George N. Leighton#Legacy and Honors

George Neves Leitão and his twin sister Georgina were born in New Bedford, Massachusetts on October 22, 1912, to Ana Silva Garcia and António Neves Leitão, immigrants from Brava, Cape Verde.{{cite web|url=https://www.lb7.uscourts.gov/OralHistories/Oral%20%20History%20of%20George%20Neves%20Leightion.pdf|title=The oral history of George Neves Leighton, retired District Court Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois|last=Fitzpatrick|first=Collins T.|date=2007|website=Library of the U.S. Courts of the Senate|access-date=2021-11-12}}{{cite web|url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/leighton-george-neves-1912-2018/|title=GEORGE NEVES LEIGHTON (1912–2018)|last=Burgo|first=Barbara|date=2018-07-04|publisher=Black Past|access-date=2021-11-12}}{{cite web|title=Juiz de origem cabo-verdiana homenageado nos EUA|url=http://asemana.sapo.cv/spip.php?article38270|publisher=A Semana online|date=January 11, 2009|language=pt|access-date=March 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718163524/http://asemana.sapo.cv/spip.php?article38270|archive-date=July 18, 2011|url-status=dead}} At home, the family spoke Crioulo. His surname was anglicized to "Leighton" after a teacher claimed she could not pronounce his last name "Leitão."{{cite web|title=George Leighton became U.S. District Court Judge|date=n.d.|publisher=African American Registry|access-date=2021-11-12|url=http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/george-leighton-became-us-district-court-judge|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024013127/http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/george-leighton-became-us-district-court-judge|archive-date=2012-10-24}} Leighton left school after sixth grade to work with his father picking cranberries, strawberries, and blueberries.{{cite web|url=https://www.jonathanpollard.org/2001/100501c.htm|title=A Biographical Sketch of George N. Leighton|date=n.d.|publisher=Jonathan Pollard|access-date=2021-11-12|archive-date=2021-10-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018110122/https://www.jonathanpollard.org/2001/100501c.htm|url-status=dead}} He also worked on an oil tanker that sailed from Fall River, Massachusetts to Aruba. He read voraciously throughout his late childhood and began attending night school through the Works Progress Administration starting in 1934 to make up for his lack of diploma.

In 1936, Leighton won $200 from the Cape Verdean Memorial Scholarship Fund and applied to Howard University. He was initially rejected, but F.D. Wilkinson, the school's registrar, agreed to let him enroll as a non-degree student, and that if he could prove he could succeed without a high school education, the university would change his status to degree-seeking. To further complicate matters, Leighton recalls having a poor grasp on the English language before attending Howard. Despite this, he made the Dean's List during his first semester and was made a candidate for degree. He remained on the Dean's List every semester until he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's in history in 1940. While at Howard, one of his Kappa Alpha Psi brothers recommended him for the position of the Assistant to the Dean of Men, which gave him free housing and tuition. He was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and earned a commission from Howard's AROTC.{{cite web|url=https://www.nealandleroy.com/george-n-leighton|title=George N. Leighton|date=n.d.|publisher=Neal & Leroy|access-date=2021-11-12}} James McCauley Landis, the Dean of Harvard Law School, granted him a first-year scholarship and admitted him.

World War II began in his second year and he was sent to Fort Benning in Georgia in March 1942.{{cite web|url=https://www.newbedfordguide.com/fort-taber-flag-to-honor-judge-george-n-leighton-wwii-veteran-and-fierce-civil-rights-advocate/2021/06/28|title=Fort Taber Flag to honor Judge George N. Leighton WWII Veteran and Fierce Civil Rights Advocate|last=Silvia|first=Michael|date=2021-06-28|publisher=New Bedford Guide|access-date=2021-11-12}} At the end of basic, he was sent to Fort Huachuca in Arizona before shipping out to the Pacific Theater as part of the segregated 93rd Infantry Division.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/obituaries/george-leighton-dies-chicago.html|title=George N. Leighton, Lawyer Who Fought Segregation, Dies at 105|date=2018-06-15|last=Smith|first=Mitch|work=The New York Times|access-date=2021-11-12}} He became a military captain and earned a Bronze Star Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Service Metal, and the Combat Infantry Badge for his service.{{cite web|url=https://www.injusticewatch.org/commentary/2018/remembering-an-icon-and-longing-to-make-america-great-again/|title=Remembering an icon, and longing to make America great again|last=Warden|first=Rob|date=2018-06-11|publisher=Injustice Watch|access-date=2021-11-12}} After the war ended in 1945, he returned to the Law School and earned his LL.B. degree the following year.

