Donald Jelinek
Donald Jelinek (February 17, 1934 – June 24, 2016) was an American lawyer who defended civil rights workers from the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the South in the 1960s, and the Native Americans who seized Alcatraz Island in 1969.
Early life and education
Donald Arthur Jelinek was born in the Bronx on February 17, 1934. His parents were immigrants to the United States. His father had a print shop and his mother worked as a secretary. He attended the Bronx High School of Science, and took his higher education degrees from New York University and New York University Law School.[1]
SNCC
Jelinek left his job at a Wall Street law firm in 1965 and did pro bono work for the American Civil Liberties Union, defending members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He stayed on after the summer, and in 1966 was arrested for practicing law in Alabama without a license.[2]
He was director of the Southern Rural Research Project.[1] In that role in 1968 he filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture representing poor African Americans in Alabama. The suit demanded distribution of food stamps and surplus food in counties that were denying these services to the poor.[3] The suit arose about of the work of the Southern Rural Research Project, which documented the extent of malnutrition in rural areas.[1]
He stayed in the South for three years before moving to California.[4] He remained connected to the civil rights movement and was a member of Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement.[5]
Alcatraz and Attica
After moving to California, he represented the group of Native Americans who seized Alcatraz Island in the 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz. The Native Americans had claimed title to the island which belonged to the Federal government but was no longer being used. They claimed the island based on the terms of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. That treaty stated that unused federal land should be returned to its former native owners.[1]
Beginning 1971, Jelinek coordinated the defense of the inmates charged after the Attica prison riot in New York.[6] Litigation continued for decades, with inmates being eventually cleared of penalties.[1]
Later career
Jelinek also represented conscientious objectors during the Vietnam War. He served three terms on the Berkeley City Council from 1984 to 1990. He ran for Mayor of Berkeley in 1994 and 1998 but lost both times. Working locally, he defended flea market vendors who were being evicted from the BART system parking lot, which they had originally used with the consent of the transport agency.[7]
Books
- Attica Justice: The Cruel 30-Year Legacy of the Nation's Bloodiest Prison Rebellion, Which Transformed the American Prison System. Berkeley, CA: Donald A. Jelinek, 2011. ISBN 9780970460714
- White Lawyer, Black Power: Civil Rights Lawyering during the Black Power Era in Mississippi and Alabama. Berkeley, CA: Donald A Jelinek, 2015. ISBN 978-0970460738
Personal life
He married Estelle Cohen Fine while working in the South. Their marriage ended in divorce. He married Jane Scherr in Berkeley, and they remained married until his death on June 24, 2016. He asked that his epitaph read "he was part of SNCC."[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Roberts, Sam (2016-07-03). "Donald Jelinek, Lawyer for Attica Prisoners, Dies at 82". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
- ↑ Times, Special To The New York (1966-11-17). "Northern Lawyer For Rights Group Jailed in Alabama". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
- ↑ Reed, Roy (March 25, 1968). "Suit Today Will Seek to Force Freeman to Feed the Starving". New York Times.
- ↑ Dinkelspiel, Frances (2016-07-01). "Don Jelinek, civil rights attorney and former Berkeley city council member, dies". Berkeleyside. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
- ↑ Staff, Jessie Qian | (2016-07-11). "Former Berkeley council member Donald Jelinek dies at 82". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
- ↑ "Justice Inches Along for 60 Inmates in '71 Uprising". New York Times. November 9, 1973. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
- ↑ Sherr, Judith (July 5, 2016). "Don Jelinek, civil rights champion and former Berkeley councilman, dies at 82". East Bay Times. Retrieved 2016-07-14.