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Show 2 Former Thursday, November Radicals Now Establishment Marxists Left-Win- THK HERALD, Provo. l"tah DETROIT d'Pl As radicals ir the Kenneth Cookrei and Jastm Ravi gained notoriety as the activist attorneys of the black militant and antiwar movements Today Cockrel sits on the City Council, a champion of many a lost cause who measures hi victories in inches r.ither than yards Ravit? his white soul brother and former law partner is a criminal court judge whu metes out sentences often as stern as his conservative counterparts but is mure lenient in setting bonds Cockrel and Ravitz have become Detroit s establishment Marxists The Cockrel. once cited for contempt for berating a judge as a "honky dog fool," still considers himself a black militant At 3y. his afro hairdo graying, he has shown a surprising willingness to compromise with his colleagues during council proceedings The Nebraska-borRavitz used to wear Levis and cowboy boots under his judicial robes. He banned the U S flag from his courtroom to protest the 1970 Cambodia incursion until ordered to display "Old Glory' by the state Supreme Court But prosecutors and defense attorneys say Ravitz, 38. has earned their respect with fairness and judicial know how on the bench As avowed Marxists Cockrel and Ravitz said they do not necessarily feel out of step with the political establishment in an industrial city identified nationally as a bastion of labor clout and springboard of racial causes You vi got to look at the times." said Cockrel. just 10 months into his first term on the council. "We've evolved to an era where Barbara Walters rides around in jeeps in Cuba with Fidel Castro, and Leonid Brezhnev hugs Muhammed Ali and Nixon exchanges cars with Brezhnev and Kosygin. The world has become a little smaller and it's not all that shocking to say you're a Marxist," It was Ravitz who paved the groundwork to Cockrel's easy-- acceptance into the power establishment with his election to the bench six years ago an event that resulted in a short-livecommunity furor "The nationwide fear of socialism is probably receding now." Ravitz said. "For awhile, a segment perhaps a significant segment of the population thought there was a middle of the road, some centrist solutions to the problems of the society. Now people are going to jump to the right or to tlie left." Detroit itself is a study of contrasts, with a black mayor. Coleman A Young, who was once investigated as a suspected communist' and was reelected a year ago with support trom scions ot Dig nusiness Cockrel met Ravitz while investigating a police brutality case in 1966. the year before Detroit was torn by one of the worst riots in the nation's history. At the time, Cockrel was a student revolutionary and Ravitz. a budding young attorney. Two years later, they became partners in a law firm causes. that specialized in In one of their most celebrated cases, Ravitz and Cockrel won acquittals for Alfred Hibbitt and two other blacks charged with assault with intent to commit murder in the 1969 New Bethel Baptist Church shootings that left one policeman dead and another wounded. It was in that case that Cockrel was cited for contempt for calling the presiding judge a "racist honky" and a "honky dog fool" when the judge doubled Hibbitt's bail. The contempt charge eventually was thrown out. As a judge, Ravitz helped develop procedures designed to prevent the detention of citizens for longer than 12 hours without being charged. He prides himself on the dignity of his courtroom and locks out all vestiges of intimidation Before trials, he shakes hands with jurors and introduces himself as they enter the courtroom. After his partner joined the establishment, Cockrel remained in the limelight as champion of the underdog in a number of racially sensitive cases. Two years ago. he defended Madeline Fletcher, a black policewoman in Flint. Mich., who was accused of shooting her white male partner during an argument over who would drive their squad car. She claiming she had been a victim pleaded of both sex and race discrimination, and was acquitted. Cockrel doesn't see his job on the council as conflicting with his political ideology He has voted against tax breaks for Detroit's influence-wieldinauto companies and campaigned for utilities losing in both cases. On other matters, he has used compromise as a successful bargaining tool. Both vehemently dispute even the suggestion that they have lost their dedication to Marxism. "1 don't think I've changed," said the Cockrel. "I'm still a socialist. I'm probably clearer now in my ideology than I have been before because I've had much more in the way of - The conditions have changed My politics have nut changed Ravitz. who speaks slowly with a Midwest twang i:nds his task as an enforcer of justice in a system he opposes a little tougher It can seem like a contradiction to a lot of he said "I've sent a lot of people to prison K'ople who are. as vou will, political prisoners have to choose between further victimuat. .i of the defendant by sending him to the joint - knowing or alternatively setting it won't do him any good him loose back out here where, unfortunately, it's predictable that he's going to victimize others One just has to be able to assume some responsibilities I wouldn't call it a compromise of mv beliefs " AS Cockrel, a native Detroiter who got a law degree without finishing high school, seems the more politically ambitious of the two Kenneth Cockrel, right, and Justin RaviU gained notoriety as the activist attorney of the black militant and anti war movements Toda, Cockrel sits on LEFT-WIN- RADICALS in the 1960s the Detroit City Council, a champion of many a lost cause, Ravitz. his white soul brother and former law partner, is a criminal court judge in Detroit, who metes out sentences often q ilte stern, but is more lenient in setting bonds. 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