He passed the Massachusetts Bar in 1946; then, impressed that Black congressman William Dawson had been elected to public office, moved to Chicago and passed the Illinois Bar in 1947.{{cite book|author=United States Congress|title=Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress|url={{Google books|sIFlieyBsnEC|page=11225|plainurl=yes}}|page=11225}} His early years as a lawyer were spent in private practice, including with Christopher C. Wimbish.{{cite web|url=https://www.boston.va.gov/features/WWII_Veteran_Turns_105_at_VA_Boston_s_CLC.asp|title=WWII Veteran Turns 105 at VA Boston's CLC|date=2017-10-20|publisher=Bsoston VA|access-date=2021-11-12}} From 1947 and 1952, he was the president of the Third Ward Regular Democratic Organization; he then was elected Assistant State Attorney General of Illinois in 1949.{{cite web|url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/honorable-george-n-leighton|title=The Honorable George N. Leighton|date=2002-05-30|publisher=The History Makers|access-date=2021-11-12}} He served two terms and left in 1951 to co-found Moore, Ming, and Leighton (later McCoy, Ming, and Leighton), one of the largest Black law firms in the United States.{{cite web|url=https://aaregistry.org/story/george-leighton-district-court-judge-born/|title=George Leighton, District Court Judge born|date=n.d.|publisher=African American Registry|access-date=2021-11-12}} Chicago was still deeply segregated at this time and he was unable to rent an office from a white landlord, so he moved to the South Side and worked near Comiskey Park.{{cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/crec/2018/06/27/modified/CREC-2018-06-27-pt1-PgS4500.htm|title=Remembering Judge George Leighton|date=2018-06-27|publisher=Congress|access-date=2021-11-12}} Many of his clients were too poor to afford his services, so he often worked for free, and when he was paid, it was usually between $50 and $100.

In 1964, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley asked Leighton to run for Circuit Court judge; he was elected in 1964 and won by a landslide despite being the only Black person on the 18-person Democratic ticket. He began teaching at the John Marshall Law School the following year; he was later involved in convincing the American Bar Association to continue accrediting evening law programs. In 1969, Walter V. Schaefer, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois, asked Leighton to accept an assignment to the Illinois Court of Appeals in Illinois' First District. He accepted and served in that role for 11 years. He was the first Black man to be appointed to this position. In 1975, he was again contacted for a promotion. Charles H. Percy, a Republican Senator in Illinois, recommended Leighton to President Gerald Ford as a United States District Court judge. Leighton was sworn in in front of a Republican-controlled Senate and held the role until 1987, when his wife Virginia became ill and he stepped down from the bench. He had been made a senior judge the year before. He became counsel for Neal & Associates (now Neal & Leroy), a minority-owned firm, to earn enough money for Virginia's around-the-clock medical care and only left the practice in 2011 at age 99.

Leighton often traveled to the South to provide legal counsel, especially on civil rights issues.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-met-george-leighton-dies-20180606-story.html|title=George Leighton, criminal courthouse namesake, recalled as inspiration for generations: 'His work is enduring'|last1=O'Connell|first1=Patrick M.|last2=Olumhense|first2=Ese|date=2018-06-07|publisher=Chicago Tribune|access-date=2021-11-13}} He brushed shoulders with many notable Black professionals; he mentored several Chicago lawyers including Barack Obama and at one point had Martin Luther King Jr. as a client.

