William John Cox
William John (Billy Jack) Cox (born 1941) is an American public interest lawyer, retired prosecutor, author and political activist.
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[edit] Background
The eighth and last child of an American pioneer family, William John Cox was born on a cotton farm near Lubbock, Texas to Samuel Hubert and Minnie Irene (Oswalt) Cox.[1] Orphaned at age 10, he was raised by siblings until he attended New Mexico Military Institute, from which he graduated in 1958.
After a four-year enlistment, Cox was honorably discharged as an United States Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class in 1962.
[edit] Law Enforcement
Joining the “New Breed” movement to professionalize the American police service in the early Sixties, Cox served as president of the San Diego County Chapter of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC),[2] which was instrumental in establishing the first Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission and drafting the national Law Enforcement Code of Ethics.[3]
Graduating with top honors from the San Diego Police Department[4] and Los Angeles Police Department Academies, Cox received an associate degree in Police Administration from Rio Hondo College in 1969.
Promoted to Investigator and Sergeant, Cox authored the LAPD Policy Manual[5] and the introductory chapters of the Police Task Force report of President Nixon’s National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, which defined the role of the police in America.[6]
In 1973 and 1974, Cox was the special assistant of the director of the Office of National Priority Programs in the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, which implemented national criminal justice standards and goals.
[edit] Law Practice
Cox was awarded a Juris Doctor degree cum laude by Southwestern Law School in 1973 and was administered his attorney’s oath by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark.[7]
Appointed a Deputy Los Angeles County District Attorney in 1974, Cox prosecuted a wide range of criminal cases in the Municipal and Superior Courts for the next three years.
In 1977, Cox opened a public interest law practice in Long Beach, California in the historic Skinny House (Long Beach).[8] He primarily represented indigent juveniles accused of serious crimes and received court appointments in death penalty and major felony matters.[9]
[edit] Holocaust Denial Case
Among the cases Cox handled was a pro bono publico matter in which he represented Mel Mermelstein, a Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. He investigated and sued a group of radical organizations, including the Liberty Lobby and Institute for Historical Review, that engaged in Holocaust denial and which had offered a reward for proof of Nazi gas chambers.[10]
The primary legal issue in the case was resolved in October 1981, when the presiding judge took judicial notice of the fact that Jews were gassed to death at Auschwitz in the summer of 1944.[11]
The “Holocaust Case” was the subject of the TNT motion picture, 'Never Forget', in April 1991 starring Leonard Nimoy and Dabney Coleman.[12]
[edit] Forensic Practice
Between 1984 and 1988, Cox served as general counsel and operations officer of a private security consulting and investigation firm, whose clients included a number of Fortune 500 companies and nuclear weapons sites operated by the United States Department of Energy.
Cox recommenced a restricted practice of law in Long Beach, California and primarily provided investigative forensic services to other law firms for the next ten years. One of the leading cases he worked on was the successful litigation involving the heirs of The Three Stooges in support of attorney Bela G. Lugosi.[13]
[edit] Publication of the Suppressed Dead Sea Scrolls
In 1991, Cox secretly represented an “undisclosed client,” pro bono, and contracted with the Biblical Archaeology Society to print almost 1,800 photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls that had been suppressed for more than 40 years.[14] A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls was published in November 1991.[15]
On behalf of Professors Robert Eisenman and James M. Robinson, who had written an introduction and prepared an index for the book, Cox testified at a trial held in Jerusalem in January and February 1993, during which he refused to identify his client.[16]
[edit] State Bar Prosecutor
Between 1999 and 2007, Cox served as a supervising trial counsel for the State Bar of California, where he led a team of attorneys and investigators that targeted the prosecution of attorneys accused of serious crimes and misconduct and criminal gangs engaged in the unlawful practice of law.[17]
[edit] Political Activism
Alleging that control of the United States government had been seized by corporations and special interest groups, Cox filed a class action lawsuit in 1979 on behalf of every American citizen.[18] As a remedy, Cox petitioned the Supreme Court to order the President and Congress to conduct a National Policy Referendum to restore political power to the voters.[19]
In 2004, Cox’s book, You’re Not Stupid! Get the Truth: A Brief on the Bush Presidency, was published by the Progressive Press.[20]
Since retiring in 2007, Cox has dedicated himself to the promotion of a peaceful political evolution.[21] The political movement focuses on: holding a National Policy Referendum every four years coincident with the presidential election; using a national paper ballot to allow voters to personally answer the 12 most critical policy questions; and encouraging voters to write in the name of the candidate they most trust to effectuate their policy.[22]
[edit] Books
- (1978), Hello: We Speak the Truth, (As Thomas Donn) CLS Publishing Company
- (2004), You’re Not Stupid! Get the Truth: A Brief on the Bush Presidency, Progressive Press
[edit] External links
- Personal Website: http://www.williamjohncox.com
- Political Website: http://www.votersevolt.com
[edit] References
- ^ Cox, Stanley Medford, Joseph Cox, ancestors and descendants, See also: The Hussey Manuscript, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gowenrf/husseyms_040.html
- ^ Enforcement Groups Plans Installation, Daily Californian, November 9, 1967; Peace Officers Research Association of California, http://www.porac.org.
