Quick Facts
Biography
William John (Billy Jack) Cox (born 1941) is an American public interest lawyer, author, philosopher, and political activist.
Background
The eighth and last child of a pioneer family that included American Revolutionary War patriots and American Civil War rebels, William John Cox was born on a dry-land cotton farm near Lubbock, Texas, to Samuel Hubert and Minnie Irene (Oswalt) Cox.
The 200-acre farm on which Cox grew up was initially without irrigation, electricity, or indoor plumbing, and the fields were plowed with work horses. The family endured the great 1950s Texas drought which caused massive dust storms in the Panhandle.
Following the death of his mother when he was four years old and the deaths of his father and last surviving grandparent at age 10, Cox was raised by his siblings. He became a habitual runaway and was declared a ward of the court. In lieu of reform school, he chose to attend New Mexico Military Institute from which he received a high school diploma in 1958.
After a four-year enlistment, Cox was honorably discharged as a United States Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (E5) in 1962.
Previously known as Billy Jack, Cox discovered in 1968 that he had never been officially named. With the option of naming himself, he caused the name of William John Cox to be entered on his birth certificate.
Cox and his brothers and sisters had 25 children. With the death of his last surviving sibling in 2006, Cox became the patriarch of his large extended family.
Law enforcement
In the early Sixties, Cox became a part of the "New Breed" movement to professionalize the American police service. Employed in 1962 by the El Cajon, California Police Department, he attended the nearby San Diego Police Department Academy from which he graduated with top honors.
While working with a police dog and as a detective, Cox served as president of the El Cajon Police Officers Association and the San Diego County Chapter of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), which was instrumental in establishing the first Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission and drafting the national Law Enforcement Code of Ethics.
Los Angeles Police Department
In 1968, Cox transferred to the Los Angeles Police Department where he once again graduated with top honors from the Police Academy.
He received an associate degree in Police Administration from Rio Hondo College and was selected to author the first of the five-volume Police Department Manual. Although the operational and management volumes had been written 20 years previously under the legendary Chief William H. Parker, the opening policy portion of the Manual remained unwritten. Completion of the Policy Volume was one of Edward M. Davis' primary goals when he became Chief of Police in 1969. Over the next two years, Cox worked independently in researching, drafting, and securing approval of the principles, philosophy, and policies involved in the policing of America's second largest city.
Concerning the relationship between Los Angeles police officers and those they protect and serve, Cox wrote, "The police at all times should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police; the police are the only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interest of community welfare." The definition remains in effect and continues to guide all police decision making in Los Angeles.
National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals
Having been promoted to Investigator and Sergeant, Cox was loaned in 1971 to the Police Task Force of President Nixon's National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, which defined the role of the police in America. Over the next year, his assigned task was to research and write the introductory chapters of the report which included the role of the police, policy making and the exercise of discretion, criminal justice systems relations, and community crime prevention.
In defining the role of the police in America, Cox wrote, "The police in the United States are not separate from the people. They draw their authority from the will and consent of the people, and they recruit their officers from them. The police are the instrument of the people to achieve and maintain order; their efforts are founded on principles of public service and ultimate responsibility to the public." "If the overall purposes of the police service in America were narrowed to a single objective, that objective would be to preserve the peace in a manner consistent with the freedoms secured by the Constitution."
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
Following his graduation from law school in 1973, Cox was employed for one year by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) of the United States Department of Justice, which was the funding agency of President Nixon's War on Crime. He started as a Law Enforcement Specialist before being appointed the special assistant of the Director (and as acting Deputy Director) of the Office of National Priority Programs. The Office was responsible for the implementation of national criminal justice standards and goals.
Peers for Peace
As the author of the Department's shooting policy, Cox testified during hearings in 1979 conducted by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners into the shooting death of Eulia May Love by LAPD officers on January 3, 1979. Cox recommended the Department create a "Peer Review Commission" consisting of citizens and police officers to investigate and make disciplinary recommendations regarding complaints of police misconduct. Refining the definition of the police role he had written in the Policy Manual, Cox urged the Police Commission to recognize that: "The people of the City of Los Angeles and their police are peers for peace."