More generally known as the Boswell Amendment case, Schnell v. Davis was a lawsuit filed in response to the Boswell Amendment, which required voter registrants to pass a test before being allowed to vote. The test was to be able to explain a provision of the U.S. Constitution.{{cite web|url=https://www.isba.org/committees/diversityleadershipcouncil/newsletter/2010/06/carryingonlincolnslegacylawyerswh|title=Carrying on Lincoln's legacy: Lawyers who are making a difference today|date=2010|publisher=ISBA|access-date=2021-11-13}}

Leighton traveled from Chicago to Mobile, Alabama to serve as counsel alongside David R. Landau to 10 Black people who were told their answers were not satisfactory, while "white applicants with less qualifications were registered." The defense consisted of Governor Jim Folsom and the Mobile County Board of Registrars; their attorneys were Alabama Attorney General Albert A. Carmichael, Assistant Alabama Attorney General Si Garrett, Geneva County Representative (and writer of the Boswell Amendment) E.C. "Bud" Boswell, Klan leader Ira B. Thompson, Kenneth Griffith, and Carl Booth.{{cite journal |last1=Kirkland|first1=Scotty E.|date=2012|title=Mobile and the Boswell Amendment|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA305745249&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00024341&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Ee406b2e0 |journal=The Alabama Review|volume=65|issue=3|pages=205–249|doi=10.1353/ala.2012.0031|s2cid=153916625|access-date=2021-11-13|url-access=subscription}}{{cite thesis |last=Presnell|first=Boyte Austin|date=1972|title=The impact of World War II on race relations in Mobile, Alabama, 1940-1948|publisher=Atlanta University|s2cid=126985363}} Plaintiffs argued their qualifications satisfied all other requirements and requested that the judge declare the Boswell Amendment unconstitutional.

Eventually, a three-judge court declared it unconstitutional on the grounds of being used to discriminate "for the franchise of the basis of race and color." Judge Mullins agreed that the Amendment violated the Fifteenth Amendment.

In 1950, Harrisburg City schools in Harrisburg, Illinois blocked Black children from applying to schools other than the historically Black-only Lincoln School, alleging that the applications came in late and that "arrangements had already been made for enrollment at customary schools."{{cite news |author=|date=1951-11-02|title=Dismiss racial suit against local schools: No segregation in city schools, federal judge told|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/7533848/|work=The Daily Register|location=Harrisburg, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} Defendants in the case were Dale Wilson, county superintendent of schools; Russell Malan, superintendent of Harrisburg schools; and D.B. McGehee, president of the Board of Education for School District 43; they were represented by George B. Lee and L.M. Hancock. Leighton, representing 6 parents and their 14 children, filed a lawsuit for injunction that Harrisburg schools be ordered to desegregate. He also mentioned that Black-only schools had poorer facilities and resources than white-only schools, and that segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment.{{cite news |author=|date=1951-02-19|title=Sue Harrisburg on segregation of Negro scholars|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/3728032/|work=Mt. Vernon Register-News|location=Mt. Vernon, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

In March 1951, Harrisburg schools were ordered to desegregate schools by October 1.{{cite news |author=|date=1951-03-10|title=Racial segregation at Harrisburg schools forbidden|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/48428952/|work=The Jacksonville Daily Journal|location=Jacksonville, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} Judge Casper Platt told the school board they had a month to put their intent to desegregate into a legal document, including the date that schools must be desegregated by. The Board agreed to zone Black children to the schools nearest their home, and to close the Black-only school. In October 1951, inspectors visited the schools to ensure desegregation had adequately taken place.{{cite news |author=|date=1951-10-02|title=Postpone racial suit to inspect local schools|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/7524243/|work=The Daily Register|location=Harrisburg, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

Around the same time, Leighton and colleague William Robert Ming worked a similar case in Cairo, Illinois with counsel from Thurgood Marshall.{{cite news |author=|date=1952-02-08|title=Arrest nine NAACP members at Cairo: Conspiracy to transfer Negro children claimed|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/7171175/|work=The Daily Register|location=Harrisburg, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

