Joe Manchin: “I rise to pay tribute to Dr. Franklin D. Cleckley, one of the true giants of the legal system of West Virginia. I do so…”

“I rise to pay tribute to Dr. Franklin D. Cleckley, one of the true giants of the legal system of West Virginia. I do so because Frank is getting ready to retire after nearly half a century of service to our great State--as a lawyer, as a professor, as a judge, and as an unwavering champion of justice. I wish to congratulate him for the extraordinary job he has done and to thank him for his countless contributions to the betterment of West Virginia. Dr. Cleckley's stellar and pioneering legal career began in 1965 when he earned his law degree from Indiana University. It will end next week at West Virginia University with a retirement ceremony that so many of his family, friends, and colleagues will be attending to celebrate this great man. I only wish I could be there because I have valued and appreciated his friendship for so many years. Frank Cleckley joined the faculty at West Virginia University College of Law in 1969, after serving as a lawyer in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps at the height of the Vietnam war. Not only was he the first African American on the staff at the West Virginia University College of Law, he was also the first full-time African- American professor in the history of West Virginia University. As a law professor at West Virginia University, Frank literally wrote the book on practicing law in West Virginia.…”