J. Tony Serra

Description

J. Tony Serra, the radical criminal-defence attorney, will be at Pegasus Downtown to discuss and sign copies of Walking the Circle: Prison Chronicles.


ABOUT
Tony Serra is a living embodiment of the anti-establishment hero. After graduating from UC Berkeley's Boalt School of Law in 1961, he began his career as a deputy district attorney for Alameda County. Rapidly disillusioned with the justice system, he became a private defense lawyer and has since become notorious for representing - and winning - cases on behalf of the downtrodden: drug dealers, Hell's Angels, Black Panthers, even the Symbionese Liberation Army. His defense of a Korean man wrongfully convicted in a Chinatown gang murder inspired the film 'True Believer.' Ever the bohemian, Serra owns no property and doesn't have a checking account. He takes most cases for free.

Serra has spent his life defending society's outcasts, including among many others: Huey Newton (Black Panthers), the White Panthers, Russell Little & Kathleen Soliah (SLA), the Hell's Angels,
Chol Soo Lee,
Hooty Croy,
Ellie Nesler,
Bear Lincoln, Judi Bari and Daryl Cherney.

J. Tony Serra wrote Walking The Circle: Prison Chronicles While serving in Lompoc Federal Prison Camp in 2006 for tax evasion.

“Friday night at Lompoc Federal Prison Camp: after a dinner of battered deep-fried chicken strips, canned corn, faded green lettuce and a banana, I Walked the circle around the camp alone, tonight. The muscles around my two hip replacements hurt a little, five days of unaccustomed physical Work had stiffened them up. I walked slowly and stiff-legged. The fog had come in early, the air was a bit chilled, and my spirits were elevated.”
From Prison Chronicles by J. Tony Serra


PRAISE
"A life filled with passion, trouble and general shit-kicking may be the best life to have, but probably only if you are Tony Serra, wily defense lawyer, generous supporter of perilous causes, devoted custodian of just about everyone except himself. Recently, he continued his mission of disruptive merry-making while incarcerated for a little matter of federal taxes he decided not to offer a federal government which he considers hostile to the poor, Native Americans and folks who enjoy a bit of inner transportation by means of forbidden substances.
In the matter of Tony Serra vs the System, the conflict has gone on for more than forty years. We don't know who will come out the victor, but we know who should."
From the "Foreword & Customer Alert" by Herbert Gol“

Tony Serra ’s Walking the Circle: Prison Chronicles, is a wonder, as is the author. Not since Clarence Darrow has a trial lawyer attracted such envious attention in court. Not since Byron has there been a more poetic, passionate defender of liberty. Tony ’s book almost makes you want to spend time in jail. ”
John Keker, Esq.

“Most lawyers do not have the faintest idea what awaits their client after a guilty verdict. Most lawyers could not name a single prison where their former client now lives. But Tony Serra is different. He knows that being in prison is a sign of integrity when living in an unjust society. His visit in prison did not result from lying, cheating or stealing from others. He went there for living justly, and for refusing the biggest scam of all. Tony went to prison because he will not give money to a government that has War on everything.”
From the Afterward by Charles Carbone, Esq.

More Info

Link

http://www.pegasusbookstore.com/event/tony-serra

Call

510.649.1320

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