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

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, political 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 t ...

from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Early life and education

A San Francisco native, Serra was raised in the

Outer Sunset The Sunset District is a neighborhood located on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, California, United States. Location The Sunset District is the largest neighborhood within the city and county of San Francisco. Golden ...

district. His father, Anthony Serra, was a Spanish immigrant from

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

who worked in a jelly bean factory, and his mother, Gladys (Fineberg) Serra was a

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

immigrant from

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

; she died by suicide in 1977. Serra earned 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 in

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and 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 ...

degree from

Boalt Hall The University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley. The school was commonly referred to as "Boalt Hall" for many years, although it was never the official name. This cam ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

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

California Law Review The ''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 play ...

''.

Career

In 1970, Serra successfully defended

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, 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 Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

leader Huey Newton 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 Chinatown, San Francisco, San Francisco Chinatown gang leader, and sentenced to life in prison. ...

, a

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

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,

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in California whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells ...

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

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 members Sara Jane Olson, 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 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 "Ted" Binion (November 28, 1943 – September 17, 1998), was an American gambling executive and the son of Las Vegas casino magnate Benny Binion, owner of Binion's Horseshoe casino. Ted Binion was involved in multiple criminal cas ...

. In 2015, he defended Chinatown crime boss Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow.

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. , style="background:#F88" , Coalition of Gulf War, Coalition victory * Kuwait, State of Kuwait resumes self-governance over all Kuwaiti sovereign territory * Esta ...

based on his conviction that the Bush 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 ( ; Chumashan ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast, its population was 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called t ...

, 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 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 ...

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 a type of prison or institute intended to teach (or reteach) the necessary skills for people to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. Halfway houses are typically either state sponsored for those ...

. He was released from federal custody, and the halfway house, on March 13, 2007, after finishing 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. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

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 a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse

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

Richard Serra Richard Serra (November 2, 1938 – March 26, 2024) was an American artist known for his large-scale Abstract art, abstract sculptures made for Site-specific art, site-specific landscape, urban, and Architecture, architectural settings, a ...

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

Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams Jr. (December 1, 1951 – June 12, 2025) was an American actor, whose career on stage and in film and television spanned five decades. He received many accolades for his work, including nominations for three Golden Globe ...

. A biography of Serra, '' Lust for Justice: The Radical Life and Law of J. Tony Serra'', written by courtroom artist Paulette Frankl and with a foreword by criminal defense attorney

Gerry Spence Gerald Leonard Spence (born January 8, 1929) is a semi-retired American trial lawyer and author. He is a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame and is the founder of the Trial Lawyers College. Spence has never lost a criminal trial before a jur ...

, was released in October 2010.

High-profile cases

* Derick Almena, Ghost Ship warehouse fire * Greg Anderson (

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), BALCO * Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney v. FBI * Michael Bortin, Symbionese Liberation Army * Brownie Mary * Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow * George Christie,

* Rod Coronado,

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

* Patrick "Hooty" Croy *

* Eugene Allon "Bear" Lincoln * Russell Little, Symbionese Liberation Army * Ellie Nesler * Huey Newton * Sara Jane Olson, Symbionese Liberation Army * Rick Tabish, Las Vegas

case * Sudi "Pebbles" Trippet * Jing Hua Wu, SiPort shooting *

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

* New World Liberation Front * White Panthers

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 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 1934 births 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American lawyers Activists from California Activists from San Francisco Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area American civil rights lawyers American criminal defense lawyers American lawyers American people convicted of tax crimes American people of Russian descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Spanish descent American tax resisters California lawyers Civil rights lawyers Criminal defense lawyers Jewish American activists Law in the San Francisco Bay Area Lawyers from San Francisco Living people People from San Francisco People from the San Francisco Bay Area Political activists Stanford University alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni