THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION’S

FORTIETH ANNUAL

FOUNDERS’ LECTURE SERIES

&

FORTY- SECOND ANNUAL

PRESENTATION

of the

OLLIE MAY COOPER AWARDS October 7, 2020 VIRTUALLY and from Ollie May Cooper’s

Israel Metropolitan CME (formerly Israel Bethel) Church Washington, D.C. W A S H I N G T O N B A R A S S O C I A T I O N

F o u n d e d M a y 26, 1925

T H E F O U N D E R S

Ulysses Simpson Garnes Louis Rothschild Mehlinger George E.C. Hayes Charles E. Robinson Charles Hamilton Houston J. Franklin Wilson

Isaiah Lisemby

O F F I C E R S (2020 - 2021)

James Anthony Towns, Sr. President Kendra Perkins Norwood, President-Elect Dionna Maria Lewis, Vice President Darnellena C. Burnett,Treasurer Hon. Arien Cannon, Secretary

B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S (2020-2021)

Hon. Errol Arthur Hon. H. Alexander Manuel Hon. Arien Cannon Brenda Keels Darnellena C. Burnett Kendra Perkins Norwood Alexandra Cohen Dionna M. Lewis Vincent H. Cohen, Jr. Alfreda Robinson Akua Coppock Tony Towns Eric Glover Wendell W. Webster

C O U N C I L O F P A S T P R E S I D E N T S

Henry Floyd Nicole Austin-Hillery Natalie S. Walker Karen E. Evans William R. (Billy) Martin RESOLUTION OF COMMEMORATION

THE OLLIE MAY COOPER AWARD

WHEREAS, On August 4, 1978, the Washington Bar Association (WBA) approved the creation of the annual Ollie May Cooper Award. This service award is presented annually to a member of the WBA who has given outstanding service to the Bar and whose leadership and organizational efforts have enhanced the image of the WBA and the legal community at-large.

WHEREAS, Ms. Ollie May Cooper was born in 1887 in rural Tennessee. She moved to the District of Columbia with her parents at an early age. She attended the public schools in the District, and finished her formal education here at the Howard University School of Law, from which she graduated, magna cum laude with a L.L.B. in 1921. She was admitted to the bar on October 11, 1926.

WHEREAS, Ms. Cooper soon entered into private practice with Isadore Lecher as partners in their own law firm. Ms. Cooper and Ms. Lecher would share the unique distinction of being the first African-American women in the history of the United States of America to enter into the private practice of law as partners in a firm owned and operated by women. At that time, there were approximately 1,500 female lawyers in the nation, of which fewer than 25 were African-American.

WHEREAS, Ms. Cooper, a proud alumnus of Howard, served her alma mater for 43 years. She first served as law clerk of the Law School’s Law Department from 1918 to 1928, and then as Secretary to at least 10 deans. In the late 1920s, Ms. Cooper also taught a one-hour course at Howard Law School. She was also founder of the Epsilon Sigma Iota Legal Sorority at Howard Law School.

WHEREAS, Well before the current era of equal rights for women, Ms. Cooper and other African-American women lawyers were visible and vocal for not only recognition of their own worth, but they stood side by side with African- American male lawyers for the general survival of the African-American Lawyer.

WHEREAS, Ms. Cooper’s service to the Bar dates back to nearly its inception. She served the Washington Bar Association in numerous capacities, including Vice President. In addition, Ms. Cooper was actively involved in the affairs of the National Bar Association for a number of years, serving as Assistant Secretary. She and other African- American women attorneys gave substantial time and service, and until establishment of this award, had yet to be fully recognized for their part in the struggle and survival of African-American lawyers in this nation.

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Forty-Second Ollie May Cooper Award shall be presented on October 7, 2020 to

William C. E. Robinson, Elaine R. Jones and Charles J. Ogletree, Jr.

WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION James Anthony Towns, Sr. President & CEO

October 7, 2020 Washington, District of Columbia

______Tradition dictates that the language of the inaugural resolution issued by the Board of Directors has been, and will be, retained for each presentation of the Ollie May Cooper Award. RESOLUTION OF THE FOUNDERS’ LECTURE SERIES

WHEREAS, in July 1981, Thomas A. Duckenfield, President, recommended, and the Board of Directors approved, the creation of the Founders’ Lecture Series, named after and in honor of the Founders of the Washington Bar Association. The Founders of our Bar include persons with a variety of specialties, interests, abilities and experiences. They were all talented in certain areas and they shared ideas, objectives and purposes. They recognized that in coming together to educate themselves they could better represent their clients and enhance their own levels of knowledge. Such concepts of education have continued throughout the history of our Bar; and

WHEREAS, as an association, we have found that continuity of education provided by members of the Bar and our community has strengthened our ability to meet the needs of our community; and

WHEREAS, the implementation of continuing education lectures and presentations allows members of the Bar to meet basic legal requirements of jurisprudence; and

WHEREAS, our Founders encouraged members of our community and the Bar to cooperate and promote continuing education in all aspects of the law and society.

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Washington Bar Association shall present a series of lectures, speakers and presentations on various topics and interests continually to educate members of the Bar and the community. The Fortieth Founders’ Lecture shall be delivered on October 7, 2020, by Benjamin Lloyd Crump, Esquire, Author, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People (2019).

WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION

JAMES ANTHONY TOWNS, Sr. President & CEO

October 7, 2020 Washington, District of Columbia FOUNDERS’ LECTURE SERIES AND OLLIE MAY COOPER October 7, 2020

Six in the Evening

James Anthony Towns, Sr., Esquire, Presiding President & CEO, The Washington Bar Association

Welcome ...... James Anthony Towns, Sr., Esquire Call to Commemoration...... Robert L. Bell., Esquire Invocation...... Rev. Dr. Ricky D. Helton, Senior Pastor Israel Metropolitan CME (formerly Israel Bethel) Church Musical Selection...... Israel Metropolitan CME Church Choir

Greetings from the Bench

The Honorable Beryl A. Howell The Honorable Anna Blackburne-Rigsby Chief Judge Chief Judge United States District Court for District of Columbia Court of Appeals the District of Columbia

The Honorable Anita Josey-Herring The Honorable Deborah Carroll Chief Judge Chief Judge Superior Court of the District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings

Greetings from the Howard University School of Law...... Dean Danielle R. Holley-Walker Greetings from Attorney General for the District of Columbia …………………………………… Honorable Karl A. Racine Greetings from the National Bar Association...... Tricia CK Hoffler, President

Founders’ Lecture

Musical Selection...... Israel Metropolitan CME Church Worship Team

Introduction of Lecturer...... Akua Coppock, Esquire

Founders’ Lecture...... Benjamin Lloyd Crump, Esquire, Author, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People (2019)

Ollie May Cooper Awards Ceremony

Introduction of Award Recipients...... Robert L. Bell and Ronald C. Jessamy

Presentation of Awards...... James Anthony Towns, Sr. Awards Recipients Remarks……………………………………………………………………………………….William C.E. Robinson Elaine R. Jones Charles J. Ogletree, Jr.

Special Presentations and Remarks...... James Anthony Towns, Jr., Esquire Hon. Errol Arthur, Chair WBA Judicial Council

