‘Courtside’ with Judge Joe Brown

Senior Reporter David Veselenak sits down with Martin Luther King Jr. keynote speaker Judge Joe Brown to get his take on King, James Earl Ray and the nooses found at CMU.

David Veselenak: You were the first black prosecutor in Memphis, Tenn. What was going through your mind, given the time period?

Judge Joe Brown: It didn’t bother me much at that point, because I had been doing a lot of defense work. I was with legal services, where I dealt with poverty law, and then I was with Equal Employees Opportunity Commission.

I got this prosecutor position because I went in and defended somebody in front of a judge that I subsequently developed an animosity for and vice versa. I did so well that he recommended me for the position.

DV: You were assigned to the James Earl Ray case in the 1990s. What were your initial thoughts when you were assigned that case?

JB: I actually didn’t know until I walked into the courtroom and they called it on the docket. Everyone looks over like ‘What? Can that be?’

You train yourself to keep an open mind and not to formulate any opinions up front… I was surprised at what came out of it. I had discovered that he had never confessed to killing King. That was the first thing I had learned. The next thing, I was surprised at what came out of it. I was surprised by the total picture of the deception of the case to the American public about what happened. It was probably a minor level conspiracy, but he looked like a long-termed scapegoat. There were probably four or five other people that were involved.

DV: On MLK Day, do you find any special connection since you did preside over the Ray trial?

JB: The MLK Day had been going on for quite some time before I got (the Ray case), 28 years after the fact.

DV: What are your thoughts on the recent hangings of the nooses discovered at CMU in November?

JB: At this point in time, I think that such incidents should be taken for what they are. People should understand that the First Amendment has its ups and downs, even if it’s uncomfortable and even when it’s difficult. Get over the bad things. We do have “Mind of Mencia,” that’s on Comedy Central. He’s quite funny talking about everybody. Even when somebody does something like that, they feel scared – they feel uneasy. Don’t be so offended by it. It inspires us to reach out a little more.

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