HR1036 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1036 LRB098 21022 GRL 58718 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who passed away on April 20, 2014; and

WHEREAS, Rubin Carter was born on May 6, 1937 into a family of seven children; he struggled with a hereditary speech impediment and was sent to a juvenile reform center at the age of 12 after an assault; he later escaped and joined the United States Army in 1954; he learned to box while serving in the Army in West Germany; and

WHEREAS, After returning home from the Army, Rubin Carter committed a series of muggings and spent 4 years in various state prisons; after his release, he began his pro boxing career, winning 20 of his first 24 fights mostly by knockout; he was well known in the boxing world as a 160-pound contender who earned his nickname of "Hurricane" through his ferocity and punching power; he went 27-12-1 with 19 knockouts, memorably stopping two-division champ Emile Griffith in the first round in 1963; he also fought for a middleweight title in 1964, losing a unanimous decision to Joey Giardello; he boxed regularly on television at Madison Square Garden and overseas in London, Paris, and Johannesburg; and

WHEREAS, Rubin Carter's boxing career came to an abrupt end when he was imprisoned for 3 murders committed at a tavern in Paterson, New Jersey in 1966; Carter and his friend John Artis had been driving around Carter's hometown on the night that 3 white people were shot by 2 black men at the Lafayette Bar and Grill; they were convicted in 1967 by an all-white jury, largely on the testimony of 2 thieves who later recanted their stories; he was granted a new trial and briefly freed in 1976, but he was sent back for 9 more years after being convicted in a second trial; many celebrities, including Muhammad Ali and Coretta Scott King, spoke out on Carter's behalf and worked toward his release, joined by a network of friends and volunteers; he was then freed in 1985, when his convictions were finally thrown out after years of appeals; at his final trial, United States District Judge H. Lee Sarokin wrote that the boxer's prosecution had been "predicated upon an appeal to racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure"; and

WHEREAS, Following his tragic ordeal, Rubin Carter became a prominent public advocate for the wrongfully convicted from his new home in Canada, where he served as the executive director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted from 1993 to 2005; he also received 2 honorary doctorates for his work; and

WHEREAS, Rubin Carter's ordeal and its racial overtones were publicized in Bob Dylan's 1975 song "Hurricane", several books, and a 1999 film starring Denzel Washington; he also wrote and spoke eloquently about his plight, publishing his autobiography, "The Sixteenth Round"; and

WHEREAS, Rubin Carter will be fondly remembered by his supporters and his loved ones for his unbreakable spirit, his endless enthusiasm for life, and his great willingness to fight against injustice with all his might; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with his family and friends, mourn the passing of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Rubin Carter as an expression of our sympathy.