- ^ Hooper, Michael, PhD, California Law Enforcement, California Department of Justice, p.5, http://www.mhhe.com/ps/cjustice/ap/pdf/ap_ca_supplement.pdf; IADLEST Model Minimum Standards, International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards & Training, http://www.iadlest.org/modelmin.htm; Grank, J. Kevin, Ethics and Law Enforcement, The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, December 2002.
- ^ City Officer No. 1 at Police Academy, The Valley News, March 10, 1963.
- ^ Los Angeles Police Department Manual, Volume I, Policy
- ^ Report of the Task Force on Police, National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, Government Printing Office, 1973.
- ^ State Bar of California, http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=58998.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I3g7OMh2Ng
- ^ Two Reversible Errors Shown in Juvenile Proceedings, Daily Journal, November 8, 1978.
- ^ Brin, Herb, Inside Liberty Lobby -- a Network of Hate, Heritage, June 12, 1981.
- ^ Footnote to the Holocaust, Newsweek, October 19, 1981, p. 73.
- ^ Rubin, Ronald, ‘’Never Forget’‘, Turner Network Television, produced by Leonard Nimoy & Robert B. Radnitz, http://www.amazon.com/dp/6302168422 See also: Nimoy, Leonard, I Am Spock, (New York: Hyperion, 1995), p. 306.
- ^ Solomon, Steve, "Stooge Law", INC., September 15, 1995, http://www.inc.com/magazine/19950915/2619.html
- ^ Wilford, John Noble, Dead Sea Scrolls To Be Published, New York Times, November 20, 1991; Chandler, Russell and Goldman, John J., Final 20% of Dead Sea Scrolls To Be Published, Los Angeles Times, November 20, 1991.
- ^ A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls. (Washington, D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1991). See also: Silberman, Neil Asher, The Hidden Scrolls: Christianity, Judaism and The War for The Dead Sea Scrolls, (New York: Grosset/Putnam, 1994), p. 136.
- ^ Wilford, John Noble, Israel Court Bars Access to Scroll, New York Times, January 23, 1993; Rabinovich, Abraham, Dead Sea Scrolls Trial Continues In Jerusalem, Jerusalem Post, February 3, 1993; Shanks, Hershel, Lawsuit Diary, Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 1993, p. 71.
- ^ State Bar Initiates Fast Track for Egregious Cases of Attorney Misconduct, State Bar of California, September 10, 2002, http://www.calsb.org/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10144&n=36181 Curtis, Diane, Bar Goes After Phony Lawyers, California Bar Journal, March 2006; Blackwell, Savannah, State Bar Starts Taking Over Fake Law Firms, Daily Journal, January 28, 2007.
- ^ William J. Cox, a citizen of the United States, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Petitioner, vs. Jimmy Carter, President of the United States, ... et al., Respondent, Supreme Court of the United States, October Term, 1978, No. 79-31, July 9, 1979.
- ^ Editorial - L.B. Lawyer’s Proposal: Let Nation Vote on SALT, Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram, July 4, 1979, p. B8.
- ^ Cox, William John, You’re Not Stupid! Get the Truth: A Brief on the Bush Presidency. (Joshua Tree: Progressive Press, 2004). See also: http://www.yourenotstupid.com.
- ^ Yarbrough, Amy, Lawyer, Writer, Activist – and Now, Web Site Creator, Los Angeles Daily Journal, October 15, 2007.
- ^ Voters Evolt! http://www.votersevolt.com. See Also: http://williamjohncox.com
