Judge W. Arthur Garrity

W. Arthur Garrity was the Federal Court judge who ruled June 24, 1974 that Boston schools must be desegregated by busing. This ruling triggered riots in the South Boston area. 

In a television interview in 1998, Garrity said he had no regrets about his decision, despite the fact that it remained controversial, even in 1998. ''I still think that given the circumstances that existed at the time, what I did was reasonable,'' he said.

Upon Garrity's death  in 1999, Mayor Thomas Menino said ''Few men had as much impact on the life of the city as Judge Arthur Garrity. He was a man of deep convictions. And whether you agreed or disagreed with his opinion a generation ago, everyone can agree that Judge Garrity's influence on our city will be felt for a long time to come.''