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2006 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 157
Celebrating the life of Judge James Harry Michael, Jr.
 
Agreed to by the Senate, February 2, 2006
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 10, 2006
 

WHEREAS, Judge James Harry Michael, Jr., of Charlottesville, distinguished former state senator and federal judge, died on August 29, 2005; and

WHEREAS, a native of Charlottesville, J. Harry Michael graduated from the University of Virginia in 1940 and received a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1942; and

WHEREAS, J. Harry Michael served his country in the United States Navy in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II, was discharged as a Lieutenant in 1946, and was a founding member and commander of the Charlottesville unit of the United States Navy Reserve; and

WHEREAS, committed to the community of Charlottesville, J. Harry Michael maintained a local law practice as a general and trial attorney from 1946 to 1980, served as an associate judge for the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court from 1954 to 1967, and was a member of the Charlottesville School Board from 1951 to 1962; and

WHEREAS, a brilliant attorney and experienced leader, J. Harry Michael was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1967, served as the chairman of the Virginia Code Commission, and ran for lieutenant governor in 1973; and

WHEREAS, in the spirit of Jeffersonian democratic freedoms, J. Harry Michael was constitutionally oriented and a great protector of individual rights; and

WHEREAS, Judge Michael was appointed a United States District Court judge by President James E. Carter, Jr., in 1980; he presided on numerous landmark cases and served the Western District of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, Judge Michael felt most honored to administer the oath of citizenship on the beautiful grounds of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello on the Fourth of July each year; his inspirational addresses at the naturalization ceremonies provided a very moving, as well as lasting memory for hundreds of new citizens and their families and friends; and

WHEREAS, Judge Michael will be fondly remembered for his immense love of the law, his profound wisdom and compassion, and will be sorely missed by his family, his peers, his numerous friends and admirers, and the citizens of the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the passing of a revered statesman and jurist and outstanding Virginian, Judge James Harry Michael, Jr.; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Judge James Harry Michael, Jr., as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.