Leo James Terrell (born February 1, 1955) is an American

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

attorney and

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

host based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He has frequently appeared on

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

programs, such as ''

Hannity ''Hannity'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative television political Talk show, talk program on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity. Episodes air live at 9:00 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, while episodes that ai ...

'' and ''

The O'Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...

''. Previously a Democrat, in a July 2020 interview, he declared his support for President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

—the first time he declared support for a Republican Party presidential candidate. In January 2025, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to appoint Terrell as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the

Civil Rights Division The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The division was established on December 9, 1957, b ...

in the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

Education

Terrell graduated from

Gardena High School Gardena High School (GHS) is a public high school in the Harbor Gateway neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States, adjacent to the City of Gardena. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School Distri ...

Harbor Gateway, Los Angeles The Harbor Gateway, sometimes informally known as the L.A. Strip due to its shape, is a in the South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, in the southern part of the City of Los Angeles. The neighborhood is narrow and long, running along a nor ...

, in 1972 and

California State University, Dominguez Hills California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH, CSU Dominguez Hills, or Cal State Dominguez Hills) is a public university in Carson, California. It was founded in 1960 and is part of the California State University (CSU) system. In 2020, ...

in 1977 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree. He was the student body president while at Gardena High. Terrell taught high school history, geography and economics at Gage Middle School in

Huntington Park, California Huntington Park is a city located in the South Central region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The area includes the separate communities of Florence, Firestone Park, Graham, and Walnut Park, California. As of the 2020 cen ...

. He holds a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in education from

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

and earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

UCLA School of Law The University of California, Los Angeles School of Law (commonly known as UCLA School of Law or UCLA Law) is the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles. History Founded in 1949, the UCLA School of Law is the third oldest of t ...

Radio career

With former

Los Angeles Superior Court The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Court located in Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The Superior Court operates 36 courthouses throughout the county. Curr ...

judge Burton Katz, Terrell co-hosted the weekday talk show ''Terrell & Katz'' that debuted on June 3, 1996, on

KMPC KMPC (1540 AM, "Radio Korea", 라디오코리아) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by P&Y Broadcasting Corporation. Radio Korea is a division of the Radio Korea Media Group. The station airs Korean lan ...

radio in Los Angeles. ''Terrell & Katz'' was a point-counterpoint program with Terrell as the liberal voice and Katz the conservative. Starting October 5, 1996, ''Terrell and Katz'' moved to weekends on KABC. Terrell continued to host a weekend legal show on KABC until August 15, 2010, and continues to be a recurring guest host for KABC's ''The Peter Tilden Show''. As of July 2021, Leo has returned to KABC with a new daily afternoon drive show called Leo 2.0 Live @ 5. As of June 3, 2023, Leo Terrell is no longer employed at KABC AM 790 talk radio station per business website and Leo Terrell’s personal Twitter account.

Legal career

On December 4, 1990, Terrell became a member of the

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is an administrative division of the Supreme Court of California which licenses attorneys and regulates the practice of law in California. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law ...

. He was the Chairman of the Black-Korean Alliance, an Advisory Board Member for the U.S.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

(EEOC), and a member of the Statewide Commission Against Hate Crimes. Terrell wrote the book ''Your Rights at the Workplace--The Things Your Boss Won't Tell You'' in 1998. Terrell became a member of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

in 1990 and did

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

legal work for the organization. After Terrell expressed support for

Carolyn Kuhl Carolyn Barbara Kuhl (born July 24, 1952) is a judge on the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles and a former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She became a Superior Court judge in 1995 and ...

, a

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

judge nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...

whose nomination was filibustered in the U.S. Senate, he left the NAACP and accused the organization of "bullying" him out. NAACP

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

office director Hilary O. Shelton responded: "He’s not an NAACP lawyer, not even a former NAACP lawyer. He’s done volunteer work for us, which we appreciate. But when he takes a position that is diametrically opposite from our position, he’s not speaking for us." Terrell has provided legal and political commentary on TV and radio programs such as ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...

'', ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...

'', ''

Hannity & Colmes ''Hannity & Colmes'' was a live television show on Fox News in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 7, 1996, and the final ...

'', ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', and various radio programs. A family friend of

O. J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024), also known by his nickname "the Juice", was an American professional American football, football player, actor, and media personality who played in the National Football League (NFL) ...

, Terrell provided expert legal commentary about Simpson's

civil trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or di ...

. In 2003, Terrell ran for the seat of District 10 on the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

and came in fifth place among seven candidates. On January 21, 2025, Terrell was nominated as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. He has announced in a statement he intended to pursue legal action against antisemitism in universities. In March 2025, the head of the

Jewish Council for Public Affairs The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) is an American Jewish progressive and advocacy group. JCPA was originally founded in 1944 by the Council of Jewish Federations as the umbrella organization for local Jewish advocacy arms known as ...

condemned Terrell for sharing content by the former head of white supremacist group

Identity Evropa Identity Evropa () was an American far-right, neo-Nazi, neo-fascist, and white supremacist organization established in March 2016. It was rebranded as the American Identity Movement in March 2019. In November 2020, the group disbanded. Leaders ...

mocking Jewish senator

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...

, saying that Trump had revoked his "Jew card."

Notable cases

In 1995, Terrell represented Kumasi Simmons, a former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player from Centennial High School in Compton expelled for hitting a referee. Simmons accused the referee of using racial epithets. Terrell accused the

Beverly Hills Police Department The Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) is the police department of the City of Beverly Hills, California. History The first law enforcement agency was formed shortly after the City of Beverly Hills was municipal corporation, incorporated i ...

of intimidating witnesses who could back up Simmons's claim. In 1999, Terrell called on the Los Angeles police commission to hear witnesses who claimed that a homeless woman, Margaret Laverne Mitchell, was running when police officers shot her. In 2012, Terrell called for an investigation of misconduct by trainees of the

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...

. In 2025, Terrell announced he would be investigating

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

as part of a broader DOJ investigation against antisemitism on college campuses. In May 2025, Terrell drew media attention after suggesting that former First Lady Jill Biden should face criminal charges for "elder abuse." He argued that she was aware of President Joe Biden’s health issues yet remained silent during his reelection campaign. Terrell reiterated his stance in a series of posts on X, including one that read, "Elder Abuse! Criminal Charges??"

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terrell, Leo 1955 births Living people African-American radio personalities Activists for African-American civil rights American talk radio hosts Black conservatism in the United States Lawyers from Los Angeles California Democrats California Republicans California State University, Dominguez Hills alumni Fox News people Pepperdine University alumni UCLA School of Law alumni Radio personalities from Los Angeles African-American schoolteachers Activists from Los Angeles Gardena High School alumni 21st-century African-American lawyers 20th-century African-American lawyers American conservative talk radio hosts Second Trump administration personnel