http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/deaths/6632259.html
RIPRetired U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer, who during nearly 30 years on the federal bench changed Dallas public housing and the way the city elects its council, died Monday of natural causes at a San Marcos nursing home.
Buchmeyer, 76, was seen as a courageous and independent champion of civil and human rights by some, and as an ultra-liberal bent on disrupting the status quo by others.
The changes he brought to public housing residents in Dallas became a model for the nation, said Florence Roisman, an Indiana University law professor and authority on housing law.
“Judge Buchmeyer leaves a magnificent legacy,” Roisman said.
He was perhaps best-known for his handling of the 1985 lawsuit by Debra Walker and six other low-income women against the Dallas Housing Authority that transformed West Dallas projects that were regarded as some of the nation's worst.
The case — expanded to include the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department and the city of Dallas — allowed thousands of black families to move into predominantly white neighborhoods.
Last edited by ph1shman420 (2009-09-24 15:54:34)