Benediction...... Rev. Dr. Ricky D. Helton

Jazz Reception Honoring Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, Chief Judge Anita Josey-Herring, and Awardees THE OLLIE MAY COOPER AWARD ... SYMBOLIZES the struggles of minorities in the legal profession and represents the strength and sinew of the persons who labored incessantly for just laws and who forged a path so that other African-Americans may join the ranks of lawyers and judges across this country... BESPEAKS of the touch of humanity and service emanating from a solid belief in the worth of humankind; a firm self-concept and racial pride; an undiminished presence of genuine concern and love; and, a devotion to the rule of law... STANDS as an appreciation in and for the spirit of “legal humanitarianism.” PAST AWARD RECIPIENTS The Honorable Wilhelmina Rolark 1979 The Honorable J.D. Fauntleroy 1980 The Honorable Ruth Hankins-Nesbitt 1981 Clinton W. Chapman 1982 John McDaniel 1983 Lee A. Satterfield 1984 James Wesley Cobb 1985 J. Clay Smith, Jr. 1986 The Honorable Luke C. Moore 1987 Joseph H. Hairston 1988 The Honorable William S. Thompson 1989 Thomas A. Duckenfield 1990 Frederick B. Abramson 1991 The Honorable Eugene N. Hamilton 1992 Mabel D. Haden 1993 The Honorable Paul A. Webber, III 1994 Roberta Willis Sims 1995 Jack H. Olender 1996 The Honorable Arthur L. Burnett, Sr. 1997 Allie B. Latimer 1998 The Honorable Gerald Bruce Lee 1999 Wade Henderson 2000 The Honorable Julia Cooper Mack 2001 The Honorable Annice Wagner 2002 The Honorable Margaret Haywood 2003 The Honorable Theodore R. Newman, Jr. 2004 The Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan 2005 Barbara R. Arnwine 2006 Donald M. Temple 2007 Beverly L. Perry 2008 The Honorable Inez Smith Reid 2009 The Honorable Mary Terrell 2010 The Honorable Melvin R. Wright 2011 Dovey Johnson Roundtree 2012 Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr. 2013 Sandra H. Robinson 2014 The Honorable Eric T. Washington 2015 Kim Keenan 2016 Robert L. Bell 2017 The Honorable Anita Josey-Herring 2018 Hon. Karl A. Racine 2019 WILLIAM C.E. ROBINSON, ESQUIRE WILLIAM C.E. ROBINSON, ESQUIRE

From January 2001 until December 2007, William C. E. Robinson (“Bill Robinson”) served as senior corporate counsel in the Office of General Counsel for GEICO. Since December 2007, Bill has been Corporate Secretary for GEICO Corporation and its various subsidiaries. In that role, Bill’s mission is two-fold: (1) provide corporate secretary services to the GEICO Companies and their Directors and Officers, including corporate governance oversight, records retention and maintenance, and various insurance department filings; and (2) provide the Human Resources Department with legal counsel relating to the legal compliance and other aspects of labor and employment issues confronted by the GEICO Companies.

Bill has been a presenter to several labor and employment law firm associations and in-house corporate counsel associations in the areas of labor and employment, e-discovery and complex class actions. Bill is also co-author of Corporate Counsel Solutions, Employment Policies and Practices (published by LexisNexis in 2007).

Bill is a 1983 graduate of the Howard University School of Law and successfully passed the July 1983 New York State bar exam. Bill is a member of the New York, District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland bars. He currently serves as a Commissioner on the D.C. Court of Appeals Equal Access to Justice Commission, is a member of the Resource Board for the National Association of Women Judges, and was a previous board member of the New York Urban League, as well as several non-profit organizations.

