[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE LIFE OF JOHNNIE COCHRAN, JR., ESQUIRE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 27, 2005

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, ``You are empowered to do justice. You are 
empowered to ensure that this great system of ours works. Listen for a 
moment, will you, please.''--Johnnie Cochran, Closing Statement, O.J. 
Simpson Trial.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Johnnie Cochran, Jr, who 
died of a brain tumor on March 29, 2005. The New York Times called him 
``fierce,'' ``flamboyant,'' and ``electrifying.'' Johnnie certainly was 
fierce, flamboyant and electrifying. He was also nuanced, principled, 
and persuasive--a giant in the legal profession.
  Mr. Speaker, throughout his life, Johnnie Cochran believed 
wholeheartedly in the power and promise of the American judicial 
system. He was born in a charity hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana. His 
great grandparents had been slaves, his grandparents were 
sharecroppers, and his father was a pipefitter. When he was still a 
child, the Cochran family moved to California in search of opportunity 
and a better life. It was from California that the 11-year-old Johnnie 
watched Thurgood Marshall prosecute Brown vs. the Board of Education. 
Inspired by the trial, Johnnie, at only 11 years old, decided he wanted 
to be a lawyer. As he said in an NPR interview toward the end of his 
life, ``After Brown vs. Board came along, I knew I wanted to use the 
law to change society for the better.''
  Mr. Speaker, throughout his life, Johnnie Cochran was on the 
frontlines where race, politics and the law intersected. There are some 
detractors who mistakenly believed Johnnie fostered race divisions, 
but, in truth, he spent his life as an integrator. He was one of two 
dozen black students to desegregate Los Angeles High School in the 
1950s. As a young lawyer, he served as an inspiration to many African 
Americans who watched him, a lone black face amidst a sea of white 
lawyers, as he crusaded against corruption and racism in law 
enforcement. When the riots broke out after a verdict was reached in 
the Rodney King trial, Cochran represented Reginald Denny, a white 
truck driver who had been attacked by a mob, arguing that his civil 
rights had been violated.
  But, Mr. Speaker, Johnnie made a career out of defending African 
Americans--from the O.J.s to what he called the ``No Js,'' cases in 
which the ``chances for getting paid are actually pretty slim.'' High 
profile trials made Johnnie Cochran a celebrity, but it was the 
victories for justice that made him proud. In 1978, Johnnie Cochran 
traded in his $300,000 salary for a $49,000 job as an Assistant 
District Attorney in Los Angeles County because he wanted to effect 
change from inside the system. His most cherished triumph was the 
vindication of Elmer ``Geronimo'' Pratt, a former Black Panther who 
served 25 years in prison for murder before being exonerated. In 1997, 
when the judge read the verdict that set Pratt free, Johnnie said, ``It 
doesn't get any better than this.''
  Mr. Speaker, Johnnie Cochran was a courtroom wizard with a practical 
sensibility and a lyrical lilt. He was a champion of racial justice, 
with just a touch of the razzle dazzle. We will miss him.
  If I may, I would like to close the way I began. Let Johnnie 
Cochran's words serve as a reminder to us today and everyday. ``You are 
empowered to do justice. You are empowered to ensure that this great 
system of ours works. Listen for a moment, will you, please.''

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