Curtis Carson Jr., 91, judge, civil rights advocate

Curtis Calvin Carson Jr., 91, formerly of Mount Airy, a judge in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court for 23 years and an advocate for civil rights and social justice, died of heart failure Sunday, June 19, at Stapeley, a retirement residence in Germantown.

Judge Carson was appointed to the bench by Gov. Milton J. Sharp in 1971 and was elected to successive terms until becoming a senior judge in 1990. He retired in 1995.

Presiding over civil and criminal cases, he developed a reputation for fairness, his son Curtis Carson III said. In 1979, as a member of the Pennsylvania Sentencing Committee, he voted against the establishment of mandatory sentences because they did not allow a judge to use discretion, his son said.

Early in his judicial career, Judge Carson and three other judges were singled out by Mayor Frank L. Rizzo for being soft on crime, with Rizzo offering statistics to prove his point.

Judge Carson defended his decisions, telling The Inquirer in 1973: "The mayor confuses human understanding and compassion for weakness and softness. You really can't tell from a computer printout what has gone into the sentencing process. In most of those cases there probably was some history of a drug dependency. If you want to get these defendants into drug-abuse programs, you have to give them non-jail sentences because there are no drug-abuse programs in state institutions."

Judge Kathryn Streeter Lewis, who retired from Common Pleas Court in 2008, wrote in a tribute to Judge Carson: "He inspired, protected, and mentored so many of us. I am blessed to have known him."

Judge Carson was born in Cowpens, S.C. His mother died when he was 3, and he was raised by an aunt and, later, an uncle. He learned the importance of family while very young, his son said.

After graduating from Hackensack (N.J.) High School, he earned a bachelor's degree from Virginia State College for Negroes. He experienced discrimination in the segregated South and committed himself to fight injustices, his son said.

Judge Carson graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1947 and worked in the law office of Raymond Pace Alexander, a prominent African American lawyer and later a judge, and his wife, Sadie. Judge Carson then had a solo practice for several years.

In 1952, his son said, he and two other lawyers were the first African Americans to be appointed assistant district attorneys in Philadelphia, serving under District Attorney Richardson Dilworth.

After leaving the District Attorney's Office in 1958, Judge Carson became an associate in the law office of Cecil B. Moore. He joined Moore in civil rights campaigns as chairman of the legal redress committee of the Philadelphia Chapter of the NAACP when Moore was president of the chapter in the 1960s. Judge Carson was involved in the legal proceedings and demonstrations that resulted in allowing African American boys to enroll at Girard College. He was active in efforts to permit African Americans to join trade unions and the hiring of African American drivers by the Greyhound Bus Co.

Judge Carson was a former chairman of the Parkside YMCA. He was an active member of the Barristers' Association of Philadelphia, the Martin Luther King Foundation, and Germantown Community Presbyterian Church.

In addition to his son, Judge Carson is survived by a son, Gregory; a daughter, Carol Ann; and two grandchildren. His wife of 61 years, Vida Timbers Carson, died in 2007.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 9, at Christ Church and St. Michael's, 29 W. Tulpehocken St., Philadelphia.