By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on July 26, 2024
On July 17, 2024, Justice Mark Kennedy, a former Montgomery, Alabama District Court Judge, a former Circuit Court Judge, and former two-term Alabama Supreme Court Justice, died.
I knew Justice Kennedy in each one of those judicial capacities. I tried cases before him in each one of his courtrooms. He was a remarkable man, a great American, and one of the best judges in Alabama history.
Justice Kennedy was 72 years old when he died peacefully in his Montgomery home. You can read his obituary here.
Justice Kennedy was one of the handful of state court judges in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s who treated me with respect in his courtroom at a time when a slew of other state and federal judges routinely called me the “Nigger lawyer from Montgomery” in open court.
Justice Kennedy was known throughout the state for treating all litigants in a fair manner. Unlike many of his judicial colleagues then and now, Justice Kennedy NEVER “fixed” cases for any litigant, for any reason.
Justice Kennedy was young, super-smart, personable, and confident in his role as a fair-minded judge.
A Record-Setting Performance
On November 27, 1988, Billy Carter, Karen Neal Knight, and I set two litigation records in Judge Mark Kennedy’s courtroom. First, we brought a major personal injury case to trial in 11 months from the date of the accident to the date of a favorable jury verdict. Second, we set a record in Alabama for the size of the jury verdict -- $4.1 million.
Members of the local White bar association privately lobbied Judge Kennedy to derail our case, but he refused to do so. These White lawyers did not want a team of Black lawyers in a small three-person law firm to make this kind of history in Alabama’s legal community.
After all, Billy, Karen, and I were merely “Nigger" lawyers who were not capable of breaking old jury verdict records and setting new ones.
Judge Kennedy would have no part in this racist agenda and he told them so. They were pissed off at Judge Kennedy, but he did not care.
After we won $4 million for our seriously injured client and $100,000 in loss of consortium money for his new wife, Judge Kennedy allowed a Black-owned investment bank in Baltimore, Maryland to manage the client’s judgment proceeds. The White bar members strenuously objected to this plan, as they wanted local White banks to manage this money. The investment firm approved by Kennedy exceeded all investment projections during our client's lifetime.
A Devoted Family Man and Distinguished Jurist
Justice Mark Kennedy is survived by his devoted wife of fifty years, Peggy Wallace Kennedy (the daughter of former Alabama governors Geroge and Lurleen Wallace); his two sons, Leigh Chancellor Kennedy and his wife Stephanie Rion Kennedy, and Morgan Burns Kennedy and his wife Hannah Torbert Kennedy; his granddaughter, Maggie Rose Kennedy, and his grandson, Jack Brigham Kennedy, as well as Morgan Frances Kennedy, who is expected to join the family in August 2024. He is also survived by his sister, Karen Johnson, and her husband, Butch Johnson. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Charles Mayo Kennedy, and his wife, Margie Kennedy.
Justice Kennedy graduated from Greenville High School in 1970, earned his undergraduate degree from Auburn University in 1973, and received his Doctor of Jurisprudence, cum laude, from Cumberland School of Law in 1977.
Justice Kennedy served as a law clerk and staff attorney for Judge John P. DeCarlo of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. In 1978, he was appointed judge of the District Court of Montgomery County and was elected to that position in 1980. While there, he was specially assigned as a full-time Family Court and Juvenile Court Judge for the 15th Judicial Circuit. In 1983, he was appointed as a circuit judge for the 15th Judicial Circuit and was elected to that position in 1984. In 1988, Justice Kennedy was elected as an Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and was re-elected in 1994.
As I look at the bevvy of political hacks sitting on the state and federal bench in Alabama today who stand for absolutely nothing, I will sorely miss Justice Mark Kennedy, his integrity, his sense of fairness on the judicial bench, his abundance of intellectual acumen, and his exceptional courage. I am so thankful that God allowed our lives to intersect.
Every time I see the skinheads who are empowered in government office today, I have a greater appreciation for honorable men like Justice Mark Kennedy.
During my 46-year legal career, my record was 217 litigation victories against 8 losses. My longest winning streak was 155 straight courtroom victories. Tampa attorney David Shankman snapped this wining streak in October 2017. I credit Justice Mark Kennedy's fairness in the Stanley Gamble v. U-Haul case for giving me the confidence I need to compile this remarkable win-loss record.
I wrote this article because I wanted Peggy Sue Wallace Kennedy and Justice Kennedy's two sons -- Leigh Chancellor Kennedy and Morgan Burns Kennedy -- to know the magnitude of this great man's contribution to society. He brought justice to life in every case he touched. Justice Kennedy deserves to be in a National Judicial Hall of Fame.
Two of the four national records I hold in law occurred in Judge Mark Kennedy's courtroom. This shows what can be accomplished when an Alabama judge treats a black lawyer in a respectful, unbiased, and fair manner.
Mark Kennedy was George Wallace's son-in-law. When Wallace appointed him to his first judgeship, I thought it was pure nepotism. I was dead wrong. It was the best judicial appointment in Alabama history. This man was brilliant, extremely fair, very respectfully, and inspirational for everybody at a time when racial bigots ruled the state and federal court systems in Alabama.