[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 78 (Tuesday, June 14, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1221-E1222]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING JOHN L. BURRIS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 14, 2005

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary career 
and achievements of civil rights attorney John L. Burris of Oakland, 
California. Throughout his legendary career, John has provided hope and 
help to people who fall victim to the inequities inherent in our 
justice system. A leading civil rights advocate for more than 25 years, 
John has changed the

[[Page E1222]]

course of thousands of lives through his work on behalf of individual 
clients, and through the systemic changes his work has affected.
  John was inspired to enter the legal profession after interviewing a 
number of lawyers in the black community for a research paper he was 
writing as a student at U.C. Berkeley's Haas School of Business. While 
working as an accountant and later attending business school in the 
late 1960s, he was deeply moved by the struggle for civil rights. 
During these socially and politically volatile years, he was affected 
most by the use of attack dogs and other brutal tactics by the police 
against peaceful civil rights activists. After successfully completing 
his MBA at Haas, where he helped found the National Black MBA 
Association and served as the president of the local chapter, he 
entered U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law in 1970 to study 
criminal defense and civil rights law.
  John first made his mark in the civil rights arena with the 
publication of the ``Burris Reports I and II,'' which were the 
culmination of his investigation into the shooting of 15-year-old 
Melvin Black by Oakland police officers in 1979. Oakland Mayor Lionel 
Wilson appointed John as an independent investigator of this case, and 
his findings provided an in-depth evaluation of flaws inherent in the 
law enforcement system, and of the urgent need for reform. The result 
for John has been over two and a half decades of work dedicated to 
redress for individuals and systemic reform that will decrease the 
number of people who need this kind of assistance. Furthermore, 
throughout his professional career, he has taken on extensive pro bono 
work, helping countless individuals and families to get their cases 
handled with efficiency, efficacy and compassion in a legal system that 
where these attributes are often lacking.
  Though John's service to our community in the area of civil rights is 
truly unparalleled, his devotion to improving the lives of others 
extends far beyond the realm of direct legal assistance. In addition to 
his active membership in the National Bar Association, the American 
Association of Trial Lawyers and the National Lawyers' Guild, he was a 
founding member of the California Association of Black Lawyers and has 
done presentations and advocacy work in areas including sexual 
harassment, racial profiling, affirmative action, hate crimes and 
cameras in the courtroom. John has spoken in churches around the Bay 
Area on topics such as leadership, diversity and black family life, and 
has sponsored local youth athletic teams for over ten years.
  John has also spoken at a number of local institutions of higher 
education, such as U.C. Berkeley, Golden Gate University, Vista 
Community College, and the law schools at Berkeley, Hastings, and 
Stanford University. At each institution he has taken the time to reach 
out to and mentor students at various stages of their education, 
providing them with advice and guidance, and often times employing them 
at his law offices. His legal work and community service have been 
recognized in a number of different forums throughout his life, and he 
has received dozens of prestigious awards such as the Clinton White 
Outstanding Trial Advocacy A ward, the Pueblo Local Hero Award, and the 
Peace and Justice Award from California State University, Sacramento's 
Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution.
  On June 11, 2005, the friends and family of John Burris will gather 
to celebrate the seminal achievements and tireless advocacy that have 
marked his career. In Oakland and across the country, John is known for 
being the champion of people whose rights, and indeed whose humanity, 
have been ignored by the law enforcement and criminal justice systems. 
As a result of John's commitment to helping others, thousands of lives 
have been changed, and on behalf of the 9th Congressional District, I 
salute and thank him for his service to Oakland, the Bay Area, the 
state of California and our entire country.

                          ____________________