In 1951, WWII veteran Harvey Clark and his family attempted to rent an apartment owned by Camille DeRose in the all-white suburb of Cicero, Illinois and were quickly turned away by the sheriff.{{cite web|url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/cicero-riot|title=July 11, 1951: Cicero Riot Over Housing Desegregation|last=Wilkerson|first=Isabel|date=n.d.|publisher=Zinn Education Project|access-date=2021-11-14}} Leighton gave them legal permission to rent. When they returned to Cicero in July 1951, however, about 4,000 white residents rioted and the apartment building was set on fire.{{cite web|url=https://aaregistry.org/story/cicero-race-riots-happen/|title=The Cicero Race Riots Occur|date=n.d.|publisher=African American Registry|access-date=2021-11-14}} While 60 police officers were on site, they reportedly did not provide crowd control, though they did eventually request that the firemen turn their hose on the rioters; they were refused. County Sheriff John E. Babb contacted Governor Adlai Stevenson to request the Illinois National Guard be sent in. The mob caused more than $20,000 in damage and 119 rioters were arrested and charged with unlawful assembly.{{cite news |author=|date=1951-07-16|title=Confer today on guardsmen leaving Cicero: Civil officials will meet with military|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/371240937|work=Chicago Tribune|location=Chicago, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

Along with five others, Leighton was indicted for inciting the riot.{{cite news |author=|date=1952-06-06|title=Find four guilty in riot case: Set June 23 for hearing motion for new trial; Officer Janecek Freed|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/524135205/|work=Berwyn Life|location=Berwyn, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}{{cite web|url=https://www.commentary.org/articles/charles-abrams/the-time-bomb-that-exploded-in-cicerosegregated-housings-inevitable-dividend/|title=The Time Bomb That Exploded in Cicero:Segregated Housing's Inevitable Dividend|last=Abrams|first=Charles|date=n.d.|publisher=Commentary|access-date=2021-11-14}} Three months later, Assistant State Attorney James A. Brown requested the charges be dropped against Leighton.{{cite news |author=|date=1951-10-12|title=Dismisses charge against attorney in Cicero rioting|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/370207101/|work=Chicago Tribune|location=Chicago, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} Leighton used the false indictment charges against him as a lesson in understanding "defendants [who] say to me, 'Judge, I ain't guilty,' I could see what he meant because I had gone through the same thing." All indictments were eventually dismissed, barring the one against Cicero Police Chief Erwin Konovsky, who was charged for "malfeasance in office in failing to prevent the mob from rioting."{{cite news |author=|date=1951-10-23|title=Special grand jury to probe Cicero rioting|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/768509675|work=Belleville Daily Advocate|location=Belleville, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} Fines dealt to three police officers, including Konovsky, were sentenced, but later repealed by the Illinois Court of Appeals.{{cite news |author=|date=1954-03-31|title=Sets June riot hearing date: Crime commission head asked to prosecute|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/524215066|work=Berwyn Life|location=Berwyn, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}{{cite news |author=|date=1954-11-27|title=Three policement freed of charges in Cicero riots|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/765951853|work=The Belleville News-Democrat|location=Belleville, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

In October 1951, a federal jury was formed to investigate the riot.{{cite news |author=|date=1951-10-23|title=Federal jury formed to probe Cicero rioting|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/85327475|work=Herald and Review|location=Decatur, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} The NAACP provided counsel for the Clark family in his $200,000 suit against Cicero.{{cite news |author=|date=1951-07-14|title=Cicero negro to renew try to enter flat|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/90969410/|work=The Decatur Daily Review|location=Decatur, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} The case wrapped up in April 1957 when Cicero agreed to settle with Camille DeRose for $4,300 and with the Clarks for $2,400.{{cite news |author=|date=1957-04-14|title=Cicero riot case is closed|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/524275864|work=Berwyn Life|location=Berwyn, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} The Clarks subsequently moved to Detroit.{{cite news |author=|date=1957-04-13|title=Damage suits due to Cicero riots settled|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/610768026|work=The Rock Island Argus|location=Rock Island, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

After the riot, a Black family purchased the home from Camille DeRose and "rent[ed] to all comers, preferably negro and white war veterans."{{cite news |author=|date=1951-07-17|title=Gov't may enter Cicero riot case|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1074628/|work=Mt. Vernon Register-News|location=Mt. Vernon, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

