Mack E. Barham, 82; judge implemented civil rights decisions

Mack E. Barham, 82, a Louisiana Supreme Court justice from 1968 to 1975 and part of a progressive majority that implemented U.S. Supreme Court civil rights decisions, died Monday at a hospital in Covington, La.

Barham, who had moved to Covington after Hurricane Katrina destroyed his Lakewood home near New Orleans’ 17th Street Canal, had been ill for a long time, relatives said.

He attended Louisiana State University Law Center and the University of Colorado. He was first elected to the bench in 1948 as a city judge in his native Bastrop, La., at 24 -- two years after earning his license to practice law. He served for 14 years.

In 1962, he was elected to the 4th Judicial District Court and later served on the Louisiana 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

After leaving the state Supreme Court bench, he went into private practice in New Orleans.

He defended the state of Louisiana in a college desegregation lawsuit, helping to negotiate a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department that led to enhanced funding for historically black institutions.