John Leonard Burris (born May 8, 1945)[1][2] is an Americancivil rights attorney, based in Oakland, California, known for representing plaintiffs in police brutality cases. The Burris law firm practices employment, criminal defense, DUI, personal injury, and landlord tenant law.
Burris's work in police brutality cases began in 1979 when he was an investigator in the district attorney's office working on the case of the killing of 15-year-old Melvin Black.[11][12] Burris's 1999 book Blue vs. Black is about police brutality against African-Americans.[13]
Burris "has earned millions of dollars" in filing hundreds of police brutality and high-profile lawsuits, including a $3.8 million judgment for Rodney King and a $42,000 settlement in a suit brought on behalf of Tupac Shakur.[14]
Burris won a $11.3 million judgment at trial against the San Jose Police Department after an officer shot Hung Lam in the back causing him to become paralyzed.[15]
Melvin Black
On March 17, 1979, an African American teenager, Melvin Black, was killed by the Oakland Police Department in Oakland, California.[12][16][17] The community was outraged, and on March 30 Mayor Lionel Wilson and the city council appointed Burris to conduct an independent investigation.[12] After a five-month investigation, it was discovered that the physical evidence did not match the officers’ statements.[12]
Burris's practice grew notably when he represented Rodney King in his civil rights lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department and won $3.8 million judgment.
Burris has represented plaintiffs in a number of high-profile lawsuits against California police departments, including the "Oakland Riders" case, in which a gang of Oakland officers was found to be planting evidence on citizens, causing the federal government to investigate and oversee the Oakland Police Department to this day.[14]
Burris represented Oscar Grant's mother in her lawsuit against BART Police after Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Mehserle shot a 22-year-old in the back while he was handcuffed on the Fruitvale BART train platform in Oakland on January 1, 2009.[18] The case is depicted in the 2013 movie Fruitvale Station.[19]
Mario Woods
Burris represented Mario Woods's mother in her case against the San Francisco Police Department after a group of officers were captured on video shooting Mario on December 2, 2015. The shooting led to large protests throughout the Bay Area and resulted in the resignation of the SFPD Chief of Police Greg Suhr.[20]
Celeste Guap
Burris represented Celeste Guap (also known as Jasmine Abuslin) in her cases against Northern California Police Departments after several officers exploited and sexually assaulted her when she was underage.[21] Burris won a $989,000 settlement for Guap against the Oakland Police Department, whose officers also face criminal charges for sexual misconduct with a minor.[21]
In March 2021, Burris and his associate Ben Nisenbaum announced a $3.3 million settlement of a lawsuit against the city of Hayward, California. Burris represented the family of Agustin Gonsalez, who was shot to death by two Hayward police officers in 2018. The officers were responding to a call reporting that a man was threatening people with a knife. The officers killed Gonzalez, and then discovered that he was carrying a small safety razor. He had 14 bullet wounds. Gonzalez, 29, was an employee of Tesla, Inc., and had two children. His family reported that he was undergoing a mental health crisis.[24]
The National Bar Association Hall of Fame Inductee 2017
Moot court trial attorney Stanford University (1996 – present)
Hasting College of Law Trial Advocacy Program (1980 – present)
Member, Oakland Municipal Court, Pro tem, 1993 Member: Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Presently, board Member, National Police Accountability Project President, California Association of Black Lawyers, 1979-1980
Recent Presentations
Chapman college Law School, National Justice Symposium, Status of Policing in California, Orange
National Bar Association seminar”Police Litigation: Recognizing and bringing Section 1983 cases”, panelist; St. Louis, Mo, July 2016
Ninth Circuit Annual Conference,”Ferguson and Where Do We Go From Here” Panelist; Big Sky, Montana July 2016
Podcast, Police Brutality in This Golden State by this Golden State, Randy Shandobil, June 2016
Empire National Mock Trials Honors, Keynote speaker, San Francisco, Ca November 2015
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
