O.J. Simpson's Defense Lawyer Speaks at IOP

Although best known for his central role on the O.J. Simpson defense team, famed attorney Johnnie Cochran barely touched on "the trial of the century" in his address yesterday at the Institute of Politics' (IOP) ARCO Forum.

Instead, Cochran spoke mostly about another client, Black Panther Geronimo Pratt, who after a twenty-year legal battle was recently acquitted of a murder charge.

"Most of the time I represent not the O.J.'s, not the famous people," Cochran said. "I represent the no-J's. The people you've never heard of."

Cochran was introduced to the packed audience by Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree,.

Ogletree described Cochran as "a marvel of excellent lawyering," a man whose work against police brutality prior to the celebrity of the Simpson case, receives little attention.

It was this more pro-active, political-minded aspect of Cochran that was on display throughout his talk, which was titled "Finding Justice Within the Criminal Justice System."

Although his address focused on larger issues of law and justice--particularly the death penalty--Cochran spoke in most depth of the relationship of race and the law.

He referred numerous times to the 25-year-old Kerner Commission's Report on Race, which suggested that the U.S. was rapidly dividing into two separate nations--one white and one black.

In addition, Cochran said two systems of law often exist.

"An African-American between the age of 20 and 25, is more five times more likely to be murdered...than go to the University of California," he said.

Cochran insisted that there is not only "a peephole in the blindfold of lady justice," but that discrepancies in the law are heavily related to issues of race and class.

Oftentimes minorities do not receive equal treatment under the law, Cochran said.

"If 40 percent of young white men were in prison something would be done about it," he said.

Cochran is currently on the team of lawyers representing Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in a law suit against the New York City Police Department.

Along with Louima, O.J. Simpson, and Geronimo Pratt, Cochran has also represented basketball player Latrell Sprewell and truck driver Reginald Denny, whose beating during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots became a symbol of the historic incident.

Cochran said he finds controversial andemotionally-charged cases like Denny's mostcompelling.

"I don't pick and choose people according torace," Cochran said. "If I see injustice I gowhere that is."

Cochran's speech was followed by commentaryfrom Professor of Law Randall Kennedy. Kennedyalso spoke on the failings and potential forjustice in the American legal system, focusingheavily on the recent controversy surrounding thedisparity between sentences for crack possessionand cocaine possession.

However, despite slight differences in opinion,ultimately Cochran and Kennedy expressed the sameconcerns.

Both asserted that the causes of injustice layless in the legal system than in a society thatallows poor and minority communities to beneglected.

"We need to go...to the root causes ofcrime...Twice in my career in Los Angeles I haveseen the city go up in flames," Cochran said.

"Now that's hopelessness at it's worst--whenyou burn down your own community, when you don'thave a stake in anything. And we've got to getaway from that.

"It seems to me that liberals and conservativesshould understand [this] and do something aboutit," he added.

Cochran is the host of Cochran and Company onCourt TV as well as the author of the best-selling"Journey to Justice."

Cochran's address was sponsored by the IOP'sStudent Advisory Committee, the Black StudentsAssociation, Black Men's Forum, Harvard LawSchool's Black Students Association, the KennedySchool's Black Student Caucus, and the Associationof Black Radcliffe Women

Cochran said he finds controversial andemotionally-charged cases like Denny's mostcompelling.

"I don't pick and choose people according torace," Cochran said. "If I see injustice I gowhere that is."

Cochran's speech was followed by commentaryfrom Professor of Law Randall Kennedy. Kennedyalso spoke on the failings and potential forjustice in the American legal system, focusingheavily on the recent controversy surrounding thedisparity between sentences for crack possessionand cocaine possession.

However, despite slight differences in opinion,ultimately Cochran and Kennedy expressed the sameconcerns.

Both asserted that the causes of injustice layless in the legal system than in a society thatallows poor and minority communities to beneglected.

"We need to go...to the root causes ofcrime...Twice in my career in Los Angeles I haveseen the city go up in flames," Cochran said.

"Now that's hopelessness at it's worst--whenyou burn down your own community, when you don'thave a stake in anything. And we've got to getaway from that.

"It seems to me that liberals and conservativesshould understand [this] and do something aboutit," he added.

Cochran is the host of Cochran and Company onCourt TV as well as the author of the best-selling"Journey to Justice."

Cochran's address was sponsored by the IOP'sStudent Advisory Committee, the Black StudentsAssociation, Black Men's Forum, Harvard LawSchool's Black Students Association, the KennedySchool's Black Student Caucus, and the Associationof Black Radcliffe Women