74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
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 LC 3048
 
                 Senate Concurrent Resolution 15
 
Sponsored by Senator GORDLY
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  In memoriam: Judge Mercedes Deiz, 1917-2005.
 
                      CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
  Whereas Judge Mercedes Deiz passed away on October 5, 2005, at
the age of 87, leaving a long legacy of service to the legal
profession; and
  Whereas Judge Mercedes Deiz, after graduating fourth in her
class at Northwestern School of Law, combined community activism
with her practice as a trial lawyer; and
  Whereas Judge Mercedes Deiz became the first black female
lawyer in Oregon when she was admitted to the bar in 1960 and
became the first woman of color to become a judge in Oregon when
she was appointed as a district court judge in 1969; and
  Whereas Judge Mercedes Deiz was elected as a Multnomah County
Circuit Court judge, defeating seven male challengers for the
position; and
  Whereas Judge Mercedes Deiz became an advocate for youth,
spending much of her time on the bench presiding over family law
cases; and
  Whereas Judge Mercedes Deiz served on the Governor's Committee
on Children and Youth and the Metropolitan Youth Commission; and
  Whereas Judge Mercedes Deiz was a founding member of the
National Association for Women Judges and a founding board member
of Oregon Women Lawyers, and was actively involved in the
National Bar Association, the Oregon Minority Lawyers Association
and the Owen M. Panner American Inn of Court; and
  Whereas Judge Mercedes Deiz taught trial techniques at Harvard
Law School as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow; and
  Whereas colleagues of Judge Mercedes Deiz state that she
exemplified the qualities that make the very best lawyers: common
sense, practicality, a quick wit, decisiveness, compassion,
concern for the community and an abiding love and respect of the
law; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
  Oregon:
  That we, the members of the Seventy-fourth Legislative
Assembly, mourn the passing of Judge Mercedes Deiz and honor her
lifelong dedication to her community and to the legal profession.
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