18 Facts About John Payton

John A Payton was an African-American civil rights attorney.

For more than six years, Payton handled the two high-profile cases in the trial court and in the court of appeals, and argued Gratz v Bollinger before the Supreme Court of the United States.

John Payton grew up in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated from high school.

John Payton attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he became heavily involved in civil rights and anti-war protests.

John Payton was one of the founders of Pomona's Black Student Association.

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For three years, John Payton served as an admissions officer at the Claremont Colleges, a position that he helped create to recruit black students.

John Payton left the admissions position after receiving a Watson fellowship, which allowed him to study literature in West Africa for a year and, while abroad, he applied to law school.

John Payton successfully defended the NAACP against an anti-trust lawsuit brought by white merchants in Mississippi who had lost business in the wake of a 1966 desegregation boycott.

John Payton argued the case in the Supreme Court of the United States where the Court narrowly ruled against the city and determined, for the first time, that all government uses of race - including affirmative action programs - would be subject to strict scrutiny.

Early in his term, John Payton dealt with the aftermath of the Mount Pleasant riots and worked to improve Latino and police relations in the city.

John Payton participated in balancing the city's budget in the face of a major crisis.

In 1994 John Payton left the DC Corporation Counsel office to join his wife, Gay McDougall, in South Africa.

For more than six years, Payton handled the two high-profile cases in the trial court and in the court of appeals, and argued Gratz v Bollinger before the Supreme Court.

John Payton organized a broad coalition from higher education, the military and top businesses in support of diversity initiatives.

John Payton served as president of the District of Columbia Bar for one year in 2001.

John Payton served as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Georgetown University Law Center and Howard University School of Law.

John Payton was repeatedly recognized by his peers and news outlets as one of the nation's top lawyers.

In 2008, John Payton was appointed the sixth director-counsel and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc following in the footsteps of such civil rights giants as Thurgood Marshall and Jack Greenberg.