By Reverend Richard Lawrence / sandiegans4opengov
Editor Note: In recent months inewsource.org has published a series of controversial stories concerning activist attorney Cory Briggs, questioning his ethics and motives. Rev. Richard Lawrence penned this reaction for the San Diegans 4 Open Government blog.
I said in a deposition some time ago that I thought Cory Briggs was to the environmental justice movement in California what Dr. King was to the civil rights movement. Recent events cause me to think some more about that.
Dr. King drew the fire of none other than the Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover listened to members of Congress and business leaders from across the nation and used what he considered to be the threat to US security to justify wire taps and surveillance of Dr. King’s movements.
Two agents from the FBI knocked on my door in Chicago and asked me if I would mind answering a few of their questions about my work with Dr. King. I later read a file on me gained through the Freedom of Information Act passed after members of Congress learned the FBI was keeping files on them. It was full of inaccuracies and errors and redacted segments.
I must say I was surprised. I thought the FBI was better than that: more professional, accurate and fair.
Those memories are stirred up today by the behavior of Inewsource. Connected to KPBS, I thought they were one of the truth-loving angels protecting our freedom and the U.S. Constitution.
So, I ask. “Why are they acting like J.Edgar Hoover?”
I suspect the answer is that Cory Briggs took on landowners in his fight on behalf of the Affordable Housing Coalition (AFC) and the renters in San Diego to stop the loss of rental units to condo conversions, and we WON a limit of 1,000 after seeing several years of as many as 10,000 conversions.
Cory took on Walmart on behalf of the Coalition for Responsible, Equitable, Environmental Development (CREED) and other grass-roots organizations and we have WON major commitments to cleaner air and sustainable energy uses that Walmart advertises but for which it gives no credit to Cory Briggs or any of his clients.
Cory took on the City of San Diego and the Maryland Hotel on behalf of the AFC to preserve an SRO that housed some of our city’s poorer residents and we LOST and had to satisfy ourselves with helping the residents relocate.
Cory took on the Port Commission and the Convention Center and the downtown hoteliers and their Tourism Marketing District (TMD) because we asked him to do so. He helped save taxpayers nearly $1 billion when he persuaded an appellate court that a new tax to fund the Convention Center’s expansion was unconstitutional, having been imposed without a public vote. He is still in the midst of a multi-year battle over the 39.5-year, $1 billion TMD tax that was also imposed without a public vote.
Like Dr. King, Cory draws the fire and carries the weight of his leadership role, but it is a big mistake in both cases to think either one stands alone.
Like Dr. King, Cory will support citizens from across California and take on the giants who abuse the environment or trample on the rights of people who cannot afford the costs of going to court to protect themselves from government and special-interest abuses.
Our work with Cory is done through the Courts for which those of us who are followers of Dr. King and friends of the freedom movement know is a place where issues are debated thoroughly and the price of progress is painfully slow, carefully weighed and occasionally disappointing, e.g., Citizens United.
We need Cory Briggs. We need the Courts. We need good, independent sources of news. We need citizens who are independent thinkers who will not blink in the face of criticism—especially when it is inaccurate and manipulated.
I continue to wonder if Inewsource is a friend of the fighters for truth, good government and environmental justice or a panderer to special interests and big bucks—a Mencken or a Hoover. Judging by the names on its list of top donors and how our work with Cory is frustrating their ambitions—i.e., nearly $2 billion in illegal taxes to subsidize hoteliers’ advertising and their ill-conceived Convention Center expansion—it looks to me like the latter.
I recently returned from a celebration in Selma and was reminded there of how important it was 50 years ago for folks from across the nation to join Dr. King in his fight for civil rights. I marched with Dr. King then, and I am proud to work with and stand up for Cory Briggs today.
Reverend Richard Lawrence is a Board Member of San Diegans for Open Government, Co-Chair, Affordable Housing Coalition of San Diego County, a founding member of the San Diego Community Land Trust and Adjunct Minister with the Christian Fellowship Congregational Church.
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Thank you Reverend Lawrence, for writing this eloquent defense of Cory Briggs! It’s sorely needed, and especially powerful coming from you with such a wonderful historical analogy to Dr. King. The people of San Diego are so fortunate to have Cory Briggs fighting for their/our rights!
Ditto: Thank you Reverend Lawrence, for writing this eloquent defense of Cory Briggs! It’s sorely needed, and especially powerful coming from you with such a wonderful historical analogy to Dr. King. The people of San Diego are so fortunate to have Cory Briggs fighting for their/our rights!