In 1936, Earl Howard Pugh and William Fowler were arrested of murdering railway worker William Hagg during a robbery.{{cite news |author=|date=1955-07-22|title=Jailed illegally for 17 years, gets $51,000|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/553715580/|work=Alabama Tribune|location=Montgomery, AL|access-date=2021-11-14}} Pugh received life in prison and Fowler was given 199 years. In 1951, Leighton found that the arresting officers had intimidated a false confession out of the two men and concealed documents that would have shown they were not guilty. Fowler died in 1949 in prison and Pugh was released in 1955 and awarded $51,000 from the Illinois General Assembly in retribution. Pugh was 20 at the time he entered prison and 37 upon his release.{{cite news |author=|date=1955-07-22|title=Gets $51,000 after being 'buried alive' for 17 years|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/553715575/|work=Alabama Tribune|location=Montgomery, AL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

In 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for a traffic violation in DeKalb County, Georgia near Atlanta.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagolawyermagazine.com/elements/pages/print.aspx?printpath=/Archives/2010/07/01/profile-07-2010&classname=tera.gn3article|title=Profile: 'The most remarkable lawyer or judge that I've ever met'|last=Robert|first=Amanda|date=2010-07-02|publisher=Chicago Lawyer Magazine|access-date=2021-11-13}} He and his wife had invited white writer Lillian Smith to dinner and he was driving her back to Emory University, where she was receiving cancer treatments, when he was pulled over and falsely charged for driving without a license.{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2020-05-04/martin-luther-kings-traffic-ticket-changed-historys-course|title=Martin Luther King's Traffic Ticket Changed History's Course|date=2021-03-16|publisher=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=2021-11-14}} He was placed on a probation that would end in jail time if he broke any more laws; he was not informed of this and a few days later participated in a sit-in at Rich's Department Store. He was arrested and sentenced to four months in prison. Leighton and Thurgood Marshall represented him during his appeal.{{cite journal |author=|date=1960|title=Along the N.A.A.C.P. Battlefront: King Appeal|url={{Google books|LFwEAAAAMBAJ|page=660|plainurl=yes}}|journal=The Crisis|volume=67|issue=10|pages=660–661|access-date=2021-11-14}} While in jail, King contacted presidential candidates Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. Nixon did not respond but Kennedy called Coretta; a few days later, Robert F. Kennedy contacted the sentencing judge and the decision was reversed.

Lloyd Miller was convicted on September 29, 1956, in Carthage, Illinois on charge of the November 1955 rape and murder of 8-year-old Janice May of Canton, Illinois.{{cite news |last=Lane|first=Russell|date=1963-08-12|title=Prosecutor says: Jail term had been discussed for Miller|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/88089758/|work=Dixon Evening Telegraph|location=Dixon, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} Less than a month later, he was sentenced to death by electric chair. Miller appealed a number of times, nearly once per year, but they were continuously dismissed.

Leighton joined the case pro bono in 1963 and alleged that the prosecution had buried evidence that would have immediately exonerated Miller.{{cite news |author=|date=1963-07-26|title=Cab driver's execution stayed because of old information children thought unimportant|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/55985727/|work=The Daily Register|location=Harrisburg, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}{{cite news |author=|date=1963-09-28|title=Court asked to defer execution|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/59408860|work=The Daily Register|location=Harrisburg, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} Judge Joseph Sam Perry contacted the Illinois Supreme Court, who had already rejected four of Miller's appeals, to request a deferral of Miller's execution so he might be retried. Not long after, a journalist who worked on the Miller case spoke to his children and learned that the girls, 7 and 8 at the time, had seen Miller at the supposed time of the murder but didn't realize this should have been reported. Miller was renting a room from their grandmother at the time and had requested someone wake him from his nap at 4:00pm; May's body was found at 4:30pm. One of Miller's ex-girlfriends, who testified he had told her he murdered May, came forward about lying on the stand and that she had done so at the request of the Fulton County Deputy Sheriff, who paid her off.{{cite news |author=|date=1963-12-06|title=Witness against Miller now declares she lied|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/766389036/|work=The Belleville News-Democrat|location=Belleville, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} In fact, what he told her was that he was going to be blamed for the death.{{cite news |author=|date=1964-01-18|title=State to appeal in Miller case|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/766585599/|work=The Belleville News-Democrat|location=Belleville, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