Prior to joining GEICO, Bill served as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York, has been a senior associate in a Washington, D.C. law firm, and has served as the managing attorney for the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Staff Counsel firm operations for Aetna and Travelers Insurance Companies. ELAINE R. JONES, ESQUIRE Noted civil and human rights attorney Elaine Ruth Jones was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia. She is the daughter of a Pullman porter and a schoolteacher. Attorney Jones attended Howard University, where she worked her way through school. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Attorney Jones graduated from Howard University in 1965, finishing school on the Dean’s List. After college, she entered the Peace Corps, where she traveled to Turkey and taught English to medical students as a second language. In 1967, Attorney Jones entered the University of Virginia Law School, as one of five Black students. She was the only female of that group. She became the first Black female graduate of that law school in 1970. She was offered a job with a prominent Wall Street firm but declined the offer to take a position at the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund (LDF) During her career, Attorney Jones litigated not only civil rights cases (some of , but also several death penalty cases. The civil rights cases resulted in millions of dollars in back pay to victims of discrimination and resulted in numerous jobs. One of her death penalty cases, i.e., Furman vs. Georgia, resulted in the US Supreme Court abolishing the death penalty for several years and saving 600 persons from execution. In 1973, Attorney Jones became the Legal Defense Fund’s managing attorney. In 1975, Jones left the NAACP’s LDF to join President Ford’s administration as Special Assistant to Secretary of Transportation William T. Coleman. She returned to the LDF in 1977 as a litigator. During her continued tenure with the LDF organization, she was instrumental in the passage of 1982’s Voting Rights Act Amendment, 1988’s Fair Housing Act and Civil Rights Restoration Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Jones was elected to the Board of Governors in 1989, the first African American to do so. In 1993, Jones became the first female president and defense counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. She was named one of Ebony Magazine’s “10 Most Powerful Black Women” in 2001. She was the first African American lawyer to be elected to the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association. Attorney Jones work extensively with several presidential administrations to substantially increase the number of African American federal judges on the courts, particularly with the Carter administration. Among the many awards Attorney Jones earned include, but are not limited to, the National Bar Association’s C. Francis Stratford Award, the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award from the Clinton Administration, the Washington Bar Association’s Charles Hamilton Huston Medallion of Merit. She has also been inducted into the Washington Bar Association’s Hall of Fame. Attorney Jones has been awarded 16 honorary degrees as well as the Jefferson Medal of Law from the University of Virginia. ELAINE R. JONES , ESQUIRE CHARLES J. OGLETREE, JR., ESQ.

Charles Ogletree is a distinguished professor, writer, litigator, and advocate for racial and social justice. Professor Ogletree was the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at . He was also the Founding and Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, and a prominent legal theorist who has made an international reputation by taking a hard look at complex issues of law and by working to secure the rights guaranteed by the Constitution for everyone equally under the law. Professor Ogletree opened the offices of The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice www.charleshamiltonhouston.org in September 2005 as a tribute to the legendary civil rights lawyer and mentor and teacher of such great civil rights lawyers as Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Hill. The Institute has engaged in a wide range of important educational, legal, and policy issues.

Professor Ogletree is the author of numerous important books on race and justice. His most recent publication is a book co-edited with Professor Kimberly Jenkins Robinson entitled The Enduring Legacy of Rodriguez: Creating New Pathways to Equal Educational Opportunity (Harvard Education Press, 2015). In 2010, Professor Ogletree wrote The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race, Class, and Crime in America (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). Professor Ogletree has also co-edited several books with Professor Austin Sarat of Amherst College, including Punishment in Popular Culture (NYU Press, 2015), Life without Parole: America’s New Death Penalty? (NYU Press, 2012), The Road to Abolition: The Future of Capital Punishment in the United States (NYU Press, 2009), When Law Fails: Making Sense of Miscarriages of Justice (NYU Press, 2009) and From Lynch Mobs to the Killing State: Race and the Death Penalty in America (NYU Press, 2006). His historical memoir, All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education, was published by W.W. Norton & Company in April 2004. Professor Ogletree also co-authored Beyond the Rodney King Story: An Investigation of Police Conduct in Minority Communities (Northeastern University Press 1995).

In addition to his work as a distinguished professor and writer, Professor Ogletree has fought for justice on behalf of clients in a variety of legal forums. He served as legal counsel to Professor during Senate Confirmation hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas. He also led the legal team representing the survivors of the 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma race riot. Before joining the faculty at Harvard, Professor Ogletree began his legal career at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.

