Tribute to Alton Maddox
Thanks should be extended to New York City Councilman Charles Barron for his honoring Alton Maddox on Saturday May 17, 2008 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the spirit of Malcolm X at the historic House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn.
This will be the first tribute for Maddox from an elected official since his suspension from the practice of law on May 21, 1990. Black elected officials and Black leaders have been warned to stay away from him. In fact, his suspension comes close to being on Malcolm X’s birthday, May 19.
If Malcolm X had become a practicing attorney in New York, he would have suffered a similar fate. Malcolm X had a great mind and he was a fierce debater. His courage was unquestioned. He was a threat to white supremacy. This put him on the endangered list.
Aaron Alpeoria Bradley was the first, Black, disbarred lawyer in New York and the third Black lawyer admitted to the Massachusetts bar. He was an outspoken and uncompromising advocate for Black people. This was before the Civil War and while unbridled racism was running amuck in New York.
Soon after the Civil War, he demanded reparations for former, enslaved Africans. For Bradley’s vociferous protest against the rescission of Special Field Order 15, President Andrew Johnson ordered that he be prosecuted for sedition. A military commission sentenced him to hard labor at Fort Pulaski’s stockade.
Bradley’s imprisonment failed to deter him, however. After Georgia refused to admit him to the practice of law, he secured a seat in the Georgia State Senate representing an election district in the Savannah area and, as a member of the 1869 Constitutional Convention, he sponsored an equal protection amendment to the Georgia Constitution.
Bradley also practiced law without a license in Georgia until 1875 and he subsequently moved to nearby Beaufort, SC and continued to represent Blacks. Whites feared his courageousness and his intellect. This meant that he was unqualified to represent Black people. After New York had disbarred Bradley, there had been an orange alert issued against him.
Councilman Barron has represented that he will write a letter to Gov. David Paterson about my plight. This letter should not demand my immediate reinstatement to practice law in my humble opinion. Gov. Paterson lacks the political capital to help his people.
Instead, any letter or postcard should simply demand that New York disclose to the public all of the unredacted files, records, papers, document, minutes, memos, recordings, disks, tapes, e-mails concerning any authorized or unauthorized investigation of Tawana Brawley and her family. This disclosure will clear Tawana’s name and it will lead to my immediate reinstatement to practice law.
These records are over twenty years old. No lawful basis exists for them to be classified. It certainly cannot be argued that secrecy is necessary to continue the Brawley cover-up. Whites never expected Blacks to sustain a protracted struggle.
A disclosure of the Brawley file will show that the grand jury investigation, which yielded the grand jury report, was unfounded and illegal. The grand jury report was voted on without a quorum and it was written by former Attorney General Robert Abrams and not by the grand jury as is required by law.
The grand jury report should have been suppressed as violating Article 190 of the Criminal Procedure Law. When the files are disclosed, they will show that I was railroaded and framed. A cover-up is now in effect to protect former Gov. Mario Cuomo, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Abrams.
While Tawana may have been a victim, she was not the target. Abrams was attempting to kill two birds with one stone. Sharpton was targeted for incarceration for commercial reasons and Maddox was targeted for disbarment for human rights reasons. Both were done under color of law. Maddox’s claim is still cognizable under federal civil rights laws.
Everyone in the Black community should simply send a postcard or letter to Gov. David Paterson demanding the complete and immediate disclosure of the unredacted files of Tawana Brawley. This can be done without his suffering any personal hardship. His address is as follows:
Gov. David A. Paterson
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
518-474-8390
Thanks should be extended to New York City Councilman Charles Barron for his honoring Alton Maddox on Saturday May 17, 2008 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the spirit of Malcolm X at the historic House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn.
This will be the first tribute for Maddox from an elected official since his suspension from the practice of law on May 21, 1990. Black elected officials and Black leaders have been warned to stay away from him. In fact, his suspension comes close to being on Malcolm X’s birthday, May 19.
If Malcolm X had become a practicing attorney in New York, he would have suffered a similar fate. Malcolm X had a great mind and he was a fierce debater. His courage was unquestioned. He was a threat to white supremacy. This put him on the endangered list.
Aaron Alpeoria Bradley was the first, Black, disbarred lawyer in New York and the third Black lawyer admitted to the Massachusetts bar. He was an outspoken and uncompromising advocate for Black people. This was before the Civil War and while unbridled racism was running amuck in New York.
Soon after the Civil War, he demanded reparations for former, enslaved Africans. For Bradley’s vociferous protest against the rescission of Special Field Order 15, President Andrew Johnson ordered that he be prosecuted for sedition. A military commission sentenced him to hard labor at Fort Pulaski’s stockade.
Bradley’s imprisonment failed to deter him, however. After Georgia refused to admit him to the practice of law, he secured a seat in the Georgia State Senate representing an election district in the Savannah area and, as a member of the 1869 Constitutional Convention, he sponsored an equal protection amendment to the Georgia Constitution.
Bradley also practiced law without a license in Georgia until 1875 and he subsequently moved to nearby Beaufort, SC and continued to represent Blacks. Whites feared his courageousness and his intellect. This meant that he was unqualified to represent Black people. After New York had disbarred Bradley, there had been an orange alert issued against him.
Councilman Barron has represented that he will write a letter to Gov. David Paterson about my plight. This letter should not demand my immediate reinstatement to practice law in my humble opinion. Gov. Paterson lacks the political capital to help his people.
Instead, any letter or postcard should simply demand that New York disclose to the public all of the unredacted files, records, papers, document, minutes, memos, recordings, disks, tapes, e-mails concerning any authorized or unauthorized investigation of Tawana Brawley and her family. This disclosure will clear Tawana’s name and it will lead to my immediate reinstatement to practice law.
These records are over twenty years old. No lawful basis exists for them to be classified. It certainly cannot be argued that secrecy is necessary to continue the Brawley cover-up. Whites never expected Blacks to sustain a protracted struggle.
A disclosure of the Brawley file will show that the grand jury investigation, which yielded the grand jury report, was unfounded and illegal. The grand jury report was voted on without a quorum and it was written by former Attorney General Robert Abrams and not by the grand jury as is required by law.
The grand jury report should have been suppressed as violating Article 190 of the Criminal Procedure Law. When the files are disclosed, they will show that I was railroaded and framed. A cover-up is now in effect to protect former Gov. Mario Cuomo, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Abrams.
While Tawana may have been a victim, she was not the target. Abrams was attempting to kill two birds with one stone. Sharpton was targeted for incarceration for commercial reasons and Maddox was targeted for disbarment for human rights reasons. Both were done under color of law. Maddox’s claim is still cognizable under federal civil rights laws.
Everyone in the Black community should simply send a postcard or letter to Gov. David Paterson demanding the complete and immediate disclosure of the unredacted files of Tawana Brawley. This can be done without his suffering any personal hardship. His address is as follows:
Gov. David A. Paterson
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
518-474-8390
posted by Attorney Alton Maddox at 4:37 PM
1 Comments:
I very much appreciate your perspective on law and legal/social issues regarding black folk. How can I reach you in an effort to get some of your past lectures or current classes?
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