HR0342 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0342 LRB094 12087 CSA 45378 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., of Los Angeles, California, on March 29, 2005; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Cochran was born October 2, 1937, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Hattie and Johnnie L. Cochran, Sr., the great-grandson of slaves, the grandson of a sharecropper, and the son of an insurance salesman; the family moved to California in 1943 and settled in Los Angeles in 1949; he attended Mt. Vernon Jr. High School where he discovered his talent for debate; in the early 1950s he became one of only 12 black students enrolled at the prestigious Los Angeles High School; he excelled at the school, earning membership in the Honor Society as well as playing on the football team; and

WHEREAS, When the Supreme Court outlawed legal segregation in 1954, Thurgood Marshall became his hero, and it was then that he knew he wanted to become a lawyer as there could be no better way to serve humanity; and

WHEREAS, Upon his graduation from Los Angeles High School, he attended UCLA and joined Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated, in which he remained active throughout his life; after graduating from UCLA in 1959 he entered Loyola Law School, and during that time he became the first black law clerk hired by the Los Angeles City Attorney; and

WHEREAS, During this period of time he married Barbara Berry and they had two daughters, Melodie and Tiffany; he also had a son, Jonathan Cochran, with Patty Sikora; in 1981 he married Sylvia Dale Mason; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Cochran passed the California bar in 1963 and became one of the first Deputy City Attorneys of Los Angeles, where he became one of the top trial litigators; in 1965, he resigned and started the firm Cochran, Atkins and Evans, which handled a broad range of civil and criminal cases; in 1977, the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Bar Association honored him as Criminal Trial Lawyer of the Year; shortly thereafter, he was asked to return to the county as its first black Assistant District Attorney; two years later he was named the Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the California Trial Lawyers Association; and

WHEREAS, While working in the District Attorney's Office, Mr. Cochran instituted many lasting reforms, among them the establishment of the Domestic Violence Council and the Sexual Assault Program, as well as successfully attacking the Los Angeles Police Department's pattern of misconduct; he returned to private practice in 1981, determined to continue challenging the abusive practices of law enforcement; in 1991, he received Los Angeles's Civil Trial Lawyer of the Year Award; he is the only person to be honored for his work in both the criminal and civil courts; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Cochran was able to use his success to extend justice to the people who needed it most and could least afford it; in the late 1990s, he founded The Cochran Firm, one of the nation's largest plaintiff's law firms; he also joined with "Dream Team" partners, Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck, to form Cochran, Neufeld and Scheck, a firm that focuses on civil rights cases involving police misconduct and wrongful convictions; these firms put into practice, on a daily basis, his lifelong dedication to fighting for the injured and disenfranchised; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Cochran gave of his time, talent, and money to numerous civic organizations and charities; he gave speeches and lectured often at universities and conferences around the world; he was a frequent speaker at Harvard Law School; he served on Pepsi Cola's African American Advisory Board, the Board of the Lawyer's Mutual Insurance Company, the Board of The Stay Strong Foundation, and the Board of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, an organization founded by Thurgood Marshall; and

WHEREAS, He was the Chairman of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone; he was particularly proud that a school was named after him, The Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Academy of Legal Studies and Community Service in East Orange, New Jersey; he was a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Inner Circle of Advocates, the John M. Langston Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the American Bar Association; he served on the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners for 12 years, and was its first black Chairman; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Cochran was preceded in death by his mother, Hattie, and his younger brother, RaLonzo Cochran; and

WHEREAS, He leaves to cherish his memory a devoted wife, Sylvia Dale Mason Cochran; his loving father, Johnnie L. Cochran, Sr.; his dedicated children, Melodie T. Cochran, Tiffany K. Cochran Edwards, and Jonathan E. Cochran; his son-in-law, Javarro Edwards, his daughter-in-law, Cheryl Cochran; his adoring sisters, Pearl Cochran-Baker and Martha Cochran Sherrard; his brothers-in-law, William A. Baker, Sr., and Fredric W. Sherrard; his precious mother-in-law, Daisy W. Mason; his nieces, Arlyce Baker Chandler, Cherene Sherrard Johnson, P. LaToi Cochran, and RaLicia Cochran; his nephew, William A. Baker, Jr.; his great niece, Alexa Chandler; his great nephews, Justin Lopez and Hayden W. Johnson; his uncle Henry Bass; his aunt Janie Bass, and a host of family members and friends; and

WHEREAS, Like Thurgood Marshall, Mr. Cochran's impact on our world will continue to be felt for generations; he spent his life proving that the rights guaranteed by the law of our land indeed belong to all of us and that one determined man can make a difference; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., and honor his exceptional career, remarkable legacy, and significant accomplishments; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to his family as an expression of our deepest condolences.