Thelton Henderson, presently a Senior United States District Judge in San Francisco, rose from humble origins to become a leading civil rights attorney and innovator of minority admissions programs. This book traces his career from a football star to his work in the 1960's as the first African-American lawyer from the Justice Department in the South to his notable and controversial decisions on such matters as veterans' affairs, educational and prison reform, and the environment. Judge Henderson's background and remarkable achievements challenge readers to consider what it means to be a wise and effective judge in modern America. A documentary film on Judge Henderson's life, Soul of Justice by Abby Ginzberg, was released in 2005. Judge Henderson's life and work are a living arc carrying the essence of justice and respect for human dignity from the genesis days of the civil rights movement across the great flood of mass incarceration to the growing hope for prison and police reform in our time. Richard Kuhns has memorably captured that life and work for history. --Jonathan Simon, Professor of Law, Faculty Director for the Study of Law & Society, Berkeley School of Law If is is possible for a close friend to be a personal hero, and I think it is, Thelton is both to me. Richard Kuhns' book focuses on Judge Henderson's jurisprudence, and brings home for lawyers and others his great legal accomplishments. --Barbara Babcock, Professor of Law Emeritus, Stanford Law School , Author of Fish Raincoats, A Woman Lawyer's Life Thelton Henderson, presently a Senior United States District Judge in San Francisco, rose from humble origins to become a leading civil rights attorney and innovator of minority admissions programs. This biography traces his career from a football star to his work in the 1960's as the first African-American lawyer from the Justice Department in the South to his notable and controversial decisions on such matters as veterans' affairs, educational and prison reform, and the environment. Judge Henderson's background and remarkable achievements challenge readers to consider what it means to be a wise and effective judge in modern America. A documentary film on Judge Henderson's life, Soul of Justice by Abby Ginzberg, was released in 2005. Richard B. Kuhns, Professor Emeritus, Washington University School of Law School, is an expert on evidence and criminal procedure and the co- author of leading casebooks in those fields. He has published articles in law reviews on such matters as the hearsay rule, Fourth Amendment standing, and the criminal contempt power. He previously served on the Iowa Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules of Evidence. Before turning to law teaching, Professor Kuhns was a public interest attorney in California. It was there that he met Judge Henderson and practiced law with him at a legal services office in East Palo Alto.