Professor Ogletree is a native of Merced, , where he attended public schools. Professor Ogletree earned an M.A. and B.A. (with distinction) in Political Science from , where he was Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Professor Ogletree is humbled to have received numerous honors for his work. He is a past recipient of the Washington Bar Association’s Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit. In 2015 he received the Chairman’s Award at the NAACP Image Awards, as well as the Distinguished Life Fellow Award from the American Bar Foundation and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of American Law Teachers. In 2014, Professor Ogletree received the Trumpet Award. In 2009 Professor Ogletree was awarded the prestigious ABA Spirit of Excellence Award in recognition of his many contributions to the legal profession. In 2008, the National Law Journal named Professor

Ogletree one of the 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America. He was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the National Black Law Students Association, where he served as National President from 1977-1978. He has also received honorary doctorates from several universities and colleges including Morehouse College, Wilberforce University, the University of Miami, the New England School of Law, Lincoln College, Tougaloo College, Wheelock College, and Amherst College.

Professor Ogletree has been married to his fellow Stanford graduate, Pamela Barnes, since 1975. They are the proud parents of two children, Charles Ogletree III and Rashida Ogletree-George, and grandparents to four granddaughters, Marquelle, Nia Mae, Jamila, and Makayla. Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. , ESQ. BENJAMIN LLOYD CRUMP

Through a steadfast dedication to justice and service, renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Benjamin Crump has established himself as one of the nation’s foremost lawyers and advocates for social justice. His legal acumen has ensured that those marginalized in American society are protected by their nation’s contract with its constituency. He is the founder and principal owner of Ben Crump Law.

Crump’s tireless advocacy has led to legislation preventing excessive force and developing implicit bias training and policies. He has been nationally recognized as the 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, and Ebony Magazine Power 100 Most Influential African Americans. In 2016, he was designated as an Honorary Fellow by the University of Pennsylvania College of Law

He has represented families in several high-profile civil rights cases including Trayvon Martin, who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, in 2012; Michael Brown, who was killed by a law enforcement officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014; Stephon Clark, who was killed by police officers in Sacramento, California, in 2018; as well as the residents of Flint, Michigan, who were affected by the poisoned water of the Flint River. Crump represented 9 of the 13 black women who were victims in the Holtzclaw Oklahoma City Police rape case in 2015 and worked on the precedent-setting U.S. Supreme Court case involving excessive police force against Robbie Tolan in 2008.

Crump is the President of the National Civil Rights Trial Lawyers Association and previously served as President of the National Bar Association. He was the first African-American to chair the Florida State University College of Law Board of Directors and currently serves on the Innocence Project Board of Directors. He is the founder and director of the Benjamin Crump Social Justice Institute.

Among dozens of accomplishments, Attorney Crump has been recognized with the NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award, the SCLC Martin Luther King Servant Leader Award, the American Association for Justice Award, and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Eleanor Roosevelt Medallion for Service.

He hosted the critically acclaimed legal docudramas “Evidence of Innocence” on TVOne and “Who Killed Tupac: The Search For Justice” on A&E, and served as executive producer of the documentary, “Woman in Motion,” about Nichelle Nichols, one of the first African-American TV actresses. He is a frequent contributor to Huffington Post Black Voices, CNN, and USA Today.

Crump’s book, published in October 2019, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People, reflects on the landmark cases he has battled, and how discrimination in the courthouse devastates real families and communities.

Crump graduated from Florida State University and received his law degree from FSU College of Law. He is married to Dr. Genae Angelique Crump.

IN MEMORIAM OLLIE MAY COOPER 1887 - 1981

She told the story, and the whole world wept At wrongs and cruelties it had not known But for this fearless woman’s voice alone. She spoke to consciences that long had slept; Her message, Freedom’s clear reveille, swept From headless hovel to complacent throne. Command and prophecy were in the tone, And from its sheath the sword of Justice leapt. Around two peoples swelled a fiery wave, But both came forth transfigured from the flame. Blest be the hand that dared be strong to save, And Blest be she who in our weakness came Prophet and priestess! At one stroke she gave A race to freedom, and herself to fame.

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

FOUNDERS’ LECTURE SERIES AND OLLIE MAY COOPER AWARD PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Robert L. Bell, Chair Tony Towns, Sr. Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr. Natalie S. Walker Hon. Errol Arthur Akua Coppock