Practice of law
While working full-time on the LAPD and the National Advisory Commission, Cox attended evening classes at the Southwestern Law School on the G.I. Bill and academic scholarships. He served on the staff of the Law Review for two years and published a proposal for a legal remedy alternative to the Fourth Amendment Exclusionary Rule. The article was cited to the California Conference on the Judiciary, Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Senate.
Cox was awarded a Juris Doctor degree cum laude in 1973. He was working in Washington, DC when the State Bar results were published, and he was administered his attorney's oath by Justice Tom C. Clark in the chambers of the U.S. Supreme Court. In autographing a photograph of the event, Justice Clark predicted that Cox's voice "will be a strong one for equal justice."
Appointed a Deputy Los Angeles County District Attorney in 1974, Cox prosecuted a wide range of criminal cases in the Superior courts (California) during the next three years.
In 1977, Cox opened a public interest law practice in Long Beach, California in the historic Skinny House (Long Beach). He primarily represented indigent juveniles accused of serious crimes and received court appointments in capital punishment and major felony matters.
The Holocaust Case
Among the cases Cox handled was a pro bono publico matter in which he represented Mel Mermelstein, a Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. He investigated and sued a group of radical right-wing organizations, including the Liberty Lobby and Institute for Historical Review, that engaged in Holocaust denial and which had offered a reward for proof of Nazi gas chambers.
The groups were headed by Willis Carto, the creator of the Populist Party (United States, 1984) and America's foremost anti-Semite and anti-black racist. The New York Times called Carto "a reclusive behind-the-scenes wizard of the far-right fringe of American politics who used lobbying and publishing to denigrate Jews and other minorities and galvanize the movement to deny the Holocaust. . . ."
The primary legal issue in the case was resolved in October 1981, when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Thomas T. Johnson took judicial notice of the fact that "Jews were gassed to death at Auschwitz in the summer of 1944."
In the aftermath of The Holocaust Case, Carto's influence, nationally, was severely diminished, and he was subsequently removed from office through a coup d'état by staff members of the Institute for Historical Review.
The Holocaust Case was the subject of the TNT motion picture, Never Forget, in April 1991. Leonard Nimoy produced the movie and was featured as Mel Mermelstein. Actor Dabney Coleman played Cox.
Cox's memoir about the matter, The Holocaust Case: Defeat of Denial was published in July 2015 and includes relevant documents from the court files.
Forensic practice
Between 1984 and 1988, Cox served as general counsel and operations officer of a private security consulting and investigation firm, whose clients included a number of Fortune 500 companies and nuclear weapons sites operated by the United States Department of Energy.
Cox recommenced a specialized practice of law in Long Beach, California and primarily provided investigative, forensic, and data services to other law firms for the next ten years. One of the leading cases he worked on was the successful litigation involving the heirs of The Three Stooges in support of attorney Bela G. Lugosi.
Publication of the suppressed Dead Sea Scrolls
In 1991, Cox arranged for the publication of almost 1,800 photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls that had been suppressed for more than 40 years. Considered to be "the academic scandal of the twentieth century," the failure to publish the entire corpus of ancient documents had deprived several generations of biblical scholars the ability to study the scrolls.
Following its conquest of East Jerusalem during the "Six-Day War" in June 1967, the Israeli government claimed ownership of the unpublished scrolls, but left them in the Rockefeller Museum and primarily under the control of Catholic priests from the École Biblique.
As those who sought publication were fearful of litigation by the Israeli government, Cox agreed to represent, pro bono, the source of the photographs as an "undisclosed client" and the source of the publishing funds as an "undisclosed donor" to protect them from legal action. He personally signed a contract with the Biblical Archaeology Society to publish A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls in November 1991.
The monopoly broken, the Huntington Library in California subsequently allowed all "qualified scholars" to study its set of photographs, and the Israel Antiquities Authority permitted the publication of a microfiche edition.
Appearing as a witness for Professors Robert Eisenman and James M. Robinson—who had written an introduction and prepared an index for the book—Cox testified at a trial held in Jerusalem in January and February 1993, during which he refused to identify the source of the photographs. To this day, Cox has never disclosed the identity of his "secret client."
State Bar prosecutor
Between 1999 and 2007, Cox served as a supervising trial counsel for the State Bar of California where he led a "Fast Track" team of lawyers and investigators that targeted the prosecution of attorneys accused of serious crimes and misconduct. Combining criminal and civil law with administrative procedures, Cox formulated a strategy to use the Superior Courts to assume emergency jurisdiction over law practices that posed a substantial risk of harm to the public.