Miller claimed that after his initial arrest, he was held for 52 hours and was not allowed to contact his family or attorney. He was told he could do so if he signed some documentation about the case, which he did not realize was a confession.{{cite news |author=|date=1966-09-15|title=Miller plea goes to high court|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/70626130/|work=The Pantagraph|location=Bloomington, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}{{cite news |author=|date=1966-06-21|title=Supreme Court to review 1955 Illinois murder case|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/766386941|work=The Belleville News-Democrat|location=Belleville, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} Following the new eye-witness report and Miller's ex-girlfriend admitting to perjury, Judge Joseph Sam Perry told Hancock County authorities that they had to retry Miller within three months.{{cite news |author=|date=1963-12-24|title=Bulletin|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/126715467/|work=The Daily Chronicle|location=DeKalb, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} A year later, the United States Court of Appeals found that Miller had been tried fairly and evidence was not misrepresented.{{cite news |author=|date=1964-11-20|title=Miller trial|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/26553064/|work=The Edwardsville Intelligencer|location=Edwardsville, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}{{cite news |author=|date=1965-02-16|title=Canton cab driver denied new trial|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/85365807/|work=Herald and Review|location=Decatur, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} Despite this, he requested another hearing a month later.{{cite news |author=|date=1965-03-05|title=Condemned Canton man asks rehearing|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/89353606/|work=Decatur Daily Review|location=Decatur, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} He was granted one in 1966 by the Illinois Supreme Court but the appeal was not successful in his favor.{{cite news |author=|date=1966-06-20|title=Bulletin|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/543338330|work=The Times|location=Streator, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}{{cite news |last=Smith|first=Dollie. L|date=1966-09-15|title=Seven men, one woman await death in chair|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/440456868|work=Daily Republican Register|location=Mount Carmel, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

At the beginning of 1967, Miller's legal team found that prosecutors had withheld vital information for over eight years, that being the strand of hair found on May's body did not belong to Miller.{{cite news |author=|date=1967-01-12|title=Charge key data hidden in death case|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/644709829|work=The Rock Island Argus|location=Rock Island, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} They knew this information before the first trial even occurred. The case was elevated to the United States Supreme Court, where the prosecutors were interrogated about the 1955 trial.{{cite news |author=|date=1967-01-13|title=Miller's case studied by U.S. Supreme Court|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/766585101/|work=The Belleville News-Democrat|location=Belleville, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} Another article of evidence came forward: the stained shorts found near May's body were covered in paint, not blood as the defendants had led them to believe.{{cite news |author=|date=1967-02-13|title=Conviction is thrown out|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/192904908/|work=The Daily Sentinel|location=Woodstock, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}} The Supreme Court very quickly and unanimously withdrew the conviction because they refused to "tolerate a state criminal conviction obtained by the knowing use of false evidence."{{cite news |author=|date=1967-02-17|title=Case reflects on Illinois|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/88576933/|work=Herald and Review|location=Decatur, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}{{cite news |author=|date=1967-02-13|title=Miller's death penalty voided|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/766588888/|work=The Belleville News-Democrat|location=Belleville, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

Miller was released from prison in March 1967 after 11 years in prison.{{cite news |author=|date=1967-03-20|title=Lloyd Miller ordered freed by U.S. Court|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/766594189/|work=The Belleville News-Democrat|location=Belleville, IL|access-date=2021-11-14}}

Leighton was part of a number of organizations and held numerous leadership positions:

• Political memberships:
• Cook County Democratic Party: Central Committee Chairman
• Democratic Party
• Independent Voters of Illinois
• Law memberships:
• American Bar Association: Rights and Responsibilities Committee member; Judicial Administration Committee member; Legal Education Committee member; Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions member, vice chairman, Chairman-elect, chairman, Immediate Past Chairman (1970—1978)
• First Appellate District of Illinois: Chairman of the Character and Fitness Committee (1961—1963)
• Chicago Bar Association: Board of Managers member; Grievance Committee member; Librarian
• Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois: Master in Chancery (1960—1964)
• Cook County Bar Association
• Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce: Chairman of the Legislative Committee
• Illinois State Bar Association: Chairman of the Bill of Rights Committee (1963)
• Illinois Supreme Court: Commissioner
• Inter-American Bar Association
• National Association of Defense Lawyers in Criminal Cases
• National Bar Association
• Massachusetts Bar Association
• Civil rights memberships:
• American Civil Liberties Union, Illinois Division: Member of the Advisory Committee
• Citizens' Committee for the Adoption of the Fair Employment Practice Act: Member of drafting sub-committee
• Committee for the Adoption of an Open Occupancy Statue: Member
• NAACP Chicago chapter: Chairman of the Legal Redress Committee (1949—1952) Chicago chapter president (1952—1953); Chairman of the Political Action Committee and Legal Redress Committee (1962—1964); life member (1964—)
• US Commission on Civil Rights: Chairman of the Illinois Advisory Committee
• University memberships:
• American College of Trial Lawyers: Fellow
• Harvard College: Overseer (1983—1989){{cite book|last=Eun-jung|first=Shin|title=Verita$: Harvard's Hidden History|date=September 2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5YVWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA25|page=25|publisher=PM Press |isbn=978-1-62963-040-3 |access-date=2021-11-15|archive-date=2021-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115063849/https://books.google.com/books?id=5YVWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA25|url-status=dead}}
• Harvard Law School Association: International member
• Howard University: Chicago chapter president of alumni association (1947—1948)
• University of Notre Dame: Trustee (1979—1983), Trustee Emeritus (1983){{cite web|url=https://ndworks.nd.edu/news/in-memoriam-george-leighton-emeritus-trustee/|title=In memoriam: George Leighton, Emeritus Trustee|last=Brown|first=Dennis|date=2018-06-11|publisher=University of Notre Dame|access-date=2021-11-14}}
• Honorary memberships:
• Loyola University Chicago: Honorary Doctor of Laws degree (1989)
• Phi Alpha Delta: Honorary member of the Chicago alumni chapter (2009){{cite web|url=https://www.isba.org/sections/bench/newsletter/2018/06/alifeinthelawgeorgenleighton1912201|title=A life in the law: George N. Leighton, 1912-2018|date=n.d.|last=Swanson Jr.|first=Alfred M.|publisher=Illinois State Bar Association|access-date=2021-11-12}}
• Other memberships
• Chicago Committee on Urban Opportunity: Member
• Chicago Tuberculosis Institute: Board of Directors member
• Mayor's Citizens Committee on City Revenue and Expenditures: Member
• Grant Hospital: Board of Directors member
• Rand Corporation: Overseer (1987)
• United Auto Workers: Public Review Board member (1961—1970)
• United Church of Christ (Chicago): Board of Directors member

He met his wife Virginia Berry Quivers while at Howard University. They married in Washington, DC and had two daughters: Virginia Anne and Barbara Elaine. Virginia suffered several strokes in the late 1980s and Leighton insisted she receive around-the-clock care. He retired from the bench to earn more money in private practice. She died in 1992.

Leighton turned 100 in October 2012.{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/News-Extra/2012/10/Leighton-10192012pam.aspx |title=Leighton reaches the century mark |date=2012-10-22 |publisher=Chicago Daily Law Bulletin |last=Manson |first=Patricia |access-date=2021-11-14 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102092816/http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/News-Extra/2012/10/Leighton-10192012pam.aspx |archive-date=2 January 2013 |url-status=dead}} He spent his final years at the Brockton VA in Massachusetts. He died of pneumonia on June 6, 2018. He was survived by two daughters, five grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. He had always wanted to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery; his daughter Barbara and her husband Robert made sure he was.

Leighton was an avid chess player and traveled regularly for major chess tournaments across the country, including the Eastern Open (DC), New York Open (NY), World Open (PA), National Open (NV), New England Open (MA), Michigan Open (MI), American Open (CA), Chicago Open (IL), and Bermuda International Open (1993 and 1995). He stopped traveling in 1997 and played his last tournament in the 2002 US Masters.{{cite web|url=https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2018/08/14/judge-george-leighton-chess-veteran-passes-at-105/|title=Judge George Leighton, chess veteran, passes at 105|last=Shabazz|first=Daaim|date=2018-08-14|publisher=The Chess Drum|access-date=2021-11-13}} In March 1982, he beat Senior Master Leonid Kaushansky, his proudest chess moment.

