C. Vernon Mason
C. Vernon Mason (b. Tucker, Arkansas) is an African-American ordained minister, former lawyer and current executive with a non-profit organization.
Education
Mason graduated from Morehouse College and earned a Master's in Business Administration from Indiana University. He then graduated from Columbia Law School earning a Juris Doctor and then earned a Master of Divinity from New York Theological Seminary.
Howard Beach incident
Mason was one of the lawyers retained by the family of Michael Griffith, manslaughter victim in the Howard Beach incident.
Tawana Brawley case
In 1987 Mason, along with Alton H. Maddox and Al Sharpton, were advisors to Tawana Brawley, an African-American teenager who claimed to have been abducted and sexually assaulted by at least three white men, including at least one police officer and assistant district attorney Steven Pagones. However, a Grand Jury investigation into Brawley's allegations determined that she "had not been abducted, assaulted, raped and sodomized as had been claimed"[1] and that "the 'unsworn public allegations against Dutchess County Assistant District Attorney Steven Pagones' were false and had no basis in fact."[1] Pagones filed a $385 million dollar lawsuit against Brawley and her advisors for twenty two purported defamatory statments; Mason was found liable of making one defamatory statment and ordered to pay $185,000.[2]
Disbarment
Mason was disbarred in 1995. Contrary to popular belief, it was not for the Brawley affair, but for other misconduct.[3] [4]
Christian ministry
The former attorney, is now known as Rev. C. Vernon Mason. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer for the Uth Turn initiative, which provides mentoring, leadership training, educational and job preparation, employment and social services referrals, counseling and substance support to at risk youth.
References
- ^ a b http://www.nycourts.gov/press/old_keep/brawley.htm
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405E3DE1731F936A25755C0A9679C8B63
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE5DF113BF934A15752C0A963958260
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE5DF113BF934A15752C0A963958260
External links
- The grand jury report on the Brawley case
- A CNN story on the Pagones suit
- Pagones v. Maddox, et al. — Decision of the Supreme Court of New York, County of Duchess.
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