After two-year hiatus, National Bar Association kicks off 97th convention in Memphis

In the choir room of the Mount Olive Cathedral C.M.E. Church, located on Dr. M.L. King Jr Avenue, Judge Carlos Moore is shaking hands. Flanked by two staffers, also greeting incoming judges, he is seeing the faces of other members of the National Bar Association for the first time in two years.

It is also the first time they are shaking his hand as president of the organization that stands as the largest, and oldest, group of Black judges and attorneys in the country.

The group has not met in two years, with the global pandemic shuttering in-person events. As the organization pondered where to host the upcoming 2022 convention, Moore said Memphis' history brought the group to the Bluff City.

"It was intentional to come to Memphis because of the history, all of the things going on downtown and the renaissance of Memphis," he told The Commercial Appeal. "The local affiliate asked us to bring the convention here, and there was competition between other cities, but for such a time as this — this moment in history, where we have the Jim Crow era 2.0, it was time to go back to one of the bedrocks of the civil rights movement."

In other news: Tennessee lets New Jersey doctor block medical care to Tennesseans he's never seen

Read more from Lucas Finton: Amid long wait times, Shelby County Clerk's Office reverts to pandemic-era service style

Moore emphasized that the National Bar Association is a nonpartisan organization, so rarely is it involved with politics. But the group has an extensive history entwined with fighting for civil rights for Black people, along with other marginalized groups, with a large focus on voting rights.

Founded in 1925 as the Negro Bar Association, the group was formed after some of its original members were turned away from the American Bar Association. William Henry Lewis was the first Black man admitted to the ABA in 1911, although he was removed in 1912 when the organization voted to only allow white lawyers membership.

A Black lawyer would not become a member of the ABA until 1950, although the group adopted a resolution to not discriminate against potential members based on "race, creed or color" in 1943.

Moore, along with being the managing partner of the Cochran Firm - Mississippi Delta, is the first Black municipal judge pro tempore for the City of Grenada in Mississippi.

He believes representation is important in the criminal justice system. And, with the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the hiig, he believes that will start to trickle down more into local courts.

"Representation matters," Moore said. "We had Thurgood Marshall get on the highest court as the first Black man. But they have never been a Black woman's perspective, and that perspective was needed on the court.

"The saying is until you walked a mile in my shoes, you don't know my pain of my struggle. I can not only have sympathy, but I can have empathy for the individuals that come before me because 85 to 90% of the people that come before me look like me. If I can see a younger version of myself and someone, it's more likely that I'm actually going to really listen and see if they deserve mercy or straight justice."

The National Bar Association's convention comes to Memphis in the middle of early voting, headlined by the Shelby County district attorney race between Steve Mulroy and current DA Amy Weirich, along with more than 40 judicial seats sought after.

Moore touched on the need for criminal justice reform, his view on truth-in-sentencing laws, and equal intensity with holding police accountable — referencing the arrest of an Oakland, Tennessee man who was beaten and shocked with a taser.

My New Home: First-time homeowners find bungalow with historic charm

Read this: Uplift your spirits and feed your soul with a good news cycle | Norment

"The best way to change the system is to get into the system," he said. "So I'm happy to see that there are a lot of candidates for the bench, the whole judicial office, as well as people seeking to become prosecutors. It's up to the DA to prosecute the alleged criminals to the fullest extent of the law. But that cuts both ways. When people we consider to be good people commit heinous crimes, they should be prosecuted as well. If a cop commits a crime, that cop needs to go to prison, just like anyone else, if they were found guilty. It can't be a sham prosecution, it needs to be a real prosecution. There's a saying that you can indict a ham sandwich. But very rarely do cops get indicted."

Moore did not deliver any suggestions or endorsements of candidates, but wants everyone to vote, returning to what he views as one of the most important issues in the nation right now with voting rights.

"We want to make it easier for people to vote," Moore said. "But I'm afraid that what they're trying to do is an updated version of, 'Tell me how many jelly beans are in this canister before you can vote.' That is what they did in Jim Crow era 1.0 and they are doing a sophisticated version of that in 2.0. Our members, our lawyers and judges are very well educated and you're not gonna gain the upper hand on us. We're gonna keep our people informed, and we're gonna fight to the end for free and fair access to the polls."

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: National Bar Association convention kicks off in Memphis