the
3members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened
4to learn of the death of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who passed
5away on April 20, 2014; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Rubin Carter was born on May 6, 1937 into a family
7of seven children; he struggled with a hereditary speech
8impediment and was sent to a juvenile reform center at the age
9of 12 after an assault; he later escaped and joined the United
10States Army in 1954; he learned to box while serving in the
11Army in West Germany; and
 
12    WHEREAS, After returning home from the Army, Rubin Carter
13committed a series of muggings and spent 4 years in various
14state prisons; after his release, he began his pro boxing
15career, winning 20 of his first 24 fights mostly by knockout;
16he was well known in the boxing world as a 160-pound contender
17who earned his nickname of "Hurricane" through his ferocity and
18punching power; he went 27-12-1 with 19 knockouts, memorably
19stopping two-division champ Emile Griffith in the first round
20in 1963; he also fought for a middleweight title in 1964,
21losing a unanimous decision to Joey Giardello; he boxed
22regularly on television at Madison Square Garden and overseas
23in London, Paris, and Johannesburg; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Rubin Carter's boxing career came to an abrupt end
2when he was imprisoned for 3 murders committed at a tavern in
3Paterson, New Jersey in 1966; Carter and his friend John Artis
4had been driving around Carter's hometown on the night that 3
5white people were shot by 2 black men at the Lafayette Bar and
6Grill; they were convicted in 1967 by an all-white jury,
7largely on the testimony of 2 thieves who later recanted their
8stories; he was granted a new trial and briefly freed in 1976,
9but he was sent back for 9 more years after being convicted in
10a second trial; many celebrities, including Muhammad Ali and
11Coretta Scott King, spoke out on Carter's behalf and worked
12toward his release, joined by a network of friends and
13volunteers; he was then freed in 1985, when his convictions
14were finally thrown out after years of appeals; at his final
15trial, United States District Judge H. Lee Sarokin wrote that
16the boxer's prosecution had been "predicated upon an appeal to
17racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than
18disclosure"; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Following his tragic ordeal, Rubin Carter became a
20prominent public advocate for the wrongfully convicted from his
21new home in Canada, where he served as the executive director
22of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted from
231993 to 2005; he also received 2 honorary doctorates for his
24work; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Rubin Carter's ordeal and its racial overtones
2were publicized in Bob Dylan's 1975 song "Hurricane", several
3books, and a 1999 film starring Denzel Washington; he also
4wrote and spoke eloquently about his plight, publishing his
5autobiography, "The Sixteenth Round"; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Rubin Carter will be fondly remembered by his
7supporters and his loved ones for his unbreakable spirit, his
8endless enthusiasm for life, and his great willingness to fight
9against injustice with all his might; therefore, be it
 
10    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
11NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
12we, along with his family and friends, mourn the passing of
13Rubin "Hurricane" Carter; and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15presented to the family of Rubin Carter as an expression of our
16sympathy.