I have no doubt that Cory Briggs’ work is impactful in the pursuit of social justice, and I can certainly appreciate this article as an expression of full support for Mr. Briggs during these turbulent times.
What is difficult for me to understand and tolerate is the frequent comparisons being made between Mr. Briggs and Dr. Martin Luther King. I am even more disappointed to know that these careless comparisons are being made by someone who worked so closely with Dr. King.
Dr. King risked and eventually lost his life due to his work and his beliefs, and was hardly rewarded for these sacrifices, financially or otherwise. He battled oppression from a place of oppression, versus Mr. Briggs, who fights for social justice from a place of privilege. What’s also being ignored here is the difference between advocacy work and empowerment. Dr. King did much more than advocate for the rights of himself and others, he empowered those who were (and still are) marginalized to break the chains of internalized oppression and fight for themselves as well.
The weight of their leadership roles cannot be compared, and it honestly astounds me that anyone would even think to do so. I don’t see this as a compliment to Mr. Briggs so much as I see it as a complete disregard for Dr. King’s legacy.
It appears that Mr. Briggs is fighting the noble fight for social justice, and advocating for those who don’t have the same access to the system. I think his work speaks for itself, and I would have been happy to see an article focusing on that rather than trying unsuccessfully to match his work with that of Dr. King’s.
Have to agree here – that was one of my original thoughts.
I happen to disagree with Melissa Beckles. I think that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been pleased to have been associated with Cory Briggs as they are both fighting for the rights of the marginalized in our society–those who are not able to really fight for themselves. I don’t think that the Rev. Richard Lawrence meant to say that the work of Mr. Briggs was at all the equivalent of the great civil rights work of Dr. King for it is not anything near that in the impact that Dr. King had on our society. Nevertheless, there is enough similarity there for those from the Civil Rights Movement, like the Rev. Lawrence, to see the way that the poor and the disenfranchised have greatly benefited from Mr. Briggs work. This is the reason behind the attempted character assassination of Mr. Briggs that is currently taking place in San Diego by the power elite here through vehicles like Inewsource.org. If they succeed in this attempt, it will greatly reduce Mr. Briggs’ effectiveness in using the courts to protect the poor. Let us hope that they do not succeed in this dastardly attempt.
I agree, John! As a Cory Briggs admirer, I am late to the party. During the past several years, I have researched his work and as a result have become forever thankful for his direction and intent in the cases he represents. He is fearless in his work. Could he be the Batman in our Gotham City? We’re behind you, Batman! (AKA Cory Briggs)
Call him Ralph Nader, call him Harriet Tubman, call him David Alvarez or crusader rabbit if you prefer, but who else besides Mike Aguirre and Marti Emerald and … ?… is creating some kinder weather for the middle class in San Diego? This little debate over the equal sign between Briggs and MLK Jr. just misses the point. We need more courage down here on the ground and Cory Briggs seems to have the necessary nuts.
Today’s salvo on KPBS re Briggs is completely unbalanced ‘shock and awe’ type reporting and buries important ledes like the fact that the plaintiff group in question was only briefly out of state compliance, but restored after returns were filed. Another supposed shocker is that Briggs provides services for plaintiff entities. Lawfirms do this all of the time for non profits and plaintiff groups. After following this it’s clear that the so called investigative group has an agenda, or is not professional, or both. As it is and collaborator KPBS are both non profits, let’s see their donor lists, board connections and and all corporate information. Clearly Briggs and others are effective, and so the witch hunt is on for enviro reformers, to shut them down.
Tonight a post on the KPBS version of the story shows the State AG site lists Investigative Newsource as “Delinquent”:
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/jun/03/san-diego-judge-warns-cory-briggs-about-possible-c/
To quote the governor of Texas: “Oops.”
Re the comparison between Cory Briggs and the late Dr. King Jr.: Cory Briggs’ story is not done. Who knows how he will end and be judged? He is certainly on the side of justice vs money, and clearly he is being targeted. Do not slam his supporters!
Black, white, great leaders or humble followers, we all need to stand between the ignorant and/or powerless and the amoral bottomless hole of the almighty dollar. The power of money buys injustice, prejudice, greed, politicians, sheer nastiness, and yes, climate change. We will all die, but some will spend their lives trying to right wrongs. Amen, Dr. King! Go, Cory Briggs!