William John Cox

William John Cox
Cox in 2004
Born (1941-02-15) February 15, 1941 (age 83)[1]
Lubbock, Texas, U.S.[1]
EducationRio Hondo College (AS)
Southwestern Law School (JD)
Occupations
  • Lawyer
  • author

William John "Billy Jack" Cox (born February 15, 1941) is an American public interest lawyer and author.

Biography

Early career

Employed in 1962 by the El Cajon Police Department,[2] he attended the nearby San Diego Police Department Academy.[3][4] In 1968, Cox transferred to the Los Angeles Police Department where he graduated from the Police Academy. He received an associate degree in Police Administration from Rio Hondo College.

In 1974 he was appointed a Deputy Los Angeles County District Attorney.[5]

Believing that control of the United States government had been seized by special interest groups and no longer cared for the voters who elected it, Cox filed a pro bono class action lawsuit on July 9, 1979, on behalf of every American citizen directly in the Supreme Court of the United States, which was denied without comment.[6][7]

Holocaust Case

Cox later represented Mel Mermelstein, a Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Cox investigated and sued a group of radical right-wing organizations, including the Liberty Lobby and Institute for Historical Review,[8][9] that engaged in Holocaust denial and which had offered a reward for proof of Nazi gas chambers.[10][11] The primary legal issue in the case was resolved in October 1981, when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Thomas T. Johnson took judicial notice of the fact that "Jews were gassed to death at Auschwitz in the summer of 1944."[12] The Holocaust Case was the subject of the 1991 TNT motion picture, Never Forget, produced by and starring Leonard Nimoy.[13]

Dead Sea Scrolls

In 1991, Cox arranged for the publication of almost 1,800 photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls under the control of the École Biblique that had been suppressed for more than 40 years.[14][15] He signed a contract with the Biblical Archaeology Society to publish A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls in November 1991.[16][17] The Huntington Library in California subsequently allowed all "qualified scholars" to study its set of photographs, and the Israel Antiquities Authority permitted the publication of a microfiche edition.[18]

Later career

Between 1999 and 2007, Cox served as a supervising trial counsel for the State Bar of California. In 2012, Cox drafted and commenced circulation of the United States Voters' Rights Amendment (USVRA) to the U.S. Constitution, which provides for national paid voting holidays, a national hand-countable paper ballot, and a process for the people to have a more direct role in the formulation of public policy. Moreover, it mandates voter registration and prohibits voter suppression, restricts gerrymandering and lengthy campaigns, and it encourages public financing of elections and discourages paid lobbying. Finally, it eliminates the Electoral College to allow for open primaries and the popular election of presidents.[19][20][21]

References

  1. ^ a b Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997
  2. ^ "El Cajon Force Reaches Quota", The Valley News, December 9, 1962.
  3. ^ "City Officer No. 1 at Police Academy", The Valley News, March 10, 1963.
  4. ^ "Patrolman Tops In Academy Test", San Diego Union Tribune, March 10, 1963.
  5. ^ Biography of William John Cox
  6. ^ "Mr. Cox goes to Washington—and finds a predictable lack of interest", p 1, Independent/Press-Telegram, July 29, 1979.
  7. ^ Smith, Helen Guthrie, "Attorney's drive for national policy referendum faltering", Independent/Press-Telegram p B4, November 9, 1979.
  8. ^ "The Private World of Willis Carto", The Investigator, October 1981.
  9. ^ Liberty Lobby, Inc. vs. Jack Anderson, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, 746F.2d1563, November 2, 1984.
  10. ^ Brin, Herb (June 12, 1981). "Inside Liberty Lobby—a Network of Hate". Heritage.
  11. ^ Sauer, Patrick (August 27, 2018). "Mel Mermelstein Survived Auschwitz, Then Sued Holocaust Deniers in Court". Smithsonian Magazine.
  12. ^ "Mermelstein Victory", Heritage, October 23, 1981.
  13. ^ Nimoy, Leonard, "I Am Spock", (New York: Hyperion, 1995), p. 306.
  14. ^ Chandler, Russell and Goldman, John J., "Final 20% of Dead Sea Scrolls To Be Published", Los Angeles Times, November 20, 1991.
  15. ^ Flores, Laura, 2 L.B. men aid printing of Dead Sea Scroll books, Long Beach Press-Telegram, November 19, 1991
  16. ^ A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls. (Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1991).
  17. ^ Shanks, Hershel, "Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls: And Other Adventures of an Archaeology Outsider", (Continuum, 2010) p. 155.
  18. ^ Harrington, Daniel J., "What's New(s) About the Dead Sea Scrolls?," CrossCurrents, http://www.crosscurrents.org/deadsea.htm
  19. ^ http://usvra.us
  20. ^ Foerster, Charles, "Voters' Rights Amendment and War", Nation of Change, May 6, 2012, http://www.nationofchange.org/voters-rights-amendment-and-war-1336313338.
  21. ^ Stapleton, Richard John, "Voting: Duty, Privilege or Right?" Media Monitors Network, July 22, 2012, http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/96598.