1. Barefoot Sanders was best known for overseeing the lawsuit to desegregate the Dallas Independent School District.
21 Facts About Barefoot Sanders
1. 2.
Barefoot Sanders served in the United States Navy during World War II between 1943 and 1946.
3.
Barefoot Sanders was affiliated with Phi Delta Theta, Blue Key, Phi Delta Phi, Phi Delta Kappa and the Texas Cowboys.
4.
Barefoot Sanders received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1949, and a Juris Doctor in 1950 from the University of Texas School of Law.
5.
Barefoot Sanders worked in private practice with the Dallas law firm of Clark, West, Keller, Barefoot Sanders and Butler from 1950 through 1961 and from 1969 until 1979.
6.
In 1958, Barefoot Sanders ran for Texas's 5th congressional district, but lost in the general election to Republican incumbent Bruce Alger.
7.
In 1961, President John F Kennedy appointed Sanders United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, a position he held until 1965.
8.
From 1965 to 1967, Barefoot Sanders served as Assistant Deputy Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice in Washington, DC and was instrumental in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
9.
Barefoot Sanders narrowly defeated former US Senator Ralph Yarborough in the Democratic primary runoff, but lost the general election to incumbent Republican John Tower.
10.
Barefoot Sanders was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 24,1979, and received his commission two days later.
11.
Barefoot Sanders served as chief judge of the Northern District of Texas from 1989 to 1995.
12.
Barefoot Sanders served as chair of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Judicial Branch ; as a member of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ; and as chair, National Conference of Federal Trial Judges, American Bar Association.
13.
Barefoot Sanders assumed senior status on January 1,1996, and inactive senior status on July 7,2006.
14.
Barefoot Sanders's service was terminated by his death on September 21,2008.
15.
The litigation began before Barefoot Sanders became a federal judge, but he took over the case until its conclusion in 2003, and had oversight of many Dallas ISD activities related to racial balance until that time.
16.
Barefoot Sanders ordered the school district to create a new desegregation plan, which the district published on July 23,1971.
17.
Barefoot Sanders ordered parties to submit new desegregation plans, and then issued his own, ordering:.
18.
Barefoot Sanders offered no answer to any of the public questions but concluded the session by taking all comments into advisement.
19.
Decades of oversight finally came to an end in June 2003, when Barefoot Sanders ruled that Dallas ISD was no longer subject to his oversight and was desegregated.
20.
Barefoot Sanders's oldest daughter, Janet, is a judge on the Massachusetts Superior Court.
21.
Barefoot Sanders's son, Harold III, is a musician, composer, and owner of Barefoot Music whose best-known work is the theme to the reality TV competition series Top Chef.