Henderson was sent to the South to monitor local law enforcement for any civil rights abuses,a role that included investigating the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing,which killed four girls. In this capacity,he became acquainted with Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement after winning over their initial skepticism of a government attorney.[5]
Federal judicial service
Henderson was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on May 9,1980,to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California vacated by Judge Cecil F. Poole. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 26,1980,and received his commission on June 30,1980. He served as Chief Judge from 1990 to 1997. He assumed senior status on November 28,1998.[4] He took inactive senior status on August 11,2017,meaning that while he remains a federal judge,he no longer hears cases or participates in the business of the court.[6]
Notable cases
In the late 1980s,Henderson presided over a long-running case over the fishing industry's practice of snaring dolphins in its tuna nets. Environmental groups charged that millions of dolphins had drowned because of the industry's refusal to follow existing safety regulations. He rejected attempts by the Clinton and Bush administrations to relax legal standards on fishing practices and loosen dolphin safe labeling on tuna.
In 1982 Henderson overturned the conviction of Johnny Spain,the only member of The San Quentin Six convicted of murder for the deaths of three California Correctional Peace Officers and two inmates in a riot and escape attempt led by Black Panther Party member and Black Guerilla Family founder George Jackson (Black Panther). In a landmark 1995 civil rights case,Madrid v. Gomez,Henderson found the use of force and level of medical care at Pelican Bay State Prison unconstitutional. During its subsequent federal oversight process,Henderson was known to visit the prison personally.
In a 1997 decision,he struck down Proposition 209,the anti-affirmative action California initiative,as unconstitutional,but the next year a three-judge Court of Appeals panel overturned his decision.
In July,2025,the University of California at Berkeley announced that it was using a $6 million gift to establish the Thelton E. Henderson ’62 Chair in Civil Rights Law.[11]
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