Joseph Tony Serra (born December 30, 1934) is an American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

attorney, activist and

tax resister Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax, or to government policy, or as opposition to taxation in itself. Tax resistance is a form of direct action and, if in violation of the tax ...

from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Early life and education

A San Francisco native, Serra was raised in the Outer Sunset district. His father, Anthony Serra, was an immigrant from

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

who worked in a

jelly bean Jelly beans are small bean shaped sugar candies with soft candy shells and thick gel interiors (see gelatin and jelly). The confection is primarily made of sugar and sold in a wide variety of colors and flavors. History It has been clai ...

factory, and his mother
Gladys (Fineberg) Serra
was a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-born Russian Jewish immigrant from

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

; she died by suicide in 1979. Serra earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

Boalt Hall The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. While in law school, Serra was a contributor to the ''

California Law Review ''California Law Review'' (also referred to as ''CLR'') is the journal of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. It was established in 1912. The application process consists of an anonymous write-on competition, with grades playing ...

''.

Career

In 1970, Serra successfully defended

Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

leader

Huey Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966. Under Newton's leadership ...

in a murder trial. In 1983, Serra won an acquittal for

Chol Soo Lee Chol Soo Lee (August 15, 1952 - December 2, 2014) was a Korean American immigrant who was wrongfully convicted for the 1973 murder of Yip Yee Tak, a San Francisco Chinatown gang leader, and sentenced to life in prison. While in prison, he was sen ...

, a

Korean American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian Americans ...

immigrant in San Francisco who had been convicted of murder in 1973 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He has also represented individuals from groups as diverse and politically-charged as the

White Panthers The White Panthers were an anti-racist political collective founded in November 1968 by Pun Plamondon, Leni Sinclair, and John Sinclair. It was started in response to an interview where Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, w ...

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...

, Good Earth and New World Liberation Front (NWLF). Some of these individuals include

Brownie Mary Mary Jane Rathbun (December 22, 1922 – April 10, 1999), popularly known as Brownie Mary, was an American medical cannabis rights activist. As a hospital volunteer at San Francisco General Hospital, she became known for baking and distrib ...

Dennis Peron Dennis Robert Peron (April 8, 1945 – January 27, 2018) was an American activist and businessman who became a leader in the movement for the legalization of cannabis throughout the 1990s. He influenced many in California and thus changed ...

, Hooty Croy, Ellie Nesler and

Symbionese Liberation Army The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a small, American far-left organization active between 1973 and 1975; it claimed to be a vanguard movement. The FBI and American law enforcement considered the SLA to be the ...

members

Sara Jane Olson Sara Jane Olson (born Kathleen Ann Soliah on January 16, 1947) is an American far-left activist who was convicted of an attempted murder charge related to a failed bombing plot and a second-degree murder charge related to a botched bank robber ...

, Russell Little and Michael Bortin. TonySerra

In 2003, Serra was awarded the Trial Lawyer of the Year award by the organization Trial Lawyers for Public Justice for his successful litigation of

Judi Bari Judith Beatrice Bari (1949–1997) was an American environmentalist, feminist, and labor leader, primarily active in Northern California after moving to the state in the mid-1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, she was the principal organizer of Ear ...

against the FBI. In 2004, Serra won an acquittal during a retrial on murder charges for co-defendant Rick Tabish in the death of casino mogul

Ted Binion Lonnie Theodore Binion (November 28, 1943 – September 17, 1998), or Ted Binion, was a wealthy American gambling executive and one of the sons of famed Las Vegas casino magnate Benny Binion, owner of Binion's Horseshoe. Ted Binion's death has be ...

. In 2015, he defended Chinatown crime boss

Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow Raymond Kwok-Cheung Chow (; born December 31, 1959), nicknamed "Shrimp Boy", is a Hong Kong-born felon with ties to a San Francisco Chinatown street gang and an organized crime syndicate, including the American branch of the Hong Kong-based t ...

Tax resistance

Serra has been in trouble with the law several times for failure to pay income taxes. He refused to pay taxes in protest of the

War in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...

based on his conviction that the

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

administration was leading the country in the wrong direction and that he would, therefore, not contribute any money to fund what he saw as Bush's corrupt politics. On July 29, 2005, he was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison, to be served at

Lompoc Lompoc ( ; Chumash: ''Lum Poc'') is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called ...

, California, and ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution for a misdemeanor conviction of willful failure to pay taxes. In 2006, Ephraim Margolin and Douglas L. Rappaport represented Serra against the

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

when he faced action for failing to file a tax return. His license to practice law in California was suspended for one year, and he was placed on a probationary period for two years. Serra was released from the federal camp in February 2007, reporting immediately to a San Francisco

halfway house A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...

. He was released from federal custody, and the halfway house, on March 13, 2007 after serving out his sentence. Along with three other attorneys, Serra filed a class-action lawsuit seeking

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

s for himself and for other inmates, citing slave wages as unconstitutional.

