Citizen Lane

Social activist attorney Mark Lane could be considered a real-life Forrest Gump. Remember how Forrest was always showing up at key points in American history and culture? Well, the same could be said for Lane. In 1960, he served as a New York campaign chairman for John F. Kennedy. One year later, he became the only elected official to be jailed for involvement as a Freedom Rider. After the assassination of President Kennedy, Lane volunteered to defend accused killer Lee Harvey Oswald (he was refused) and testified before the Warren Commission. To date, Lane has written 3 books on the assassination, all questioning the Commission findings, maintaining that Oswald was a pasty, and accusing the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with having JFK killed. He actively opposed the Vietnam War and, in 1968, ran on an independent party presidential ticket with activist comedian Dick Gregory. He successfully defended Native American leaders during the Wounded Knee proceedings. He represented both James Earl Ray, the accused killer of Martin Luther King, and Rev. Jim Jones of the People's Temple, where he became one of the few witnesses when Jones and about 900 of his followers died at the tragedy at Jonestown.

Last night, Lane appeared at Politics and Prose to talk about his new autobiography Citizen Lane: Defending Our Rights in the Courts, the Capitol, and the Streets.

Lane's book is divided into 21 chapters, each one detailing an event in his life. Lane, now 85, detailed 2 of those events in depth.

In 1961, Lane and his friend NAACP leader Percy Sutton decided they needed to join the Freedom Riders, a group of mostly young blacks and whites who were trying to desegregate the South, especially Mississippi and Alabama, by riding buses together. Lane, who had worked closely with Robert Kennedy during his brother's successful campaign for president, called the attorney general and told him of his plans. Kennedy said his brother's administration hadn't worked out a position yet and strongly disapproved of Lane's involvement. Lane, never one to fail to speak his mind, says he told the younger Kennedy. "Well, why don't you name your agency the Department of Justice and Injustice."

After their bus arrived in Montgomery, Alabama, Lane said it was boarded by "angry KKK members, shouting and threatening to kill all the (n word)." Lane and Sutton were both carrying attache cases. "I asked Percy what we were going to do and he said 'I'm an attorney. I believe in self-defense,'" Lane said. When the KKKers realized that the duo were prepared to fight, they backed off the bus and it continued on to Jackson, Mississippi.

In Jackson, Lane and Sutton entered the local airport and sat together, at the time a violation of state law. They were arrested on charges of disturbing the peace and jailed. While in jail, the pair were notified that a trial had been held, they had been convicted, and both had been sentenced to 4 months in the notorious Parchman Farm Prison. They were released on bond and ordered to return to begin their incarceration. However, when they returned, they discovered that the state of Missisippi had backed down and they would not be imprisoned.

In 2011, Lane and the remaining 200 of the 400 Freedom Riders were officially honored by President Barack Obama. At the time, Obama said "the Freedom Riders had faith that America could still be perfected. And as has been noted, it is only because they did, that I am able to stand here as president of the United States of America."

"One day, we were criminals in the eyes of Mississippi and then, just 50 years later, we were Freedom fighters and leaders being honored by the President," Lane said.

Lane also talked about his involvement with the Wounded Knee movement, where he represented Native Americans charged with serious legal violations after they took over land in a move designed to point out long-standing injustices against them. "It was not an occupation. The Indians were there for a long, long time. It was a siege by the United States," Lane said.

At the time, Lane called U.S. actions a "reign of terror" which included the murders of innocent citizens. Now, he said, for the 1st time, the government is actually going to investigate such activities based on his 1974 motions.

"It takes time, but it can work to devote your life to trying to do the right thing," Lane said.

He added that while some areas such as race have improved over the years, there are still many dangers to civil liberties. "With the Citizen United ruling (which basically determined that corporations are people and can contribute as much money as they want to political campaigns), someone can actually now buy the presidency of the United States," Lane said.

The attorney says the only way to make certain that "the single most important sentence in American history - which begins with  Congress shall make no law  ..." remains a reality, is to stay vigilant and continue the battle for the rights for all that the Founding Fathers envisioned.

"Remember these rights, insist on these rights, and fight for these rights - no matter what the cost," Lane said.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
For decades, people have been asking Lane why he undertakes such challenging, controversial rights cases. Just recently, Lane believes he may have come up with the key to his actions by recalling an episode from his very early years he had completely forgotten. In the 1930s, Lane and his family lived in an all-white section of Flatbush in Brooklyn.  At the time, his mother expressed strong disapproval of a friend who had hired a poor black woman as a domestic maid without telling her how much she would get paid until after she finished her work. "I think that stayed with me all these years - the importance of not using your power and influence over other people. You're not going to be here forever and you need to do something that will impact people in a good way," Lane said.