The Godfather of Litigation: Black Caucus, Sec. Weber Spotlight Civil Rights Atty John Burris in Sacramento Film Screening

Fahizah Alim | California Black Media

On June 16, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) hosted an event in Sacramento featuring a film focused on the extraordinary career of Oakland-based civil rights attorney John Burris.

Elected officials, state employees, advocates, and others attended the 90-minute screening of the documentary film titled “John Burris: The Godfather of Litigation” at the California Museum in Sacramento. 

Burris participated in a panel discussion and Q&A session after the film along with filmmaker Doug Harris and producer Brian Spencer. 

Over the years, Burris, who is now 80, has won millions of dollars for clients in high-profile police brutality cases – Rodney King, Oscar Grant, Celeste Guap, Hung Lam, Melvin Black and the Oakland Riders.

But the case that perhaps most rattled the soul of Burris, California’s preeminent civil rights attorney, is the one where authorities attempted to prosecute a six-year-old Black boy from Richmond for attempted murder in the assault on an infant.

“I told prosecutors that there was no way that I was going to let them do that to that child,” Burris said recently. “Absolutely no way! They would have to get by me.”

He won that battle and many other landmark cases in a career that has spanned more than 40 years. Burris has also mentored a number of attorneys, including current legal star Ben Crump.

Tall, soft-spoken, but emphatic, Burris joined a post-screening panel with the filmmakers to reflect on his long career fighting injustice.

A 1973 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley Law School, (formerly Boalt Hall), Burris has practiced law for over four decades and has gone to trial for some 1,000 civil rights cases, including representing the late Tupac Shakur, NBA All-star Gary Payton, Barry Bonds and Sacramentan Joseph Mann. 

Burris, who grew up in Vallejo, earned an MBA from Cal Berkeley before turning to law. 

His work on police brutality cases began in 1979 when he was an investigator in the district attorney’s office in Oakland working on the case of the killing of 14-year-old Melvin Black.

The case, he says, fueled his passion, courage and lifelong legal work that garnered nationwide attention and acclaim.

Burris also authored a 1999 book about the problem of police brutality against African Americans titled “Blue V. Black.”

“In many ways it’s like I’ve been a crusader and a champion for a lot of people who otherwise would not have had representation,” Burris told the dozens gathered for the screening.

His words stirred the audience.

“This is so impactful because he is still alive,” said Weber. “He is a living legend. History is not way back.  People can see history and talk to him and ask why he did what he did. We don’t have to speculate.”

Sacramento-based civil rights attorney and law professor Mark Harris attended Boalt Hall a decade after Burris. For him, the legal giant was a role model — and, later, a personal mentor – who was instrumental in inspiring and guiding his own career in law.

“Over the years, I have worked with John, and so have my sons,” said Harris. “So, I was very happy to be in the audience today to celebrate his unparalleled career and see his phenomenal story told in this very well sourced documentary.”

Former San Francisco mayors Willie Brown and London Breed are among those interviewed in the film. 

Harris and Spencer, who both live in Folsom, interviewed some 20 people for the documentary.

The film was produced as part of a Cal Alumni Profiles documentary series, which was the creation of Spencer, who is a graduate of UC Berkeley’s African American Studies Department. 

“The project highlights the outstanding achievements of some of UC Berkeley’s prominent alumni who haven’t really had their stories told,” said Harris. So, John Burris presented an extremely high-profile figure who was a perfect fit for our documentary series project.  One of the most compelling things to me throughout the production of John’s life story, was the high number of civil rights cases he’s been involved with and the incredible amount of national media coverage he has received over his long career was eye opening for me.” 

Harris has been producing documentary films for more than 25 years.

“The process in many ways is similar to writing a book,” he said. “There’s a whole lot of learning you have to do before you even start the research phase to produce a compelling documentary story such as John’s, and these things don’t happen quickly. It takes a whole lot of time and planning to execute the production of a quality documentary story. 

The film has been on tour, stopping in various California cities. Spencer said he expects it to be distributed by PBS and it could be broadcast on television later this year.

“The film is an important reminder about the importance of legal efforts to combat police brutality given the current administration’s retreat from investigating police departments over civil rights violations,” he said.

“I hope California legislators and others who came out to see this film, will emphasize to the public the importance of addressing racial justice in policing, because unfortunately police misconduct is still happening.”