J. Tony Serra (born December 30, 1934) is a civil rights, activist, and tax-referee attorney from San Francisco.
Video Tony Serra
Education
Serra received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Juris Doctor degree from Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley. While in law school, Serra is a contributor to the California Law Review .
Maps Tony Serra
Careers
In 1970, Serra managed to defend the Black Panther leader Huey Newton in a murder trial.
In 1983, Serra won the release of Chol Soo Lee, an American Korean immigrant in San Francisco who was convicted of a murder in 1973 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
He has also represented individuals from diverse and politically charged groups such as the White Panther, Hells Angels, Good Earth, and the New World Liberation Front (NWLF). Some of these people include Brownie Mary, Dennis Peron, Hooty Croy, Ellie Nesler, and members of the Symbionese Liberation Army Sara Jane Olson, Russell Little and Michael Bortin.
In 2004, Serra won the release during a re-trial of murder charges for defendant Rick Tabish in the death of Ted Binion's casino mogul.
Serra won the Trial Lawyer of the Year award in 2003 (by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice organization), for the success of Judi Bari's litigation against the FBI.
Legal issues
Serra has been in trouble with the law several times for failing to pay income taxes. He refused to pay taxes in protest at the War in Iraq, based on his belief that the Bush administration led the country in the wrong direction and that he would not contribute money to fund what he saw as Bush's corrupt politics. On July 29, 2005, he was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison, to be served in Lompoc, and ordered to pay $ 100,000 in damages for alleged deliberate infringement on the failure to pay taxes. Serra was released from a federal camp in Lompoc, California, in mid-February 2007, reporting immediately to a home in San Francisco. He was released from federal prison, and his shelter home, on March 13, 2007, after serving his sentence [1]. Together with three other lawyers, Serra filed a class action lawsuit seeking minimum wages for himself and other inmates, citing the slave salary as unconstitutional.
Personal and family life
Serra has taken a vow of poverty and is known for living a frugal lifestyle and driving a damaged car. All proceeds from his case are distributed to other lawyers except for a small portion of which he uses to pay rent and gas. All his clothes (including suit, briefcase, shoes, etc.) are purchased directly.
Tony has two younger brothers: Richard Serra, a prominent sculptor, and Rudy Serra, also a famous artist. Richard pays for college education from Tony's five children.
In popular culture
The 1989 movie True Believer is loosely based on the 1982-83 anniversary of Chol Soo Lee. The main character of the film, Eddie Dodd, played by James Woods, is based on Serra.
The film inspired the spin-off series, Eddie Dodd , which aired for six episodes in 1991 on ABC; Dodd is played by Treat Williams.
Serra Biography, Lust for Justice: Radical Life & amp; The Law of J. Tony Serra , written by courtroom artist Paulette Frankl with a preface by criminal defense lawyer Gerry Spence, was released in October 2010.
High profile case
Awards
- Runner up, "Best Lawyer in America,"
American Lawyer Magazine , 1982 - The Achievement of the Drug Policy Foundation in Legal Affairs, 1992
- Boalt Hall "Alumnus of the Year, 1993;
- Charles Garry Award, 1994;
- ACLU Benjamin Dreyfus, Civil Liberties Award, 1997;
- California Attorney for Criminal Justice, 2000, "Ten Best Criminal Lawyers of the Century;"
- McFetridge-American Inn of Court, Co-Awardee "2003 Trial Lawyer of the Year";
- Trial Lawyer for Public Justice, "Certificate of Honor, December 1, 2005;"
- The Northern California Criminal Court Lawyers' Association, "Equal Equal Gideon 2005 Award";
- 2008 NORML Lester Grinspoon Award, "For Extraordinary Achievement in the Field of Marijuana Reform Law"
References
External links
- "Letter from Prison" California Lawyer
- The Believer Behind Bars San Francisco November 2006
- Always a Man from his Convictions Los Angeles Times August 7, 2005
- Tax Evasion Sending a Renowned Lawyer to Jail - Again Recorder August 1, 2005
- J. Tony Serra - Pier 5 Law Offices
- Dream Team Shattered Las Vegas CityLife June 6, 2004, by Cathy Scott [2]
- Lust for Justice , Biography of J. Tony Serra by courtroom artist Paulette Frankl [3]
- J. Tony Serra: Taxpayer Lawyer Over Pay August 2007
- Lust for Justice official book sites
- Tony Serra on the Tax Resistance and War Warden (a video of him speaking at the National War Tax Rescue Committee Coordination conference)
- Zero Tolerance on YouTube a video by Tiger TV West Paper featuring Tony Serra who criticized Bush-era "War on Drugs" and early "Reality TV"
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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