Thurgood Marshall and the Seeds of ‘Justice’

In the 1930s, prominent black attorney Charles Houston set up a crack law school at Howard University, where a team of black students laid the groundwork for the evolution of civil rights law over the next half century.

One of his brightest students was Thurgood Marshall, who led the legal defense team in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown vs. the Board of Education, which outlawed segregation in schools. (A Disney Channel movie looks at the aftermath of the case. See facing page.) Marshall, of course, was later named to the U.S. Supreme Court, from which he retired in 1991.

The docudrama “Simple Justice” follows Marshall from his days at Howard through his triumph in Brown. Peter Francis James (“As the World Turns”) plays Marshall, and James Avery (“Fresh Prince of Bel Air”) is Houston.

The drama, based on Richard Kluger’s book “Simple Justice,” is part of PBS’ “American Experience” series.

The battle to strike down school segregation traveled over the course of 20 years from courtrooms in the South and Midwest to the Supreme Court.

“It is a David and Goliath story,” Avon Kirkland, the executive producer, said in Wilmington, where “Simple Justice” was filmed last year. “Black lawyers go up against hundreds of years of social condition.”

The fight was led by Houston, the first black to win a case before the Supreme Court.

“It was a pleasant change from doing a sitcom,” Avery said. “I see Charles Houston as a hero and pivotal character.”

But Houston, envied by many for his good looks and eloquence, didn’t live to see the desegregation victory.

“He dedicated his whole life to battle,” said Avery. “He died of a broken heart. He had a heart attack. He wasn’t able to see his dream fulfilled.”

Houston’s mission was left to Marshall, who began battling for equal justice for blacks while in his 20s.

By the age of 30, he had assumed responsibility for the NAACP legal defense team.

“It is exciting playing Marshall,” said James, a lanky 36-year-old actor. “I have known about him for a long time. I wanted to be a lawyer. He was one of my heroes as a child. Both my parents are lawyers.”

In researching the role by talking to relatives and others about Marshall, James didn’t find a stuffy, scholarly man.

Instead, he heard stories about a man with a common touch.

“You don’t have the sense of an aloof, great man,” he said. “Even in arguments, he was a guy with the ability to make it clear to the justices that it wasn’t some theoretical game that they were playing. Marshall was someone in his presence who reminded you of a human being. He was someone you could meet in a train station and spend an amazing hour listening to.”

In the battle against segregation, Marshall proved to be feisty and savvy in plotting legal strategies.

One of his strategies was to bring prominent black social psychologist Dr. Kenneth Clark (Giancarlo Esposito) into the courtroom. Clark used a doll test to show that early in life, black children came to understand that success, beauty and status all wear white faces in this country.

The tests were re-created for the docudrama. “We filmed three children--two girls and one boy,” said co-producer Yanna Kroyt Brandt. “It was extremely moving.”

In the end, Marshall took the case to the Supreme Court, where Chief Justice Earl Warren (Pat Hingle) and Justice Felix Frankfurter (Sam Gray) were among those who heard it. John W. Davis (George Grizzard), a prominent West Virginia attorney and the 1924 Democratic presidential nominee, argued for the defense.

“I think of Warren as chief justice in an important time,” Hingle said. “He was an important man--not as astute a justice as the rest of the court, especially Felix Frankfurter. But he was able to bring people together and cajole people and get a solid vote (to strike down segregation).”

To show the Supreme Court chambers, the film crew constructed towering columns and maroon velvet curtains. The wood-paneled conference room was meticulously set up with law books, an American flag and a gleaming silver tea set.

This is not the first TV show that portrays the landmark Brown case. “Separate but Equal,” a 1991 ABC movie, also chronicled the events leading up to the decision.

“The focus of our show is different,” said Head. “We start with Thurgood Marshall in law school. We cover a wider time frame. We show the beginning of the struggle and the germination of the idea.”

“Simple Justice” airs Monday at 8 p.m. on KPBS and 9 p.m. on KCET.