Curtis B. Stuckey, the outspoken civil rights attorney who became an advocate of the oppressed through his crusade for justice, died on August 10 at his home in Nacogdoches.
He was 75.
“Curt was really a hero to a lot of people,” said Tim Garrigan, Stuckey’s legal partner for 30 years.
Family members did not disclose his cause of death, although Stuckey had been in declining health for years.
During his long legal career, Stuckey is perhaps best known for dozens of lawsuits filed against prisons in East Texas.
“The way prisoners were treated was terrible. Most prisons did not monitor or classify prisoners. They didn’t have air conditioning. They didn’t have any legal libraries. Some had no visits or medical care, ”said Garrigan. “Most of it happened outside of the public eye.”
However, that was until Stuckey intervened.
“He was a civil rights attorney long before Ferguson,” said attorney John Heath Jr., referring to the death of Michael Brown, which sparked massive police reforms. “He did this job before it was cool.”
Stuckey’s work caught the attention of the Dallas Morning News, and he was a prominent figure in the history of the paper, which won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for exposing police misconduct.
“He was only driven to side with the little one against the big one,” said Garrigan.
Stuckey was a longtime member of the Austin Heights Baptist Church, where Pastor Reverend Kyle Childress remembers him as a “unique character.”
“He was a little rough, but he had this extraordinarily tender heart and compassion,” said Childress.
Stuckey and the doctor Dr. Bob Carroll often quarreled, debated, and argued over politics, but the two remained closest friends, Childress said.
“His relationship with many of these judges could be described similarly,” Garrigan said. “He had the respect of even the most conservative federal judges here. A lot was saved, but the mutual respect was still there. “
In court, Stuckey’s tie was often crooked and his hair could be a little messy.
“He wasn’t as flashy as a television attorney,” said Childress, who attended some of Stuckey’s court hearings. “But I think he made a huge difference to those who have suffered and been injured or depressed. He was a lawyer for that. “
This advocacy goes beyond the courtroom and applies to children in particular, Garrigan said. Constantly infatuated with children, he slipped them dollar bills and joked.
“Usually children are ignored and taken for granted, but that was not the case with Curt,” Garrigan said.
He was also a major supporter of the Austin Heights Children’s Service. Each week, Childress said, Stucky would personally greet all the children in the church.
“He went back there, waved and said hello. He wasn’t there, maybe for two minutes, but he did that every Sunday morning, ”said Childress.
And after a lifetime of fighting for civil rights, Stuckey liked to remind people to be positive.
“He called people, some of whom he had known for 50 years. He called her every day and always said, ‘You’re good, good, good, good,’ ”said Childress. “That was his favorite phrase.”
Curtis B. “Curt” Stuckey was born on May 27, 1946 in Vincennes, Indiana. After graduating from law school, “he wandered south,” said Garrigan, before finally settling in Nacogdoches.
The funeral is scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m. Due to COVID-19 prevention measures, only a small group of families and friends are allowed to participate. The funeral will be broadcast live from the Cason Monk Funeral Home. Details on how to watch the stream will be published at www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/nacogdoches-tx/curtis-stuckey-10303700.
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