In 2019, he was awarded the Medal of Merit First Class from the Republic of Cape Verde.{{cite web|url=https://caboverdeillinois.org/f/george-n-leighton-awarded-posthumously-by-cabo-verde|title=George N. Leighton Awarded Posthumously by Cabo Verde|date=2019-06-30|publisher=Cabo Verde Illinois|access-date=2021-11-13}} He also received the Illinois State Bar Association's first Diversity Leadership Award.{{cite web|url=https://www.isba.org/sites/default/files/sections/newsletter/%20June%202010_25.pdf|title=Diversity Leadership Award|date=2010|page=1|publisher=Illinois State Bar Association|access-date=2021-11-14}}

• In 2005, a USPS building in his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts was renamed the "Honorable Judge George N. Leighton Post Office Building" in his honor.
• In 2008, Harvard Law School established the Honorable George N. Leighton Endowed Fund "to honor the judge's accomplishments and in hopes of providing a boost to other promising students"{{cite web|url=https://today.law.harvard.edu/easing-the-burden/|title=For some benefactors, financial aid is the priority|date=2008-09-01|publisher=Harvard Law Today|access-date=2021-11-13}}
• In 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court established the "Honorable George N. Leighton Justice Award," which recognizes one who has given exceptional service to the legal community and exhibits the qualities that personified Judge Leighton's character, service and legal career. He was the first recipient.
• In 2010, the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission established the "Honorable George Leighton Justice Award," which recognizes "a career full of significant achievements."{{cite web|url=https://www.isba.org/committees/diversityleadershipcouncil/newsletter/2010/06/elynngraysonsintroductionofjudgeg|title=E. Lynn Grayson's Introduction of Judge George Leighton receiving the ISBA Diversity Leadership Award|date=2010|publisher=Illinois State Bar Association|access-date=2021-11-14}}
• In 2012, the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago was renamed the "Hon. George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building."{{cite web|url=https://www.cookcountycourt.org/ABOUT-THE-COURT/County-Department/Criminal-Division/Directory|title=Directory|date=n.d.|publisher=State of Illinois Circuit Court of Cook County|access-date=2021-11-14|archive-date=2021-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115063857/https://www.cookcountycourt.org/ABOUT-THE-COURT/County-Department/Criminal-Division/Directory|url-status=dead}}
• In 2018, shortly after his death, a tree was planted on the Alfred J. Gomes Elementary School campus in New Bedford in his honor.{{cite web|url=https://wbsm.com/new-bedford-honors-late-judge-george-leighton-on-106th-birthday/|title=New Bedford Honors Late Judge George Leighton on 106th Birthday|date=2018-10-22|last=Dunn|first=Tim|publisher=1420 WBSM|access-date=2021-11-14}}

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists

{{Reflist}}

• {{FJC Bio|1373|nid=1383786|name=George Neves Leighton}}
• [http://www.innsofcourt.org/Content/Default.aspx?Id=347 Listing from American Inns of Court]
• [http://capeverde-islands.com/leighton_g.html Biographical profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007032846/http://capeverde-islands.com/leighton_g.html |date=2007-10-07 }}

{{s-start}}

{{s-legal}}

{{s-bef|before=Abraham Lincoln Marovitz}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois}}|years=1976–1986}}

{{s-aft|after=James Alesia}}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leighton, George M.}}

Category:1912 births

Category:2018 deaths

Category:20th-century American lawyers

Category:African-American judges

Category:African-American centenarians

Category:American men centenarians

Category:American people of Cape Verdean descent

Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery

Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Massachusetts

Category:Harvard Law School alumni

Category:Howard University alumni

Category:Illinois Democrats

Category:Illinois state court judges

Category:University of Illinois Chicago School of Law faculty

Category:Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court

Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Category:Lawyers from Chicago

Category:Massachusetts Democrats

Category:Massachusetts lawyers

Category:Military personnel from Massachusetts

Category:NAACP activists

Category:People from Brockton, Massachusetts

Category:People from New Bedford, Massachusetts

Category:United States Army officers

Category:United States district court judges appointed by Gerald Ford

Category:20th-century African-American lawyers