Henry Latimer W hen corporate attorney Henry Latimer represented Hollywood Honda against employees claiming racial discrimination, he asked potential jurors if anyone would be bothered by a black lawyer like him representing a white defendant. Several jurors' hands shot up. This wasn't 1950 in Alabama. This was February. In South Florida.
Today there are still two views of the law, one black and one white. . . .
The ABA and NBA jointly published their poll results in February, in a section called Divided Justice. It is the first of four ethnic polls to be taken. While study after study have shown racial bias in sentencing criminals, Latimer said most white lawyers don't see the discrimination every day, as part of their lives, the way black lawyers do. Once in Palm Beach County, a bailiff stopped Latimer as he headed toward the counsel's table, and told him to go sit with the other defendants. The other lawyers sitting there are all laughing.