John Barrow: “Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1087, a resolution honoring the life of my good friend, Judge Jack…”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1087, a resolution honoring the life of my good friend, Judge Jack Ruffin of Augusta, Georgia. Judge Ruffin passed away on January 29 at the age of 75. He had a long and distinguished career of service in Georgia, and he will truly be missed. Jack Ruffin was born in the middle of the Great Depression, and spent his formative years in the town of Waynesboro, Georgia. He left home to attend Morehouse College, and graduated in 1957. At the time his mother wanted him to be a teacher, but Jack Ruffin had other plans. He moved to Washington, D.C., attended Howard University School of Law, and got his J.D. degree in 1960. Jack Ruffin could have built a successful law practice anywhere in the country, but he decided to return home to the deeply segregated City of Augusta to practice law. Throughout the course of his career, Jack Ruffin focused on rooting out the racial prejudice and discrimination which still held a firm grip on the political and economic livelihood of our State. Jack Ruffin fought for his own right to practice his profession, and became the first black lawyer admitted to the Augusta Bar Association and the first black Superior Court Judge in the Augusta Judicial Circuit. But more importantly, he fought for the rights of everyone in the community.”