A video tribute to Justice Cleckley
Justice Cleckley reflects on his Career
About Justice Franklin D. Cleckley
Justice Franklin D. Cleckley is the Arthur B. Hodges Professor of Law Emeritus at the West Virginia University College of Law. Justice Cleckley has been a tireless advocate for the rights of West Virginians, a renowned scholar of law, and a beloved teacher. He also served as the first African American Justice on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Justice Cleckley has been called “conceivably the most prominent adversary to social injustice to have ever stood on West Virginia soil.”
Franklin D. Cleckley was born in Huntington, West Virginia. He holds an undergraduate degree from Anderson College, a J.D. from Indiana University School of Law, and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. After serving as a Navy JAG officer—where he was the most requested defense attorney—and pursuing post-graduate studies at the University of Exeter in England, he joined the WVU College of Law Faculty in 1969. From 1994 to 1996, he served on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, after which he returned to WVU. While teaching at WVU, Justice Cleckley literally wrote the book on West Virginia Law. He authored the West Virginia Criminal Procedure Handbook and the Evidence Handbook for West Virginia Lawyers. He also helped draft the West Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure and Evidence.
Despite his many academic achievements, Justice Cleckley is best known as a tireless advocate for the underserved. He continued to advise people facing legal hardships while teaching at WVU. There was often a line of people seeking his counsel outside his office in the College of Law. In 1990, he established the Franklin D. Cleckley Foundation to provide educational and employment opportunities for people with criminal records.
Justice Cleckley has received numerous awards and honors, including: the Liberty Bell Award from the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals; the Civil Libertarian of the Year Award from the West Virginia Civil Liberties Union; the Thurgood Marshall Award from the West Virginia NAACP; the West Virginia Common Cause Award for Public Service; the Public Citizen of the Year Award from the West Virginia Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers; and the West Virginia Human Rights Commission Civil Rights Award. Mercer University’s Black Law Students Association gives out an award in Justice Cleckley’s Honor: the Franklin D. Cleckley Award goes to an attorney who has performed outstanding community service. WVU established the Franklin D. Cleckley Symposium to bring distinguished members of the civil rights and African American communities to lecture on campus.
When presenting Justice Cleckley with the Liberty Bell Award, Chief Justice Margaret Workman said of him, “He has made significant contributions to the rights of all West Virginians and to the development of our jurisprudence. His firm belief in the basic principle that justice is a fundamental right for all people has made our state a better place to live.” She added, “His name will go down in state history as one of the absolute giants of our legal system. But there will also be countless people who will always remember the quiet, unheralded ways he has helped them.”