Personal life and family

Serra has taken a

vow of poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

and is known for living a frugal lifestyle and driving a run-down car. He does not have a cell phone, a bank account or a credit card. In a disciplinary hearing before the State Bar of California, Serra stated, "I took an informal vow of poverty. I vowed that I would never take profit from the practice of law, that I would not buy anything new, that I would recycle everything, that I would own no properties - no stocks or bonds, no images of prosperity. I still drive an old junk of a car. I still barely make the rent each month; I have accumulated nothing by way of savings, and I live from hand to mouth." All income from his cases is distributed to other attorneys except for a very small portion that he uses to pay for his rent and for gas for his car. Serra has five children with Mary Edna Dineen: Shelter, Ivory, Chime Day, Wonder Fortune and Lilac Bright. Dineen raised all five of them in a home in

Bolinas Bolinas is an unincorporated coastal community and census-designated place in Marin County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,483. It is located on the California coast, approximately (straight line dist ...

, California that Serra called a "sprawling shack." Serra has two younger brothers:

Richard Serra Richard Serra (born November 2, 1938) is an American artist known for his large-scale sculptures made for site-specific landscape, urban, and architectural settings. Serra's sculptures are notable for their material quality and exploration o ...

, a prominent sculptor, and Rudy Serra, also a noted artist. Richard paid for the college educations of Serra's five children.

In popular culture

The 1989 film '' True Believer'' was loosely based on the 1982-83 retrial of

. The film's main character, Eddie Dodd, played by

James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in '' The Trial of the ...

, is based on Serra. The film inspired a spin-off series, ''Eddie Dodd'', which ran for six episodes in 1991 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

; Dodd was played by

Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...

. A biography of Serra, '' Lust for Justice: The Radical Life and Law of J. Tony Serra'', written by courtroom artist

Paulette Frankl Paulette Frankl is an American courtroom artist and author. Biography Frankl was born in California, and attended Stanford University, where she majored in art and languages. Frankl exhibited her first artwork in Los Angeles at age 7 in a j ...

and with a foreword by criminal defense attorney

Gerry Spence Gerald Leonard Spence (born January 8, 1929) is a semi-retired American trial lawyer. He is a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame. Spence has never lost a criminal case before a jury either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney, and has not ...

, was released in October 2010.

High-profile cases

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. New ...

* Russell Little,

* New World Liberation Front *

Leader George Christie *

* Hooty Croy *

* Ellie Nesler *

* Bear Lincoln *

, Symbionese Liberation Army *

and

Darryl Cherney Darryl Cherney (born 1956) is an American musician and environmental activist. He is a member of the Earth First! environmental movement. Born and raised in New York City, he lives in Humboldt County, California. Cherney has produced five albu ...

v. FBI * Michael Bortin, Symbionese Liberation Army * Rick Tabish, Las Vegas

case *

Rod Coronado Rodney Adam Coronado (born July 3, 1966) is an American animal rights and environmental activist known for his militant direct actions in the late 1980s and 1990s. As part of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, he sank two whaling ships and ...

Earth Liberation Front The Earth Liberation Front (ELF), also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitatio ...

BALCO The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) (1984–2003) was an American company led by founder and owner Victor Conte. In 2003, journalists Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada investigated the company's role in a drug sports scandal later re ...

Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...

's trainer Greg Anderson * Jing Hua Wu, SiPort shooting * Derick Almena,

Ghost Ship warehouse fire The Ghost Ship warehouse fire was a fire that occurred in a former warehouse in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, California, that had been converted into an artist collective with living spaces. The fire occurred on December 2, 2016, at ...

Awards

*Runner up, "Best Lawyer in America," ''American Lawyer'' magazine, 1982 *Drug Policy Foundation Achievement in the Field of Law, 1992 *Boalt Hall "Alumnus of the Year", 1993 *Charles Garry Award, 1994 *ACLU Benjamin Dreyfus Civil Liberties Award, 1997 *California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, 2000, "Ten Best Criminal Defense Attorneys of the Century" *McFetridge-American Inn of court, Co-Awardee "2003 Trial Lawyer of the Year" *Trial Lawyers for Public Justice,"Certificate of Honor, December 1, 2005" *Criminal Trial Lawyers Association of Northern California,"2005 Gideon Equal Justice Award" *2008 NORML Lester Grinspoon Award,"For Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Marijuana Law Reform"

References

External links

*
“Letter from Prison”
''California Lawyer''
The Believer Behind Bars
''San Francisco'' November 2006

''Los Angeles Times'' 7 August 2005
Tax Evasion Sends Renowned Attorney to Prison — Again
''The Recorder'' 1 August 2005
Dream Team Shattered
''Las Vegas CityLife'' 6 June 2004, by Cathy Scott
J. Tony Serra: The War Tax Resisting Attorney
''More Than a Paycheck'' August 2007
Tony Serra on War Tax Resistance and Doing Time
(video of him speaking at a

National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC — usually pronounced "new-trick") is an American activist coalition that promotes tax resistance as a way to protest against and/or disassociate from war and militarism. NWTRCC was f ...

conference) * a video by Paper Tiger TV West featuring Tony Serra critiquing the Bush era "War on Drugs" and early "Reality TV" {{DEFAULTSORT:Serra, Tony American tax resisters American people convicted of tax crimes Living people California lawyers Criminal defense lawyers People from Marin County, California People from San Francisco Stanford University alumni 1934 births Law in the San Francisco Bay Area UC Berkeley School of Law alumni