What is George Bundy Smith?
'''George Bundy Smith''' (April 7, 1937 &ndash; August 5, 2017) was a lawyer and judge in [[New York (state)|New York]] State. While he was a law student at [[Yale University]], he was part of the [[Freedom Rider|Freedom Ride]] from [[Atlanta, Georgia]] to [[Montgomery, Alabama]].<ref name=Timesobituary>{{Cite web | title = Retired NY Appeals Court Judge George Bundy Smith Dies at 80 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/08/07/us/ap-us-obit-george-bundy-smith.html | work = The New York Times | access-date = August 8, 2017 | date = August 8, 2017 | archive-date = August 9, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170809000338/https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/08/07/us/ap-us-obit-george-bundy-smith.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name=roster>{{cite web |title=Roster of Freedom Riders |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/people/roster |publisher=[[American Experience]], [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] |access-date=2017-08-31 |archive-date=2017-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107073734/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/people/roster/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Smith was born in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]. He was raised in [[Washington, D.C.]]. He studied at [[Phillips Academy]] and at [[Yale University]]. Smith was a judge of the [[New York City Civil Court]] from 1975 to 1979 and a justice of the [[New York State Supreme Court]] from 1980 to 1986. In 1986, Governor Mario Cuomo appointed Smith to the [[Appellate Division, First Department]], where he served from 1986 to 1992. Smith's best-known opinion for the Court was ''People v. LaValle'', a 4-to-3 decision holding that New York's [[death penalty]] statute was unconstitutional due to the structure of its sentencing procedures.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/24/nyregion/ny-court-ruling-appears-to-invalidate-death-sentences.html| work = The New York Times | title = N.Y. Court Ruling Appears to Invalidate Death Sentences | date = June 24,