Posted: March 30th, 2005

The civil rights community and the nation has lost one of its most effective and articulate advocates. Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., the civil rights attorney who helped expose widespread police brutality toward people under arrest in Los Angeles, died March 29. One of Mr. Cochran’s most important cases was freeing former Black Panther leader Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt from prison after 27 years for a crime he did not commit. Mr. Cochran said freeing Mr. Pratt was “the happiest day for me in my whole career.” The Center’s Executive Director Robert Garcia worked with Johnnie Cochran on that case and others.

Johnnie Cochran was an advocate for the poor and neglected, and an inspiration for generations of attorneys. To view the Los Angeles Times story on the life and career of Johnnie Cochran click here.