Volume I No. 24
 10-13-02
 Johnnie Cochran and the Unwelcome Halo 
  of the O.J. Simpson Murder Case 
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2002

 Is it painful to watch a man reinvent himself?

 Perhaps the word re-invent is too strong a term to use in the
 instance of the very successful Johnnie Cochran. The now 
 nationally recognized celebrity lawyer from the infamous O.J. 
 Simpson murder trial.

 The O.J. case was but one of several relatively-high profile
 cases that Johnnie Cochran has litigated. But it is O.J. that
 follows this man around like a dark cloud on a sunny day. 

 A cloud forever hovering menacingly above the same spot.

 Mention the name Johnnie Cochran, and O.J.'s quickly follows. 
 On several talk shows that Cochran has appeared on recently,
 he has faced intense questioning on O.J. - O.J. - O.J.

 The O.J. Simpson case is always the number one subject. 
 The subject that irritates. The subject that antagonizes. The 
 man is loved or hated, apparently, all on account of that one 
 controversial case.

 So now we see Johnnie Cochran relocated in Washington
 D.C. at a law firm bearing his name. Cochran has announced
 that he has taken a new interest in civil cases. Cases of importance 
 to the African-American community in particular. It seems 
 Johnnie has had enough of criminal law, and has decided it's 
 time to stake out new ground, and to march in a different 
 direction.

 Has success failed Johnnie Cochran in some way? Afterall,
 Johnnie and the team of lawyers assisting him - the Dream 
 Team - did exactly what they were supposed to do.

 Get O.J. Simpson off.

 The criminal court system is an adversarial system. You play
 to win. The Prosecution vs The Defense. As long as you stay
 within the rules. And the rules give both sides a certain amount
 of latitude to do their damage.

 You're not supposed to care if the prosecution is incompetent. 
 You're not supposed to care if one of the lead detectives is a
 racist. You're not supposed to care if an even older and more
 experienced detective - who should have known better - walks 
 around half-the-day with your client's blood in a glass vial. 

 You're not supposed to care about any of those things if you're 
 the defense. You're supposed to use those facts against the 
 prosecution's case. 

 And this is what the Dream Team did. And we haven't even
 mentioned the bloody glove. Or the request by an overly-
 enthusiastic assistant prosecutor that O.J. Simpson try on the 
 gloves in front of the jury. Or the second set of footprints that 
 Dr. Henry Lee - one of the most respected forensic scientists 
 in the entire world - testified were there on that bloody sidewalk, 
 suggesting the presense of a second person at the murder 
 scene. 

 An accomplice? 

 The real murderer? 

 Or nothing at all?

 Relief at the outcome of the O.J. case - or hatred of the case
 - frequently follows along racial lines. Respect or contempt 
 for the jury, also follows along those same racial fault lines. 

 The O.J. case may not have been the true Crime Of the Century, 
 but it was certainly an important one in the history of American 
 jurisprudence. In the respect of the involvement of the media, 
 along with prominent African-American trial lawyers.

 Which brings us back to Johnnie Cochran.

 There is no system of jurisprudence in the world that is perfect.
 In the end, it shouldn't matter as much to the public if  O.J. was 
 innocent or guilty. But that the system worked. What matters 
 most is that O.J., Johnnie Cochran and the Dream Team, got their 
 day in court.

 A higher power will be the ultimate judge of Orenthal James Simpson 
 if he is indeed the perpetrator of that brutal double homicide in 
 Brentwood. And there is no escaping that judge and jury, on high.

 In this imperfect system some guilty individuals will escape the
 justice that is due them. And some innocent defendants will be 
 found guilty and subsequently imprisoned. This unavoidable 
 fact is what makes the death penalty so unconscionable. How 
 many innocent men and women have been executed in the name 
 of justice?

 But back to Johnnie Cochran. Why is hated so?  Was it because
 - as some accuse him - he played the race card? Did he show extreme
 insensitivity to the pain of the Brown family - not to mention the 
 Goldman family? Or was it because he simply dared defend a 
 man who in the opionion of a majority of the nation appeared to 
 be guilty?

 Very guilty.

 There is another factor that looms large in this public contempt
 of Johnnie Cochran. Has he stepped out of his place? Is he the
 victim of an intractable double-standard? Is he so disliked in some 
 communities because of a lingering classism that exists in this 
 society?

 Is he the arrogant negro that has used the law to his own ends,
 and is now hated because he was successful in doing so? Is he
 the personification of the successful, well-educated black, that 
 some whites still fear?

 In the African-American community there is the strong perception 
 that Don King, the fight promoter, is held to a set of standards
 that the caucasian promoters in that sport don't have to meet. Not 
 withstanding that many of the fighters Don King has allegedly 
 cheated were black men, themselves.

 Is Johnnie Cochran being judged so harshly because he is a
 black man who - in the minds of the public - successfully 
 defended another black man, for murdering two young attractive 
 white persons in the prime of their lives. All at the expense of 
 actual justice.

 One can only wonder if Johnnie Cochran were a white lawyer, 
 in the same set of circumstances, defending a white client, would 
 he have been so similarly hated and reviled had he won the case. 
 No matter the aggressive methods he might have used in defending 
 this imaginary white client.

 Would the media accept that he was just doing his job? The same
 job any competent lawyer in the same situation would do. Would
 the media then allow that perception to propagate across the land? 
 Would the American public have accepted such a benign characterization
 of a white Johnnie Cochran, Attorney at Law? -- Forget O.J. for the 
 moment.

 No one can ever know the answer to that question. But it is an
 important question to ponder, nontheless.

 Sometimes it is painful to watch a man reinvent himself.
 

 ReadingPost.Com
 © Copyright 2002

_______________________________

 Liberal Rights Announcement Group

 Enjoy this article? Subscribe to our list and
 have our latest liberal rants delivered right
 to your mailbox. We will never SPAM you.

 Comments sent to editor may be republished
 on our site or in our announcement list at our 
 discretion. Comments containing crude language
 and/or vulgarites will be deleted and your 
 email address permanently banned.

_______________________________

 Detective Service Or Detective Software? 
 Your Choice...

 Net Detective Software
 Web Detective Service

_______________________________
 

 ARTICLE SEARCH:
 use keywords or phrases to locate 
 other ReadingPost.Com articles

_______________________________

 Having link partnerships is one of the ways to increase the link popularity of your web site.
 The search engines have a high regard for sites that have plenty of incoming links from
 similar sites.

 Therefore, working together to achieve our goals certainly makes a lot of sense. With that
 in mind we'd like to invite you to add your site to our Political Links Directory. Only
 sites that are related to political news, social commentary and opinion, political blogs and
 rants, election websites, political activist sites, media websites, political humor and satire,
 political forums, news commentary sites both mainstream and independent, religious opinion, 
 and miscellaneous sites, that are in some manner related to politics or current events, will 
 be accepted.

 All manner of sites are welcome from those on the Far Right, to the Far Left.

 Hate sites, extremist sites, sites containing an excessive amount of vulgarity or material
 unsuitable for children or young teens { a disclaimer should be located prominently on the 
 index page } and sites promoting bigotry or intolerance of any kind, will be rejected!

 Here's our EMAIL ADDRESS. <<---

 Send this information in your email:
 * web site title
 * a brief description
 * your url address

 Here's our information to post on your site:
 * our web site title: Politics, News Analysis, and Social Commentary for American Liberals.
 * our description: Political commentary from the left, with a special emphasis on politics,
   religion, sports, culture, and current events.
 * our url address: http://readingpost.com/

 Thanks For The Link Trade!