Jerry Summers
The late Leroy Phillips was co-author with investigative reporter Mark Curriden of the award-winning novel, Contempt of Court, written about the 1906 hanging of Ed Johnson on the Walnut Street Bridge. He was also recognized as one of the finest criminal defense lawyers in the Hamilton County area during his career.
A liberal Democrat he ran unsuccessfully against General Sessions Judge Russell Hinson for the new position of Criminal Court, Division III in 1974. He was viciously attacked by the editorial staff of the Chattanooga News-Free Press because of his membership in the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and his stance on the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag and the opening of the Young Jaycees meeting with prayer.
After an overwhelming defeat, his law partner, the late Crawford Bean, is rumored to have said sarcastically in a humorous manner. “Look at your loss in a positive way, Leroy. You got more votes than any other Communist has ever received in Hamilton County!”
It has not been mentioned that Leroy was one of the defense counsel who represented one of the Ku Klux Klan members who shot five African American women on 9th Street (Martin Luther King Blvd.) that has recently been mentioned and publicized prominently. Does this mean that Leroy Phillips was a Klan supporter or advocate in support of their violent segregationist beliefs? Of Course not! He was exercising his willingness and belief in support of the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution’s provision that provided for the “right of effective assistance of counsel for the accused of criminal offenses.”
Rarely do attorneys representing serial killers, sex offenders, child abusers and other individuals in our criminal justice system share anything in common with those they represent. The public, unfortunately, often do not believe that lawyers take such cases for the firm belief in the Sixth Amendment because of media reporting or possibly some relationship with victims in a case.
Whether Leroy Phillips would have been a good judge is lost to history. However, his high adherence to the principle that all individuals are entitled to have qualified legal counsel is not!
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Jerry Summers
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Leroy Phillips