Clarence Mitchell III
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Clarence Mitchell III
| image = Clarence M. Mitchell, III.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Clarence Maurice Mitchell III
| birth_date = December 14, 1939
| birth_place = St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
| residence = Baltimore, Maryland
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|10|11|1939|12|14}}
| death_place = Baltimore, Maryland
| state_senate = Maryland
| district = 39th
| term_start = 1967
| term_end = 1986
| predecessor =
| successor = Michael B. Mitchell
| party = Democrat
| religion =
| occupation =
| majority =
| spouse = Joyce Ellis
| children = 7, including Clarence IV
| father = Clarence Mitchell Jr.
| mother = Juanita Jackson
| relatives = Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson (grandmother)
Parren Mitchell (uncle)
Keiffer Mitchell Jr. (nephew)
| footnotes =
| order2 = Maryland House of Delegates
| term_start2 = 1963
| term_end2 = 1967
| president =
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| order3 =
| term_start3 =
| term_end3 =
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
}}
Clarence Maurice Mitchell III (December 14, 1939 – October 11, 2012) was an American politician from Baltimore, Maryland who served in the Maryland Senate and the Maryland House of Delegates.{{cite news |last=Lambert |first=Jack |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2012/10/11/clarence-m-mitchell-iii-dies.html |title=Clarence M. Mitchell III, former Md. state senator, dies |work=Baltimore Business Journal |date=October 11, 2012 |access-date=July 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014130721/http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2012/10/11/clarence-m-mitchell-iii-dies.html |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |url-status=dead}}
Background
Mitchell was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, December 14, 1939. The son of Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. and Juanita Jackson Mitchell, he attended Baltimore City public schools and then Gonzaga High School in Washington, D.C. After high school, Mitchell attended the University of Maryland and Morgan State University.{{cite web |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/002700/002731/html/2731bio.html |title=Clarence M. Mitchell III, MSA SC 3520-2731 |website=Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series) |publisher=Maryland State Archives |date=October 11, 2012 |access-date=October 26, 2012}} He was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.{{cite news |first=Kevin |last=Rector |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-xpm-2012-10-21-bs-md-ci-mitchell-funeral-20121016-story.html |title=Mitchell remembered as pioneer, fighter for justice |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=October 21, 2012}}
Career
Mitchell first served in the Maryland House of Delegates, Legislative District 4 (Baltimore City) from 1963 to 1967; he was elected at 22 and sworn in at 23 years old.
After 4 years in the House, he ran for the Maryland Senate and won. During the next 20 years he represented Senate, Legislative Districts 10, 38 & 39, all in Baltimore City. 1967-86. During that time he was the Deputy majority leader, 1975–78, Majority whip, 1979, member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, Co-chair of the Joint Committee on Federal Relations and Chairman of the Executive Nominations Committee.
On the national level, Mitchell was also elected to serve as President of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, from 1979 to 1985.
Controversy
Mitchell pleaded no contest in 1964 to charges of failing to file income taxes.
In 1983 he was charged with carrying a weapon onto an airplane.{{cite book |author-link1=Michael Barone (pundit) |last1=Barone |first1=Michael |last2=Ujifusa |first2=Grant |author-link2=Grant Ujifusa |title=The Almanac of American Politics 1988 |page=534 |work=National Journal |date=October 1987 |isbn=978-0892340378}}
A year after leaving the Senate in 1986, Mitchell was convicted of attempting to obstruct a grand jury, committing wire fraud and attempting to tamper with a federal investigation in the Wedtech scandal. He was sentenced to 54 months in prison, but was released after serving 18 months.{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 6, 1988 |title=2 are sentenced in Wedtech case |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/06/us/2-are-sentenced-in-wedtech-case.html}}
Personal life
Mitchell was married to Joyce Ellis. Their seven children include Clarence Mitchell IV, Stepson to Joyce, who served in the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland State Senate, and also hosted The C4 Show on WBAL radio.{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2012-10-11-bs-md-mitchell-iii-20121011-story.html |title=Former Md. Sen. Clarence Mitchell III has died |last1=Wenger |first1=Yvonne |last2=Kelly |first2=Jacques |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=October 11, 2012 |access-date=July 20, 2019}}
Mitchell died October 11, 2012, in Randallstown, Maryland.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{C-SPAN|16310}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Clarence M. III}}
Category:African-American state legislators in Maryland
Category:American people convicted of tax crimes
Category:Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates
Category:Democratic Party Maryland state senators
Category:Maryland politicians convicted of crimes
Category:American people convicted of obstruction of justice
Category:Politicians convicted of mail and wire fraud
Category:Politicians from Baltimore
Category:Mitchell family (Maryland)
Category:20th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly