Cochran Urges ABA to Help Fight Racism

Lawyers should speak out against racism in the legal process, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who was O.J. Simpson’s lead defense lawyer, told the American Bar Assn.’s annual meeting Sunday.

“When people accuse you of playing the race card, that is preposterous in a society where race plays a part in almost everything we do,” Cochran said. “You cannot allow yourself to be quieted about injustice.”

Cochran cited statistics from the Center for Juvenile Justice in California showing that four out of 10 black men in California were in prison, on parole or on probation and that nationwide the figure was three out of 10.

If that were true for white males, there would be a “national uproar,” but because the statistics involve blacks, “nobody really seems to care about this,” he said.

He used drug prosecutions as an example of why statistics for blacks are so high. Young black males charged with possession of five grams of crack cocaine face a mandatory prison term of five years, Cochran said.

In contrast, “if a person lives in the suburbs and is charged with possession of 500 grams of pure powdered cocaine, that’s the only way they will ever get a sentence of five years,” he said.

“Five grams versus 500 grams . . . How does that happen in a fair society, and what are prosecutors doing about it?” Cochran asked.

Five grams of crack retails for $225 to $750, while 500 grams of pure cocaine sells for $35,000 to $50,000, he said.

Cochran said 74% of people sentenced for drug-related crimes under federal sentencing guidelines were black.

“This draconian racist policy permeates what’s happening in America,” he said, adding that prison terms for black women were becoming almost as high as those for black men.

“This so-called war on drugs is really a war on people of color,” he said.