Cox's team was so successful that the California legislature extended the authority of the State Bar over the unlicensed practices of law operated by criminal gangs. Working with law enforcement officials, the team served court orders, seized files and bank accounts, and shut down the unlawful practices.
Political Activism
Class-action lawsuit against the federal government
Believing that control of the United States government had been seized by special interest groups and no longer cared for the voters who elected it, Cox filed a class action lawsuit on July 9, 1979 on behalf of every American citizen directly in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The petition alleged, "There is a widely held belief, shared by many, that the Congress of the United States is in the 'grips of special interest groups' and is no longer responsive to the needs of individual citizens."
As a remedy, Cox petitioned the Court to order the President and Congress to conduct a National Policy Referendum to restore political power to the voters. At the time, ratification of the SALT II treaty was controversial, and Cox argued, "A national policy referendum regarding the advisability of ratification would provide the opportunity for discussion by the governed regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the Nation."
He asked, "is it not time to allow the people a voice in the future of their nation and in the quality of life preserved for their children? . . . is it not true that the election of representatives is now more dependent upon massive expenditures of contributions from special interests groups than upon a vote by an informed electorate? Has not the vote in political contests become so valueless as to create disenfranchisement through apathy for most Americans?"
Cox recognized his "duty to future generations to petition my government and to exercise my vote, in repayment for that which has been given me by all those who have labored and died for my freedom. I am a person possessed of but a single vote, and it is upon that foundation that I do hereby most respectfully submit my petition, asking only that is be reviewed by my government."
The "motion for leave to file a petition for writ of mandamus" was denied without comment.
1980 presidential campaign
To publicize the National Policy Referendum and to introduce a law enforcement alternative to making war against the people of other nations, Cox conducted a write-in campaign for President in 1980.
In the days following the election, Cox traveled to the California hotel near the Santa Barbara ranch of President-elect Ronald Reagan and held a news conference in the cocktail lounge where the world news media had assembled. Over drinks with the reporters, he conceded the election and did not demand a recount. As he was leaving the hotel, Cox dropped off a handwritten letter at the presidential transition press office asking Reagan to please consider that the USSR was undoubtedly lying about the strength of its military―before commencing a wasteful, unnecessary, and expensive buildup of the U.S. military.
Law enforcement alternative to war
Relying on the constitutional power to declare war, Cox's war alternative calls for congressional hearings to determine if specific named foreign leaders (such as Saddam Hussein) pose a risk of harm to the United States. If so, in lieu of declaring war against a nation (such as Iraq), Congress would declare the offending individual[s] to be "outlaws"—outside of the law—and would order the President to file a legal action in the International Court of Justice against the offenders' government and to "arrest" them.
The primary focus of compulsion would be to compel the outlaws to leave their country and to personally appear at the trial in The Hague to defend their "government." Any application of force would be entirely directed against the individual outlaws. Their primary victims—the people of their own nation—would be constantly reassured that no harm is intended toward them, and the goal would be to continue good relations with the people following resolution of the crisis. Using modern means of communication, the people could be directly contacted and appropriate rewards offered for the capture and surrender of the outlaws who oppress them.
A peaceful political evolution
Since retiring from the State Bar of California in 2007, Cox has dedicated himself to the promotion of a "peaceful political evolution." The political movement focuses on: holding a National Policy Referendum every four years coincident with the presidential election; using a national paper ballot to allow voters to personally answer the 12 most critical policy questions; encouraging voters to write in the name of the candidate they most trust to effectuate their policy; and a national paid voter's holiday for federal elections.
War on drugs
Along with thousands of current and former members of the law enforcement and criminal justice communities in 190 countries, Cox is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and serves in its speaker's bureau. The mission of LEAP is "to reduce the multitude of harmful consequences resulting from fighting the War on Drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ending drug prohibition."
Political publications
In 2004, Cox's election-year book, You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth: A Brief on the Bush Presidency, was published by the Progressive Press.
During 2012, Cox published two eBooks on current political issues:
- Target Iran: Drawing Red Lines in the Sand contains a history of Iran and its conflict with the United States and Israel over its uranium enrichment program, a discussion of the likelihood of war between the parties, and a peaceful solution that offers a comprehensive nuclear weapons policy for all nations.
- Mitt Romney and the Mormon Church: Questions provides a brief review of the Mormon corporate empire and the power it holds over high priest and presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whose family has been a part of the Mormon Royalty since the Church's creation.
The United States Voters' Rights Amendment (USVRA)
Expanding on the principles of a peaceful political evolution, Cox drafted and commenced circulation of the United States Voters' Rights Amendment (USVRA) to the U.S. Constitution in 2012. The USVRA incorporates the proposed corporate personhood amendment by Move to Amend; however, it goes further to clearly establish that the right to cast an effective vote is an inherent right under the Constitution.
The USVRA is a comprehensive Voters' Bill of Rights intended to transform the United States government into finally becoming a fully functioning democratic republic. It provides for national paid voting holidays, a national hand-countable paper ballot, and a process for the people to have a more direct role in the formulation of public policy. Moreover, it mandates voter registration and prohibits voter suppression, restricts gerrymandering and lengthy campaigns, and it encourages public financing of elections and discourages paid lobbying. Finally, it eliminates the Electoral College to allow for open primaries and the popular election of presidents.
In 2015, Cox organized USVRA.US, a California nonprofit corporation to further public education about the Voters' Rights Amendment, and he created the Internet website, USVRA.us to support the initiative. Written by Cox, the corporation published Transforming America: A Voters' Bill of Rights in December 2015. The book is dedicated "To the People of the United States of America, whose consent to be governed cannot be taken for granted."
Working with the Political Science Departments of the California State University at Long Beach and Long Beach City College, Cox is currently establishing the organizational framework of Youth for the Voters' Rights Amendment(Y4VRA), a national, student-led, campus-based, nonpartisan political movement to compel the enactment of the USVRA. He also launched the Internet website, Y4VRA.org, to support the organization.
To demonstrate how the public policy-making provisions of the USVRA could be adopted by the people of other nations to better ensure the democratic principles of their own representative governments, Cox published An Essential History of China: Why it Matters to Americans in December 2015. Dedicated to Peace in the Pacific, the book summarizes 4,000 years of Chinese dynastic history and focuses on 100 years of the Communist Dynasty. It goes on to compare and contrast the governments of the United States and China and to illustrate how the principles of the USVRA could benefit the people of both nations.
Philosophy
Mindkind
In 1978, writing under the pseudonym of Thomas Donn, Cox published Hello: We Speak the Truth, an exploration of the dynamics of the mind, the origin of consciousness, the reality of existence, and personal transformation.
Over the next three decades and building on the concepts first considered in Hello, Cox conceived the philosophy of Mindkind and coined the term. The philosophy brings together the scientific elements of time, Earth, and humanity in exploring the evolution of the mind, and it examines religion and culture in developing the thesis that humans are members of a Universal Mindkind.
The philosophy presents the concept that humans have evolved into a unique species that is essentially exploring, creative, nurturing, and highly cooperative. It proposes that humans are bound to the earth until such time as they overcome the diseases of deception, hatred, and violence that infects and retards their evolved nature, individually and collectively. Moreover, humanity will never be able to develop the knowledge, wisdom, and power to ever fly from its earthly nest and to travel to any significant place in the universe or to explore adjacent dimensions until every child on Earth—irrespective of class or culture—has equal access to nutrition, health care, and education.
In December 2015, Cox published The Book of Mindkind: A Philosophy for the New Millennium. Its dedication is "For the Children of Mindkind: To give wings to your imagination, allowing you to soar on the winds of time."
In addition, to discuss the political principles required to effectuate the philosophy of Mindkind, Cox wrote an entirely fact-based political philosophy narrated by fictional characters. Sam: A Political Philosophy was published in December 2015.
Physics and Mathematics
Although he had little interest in algebra and almost failed geometry in military school, Cox later developed an interest in ancient mathematics and the physical universe in much the same manner as Victorian philosophers. As a matter of logic, he conceived that the entire perceived universe must necessarily move in relation to a greater universe. In addition, while the speed of light governs our universe, its movement in relation to the greater universe may involve a different metric.
Cox imagined the multiple universes can be contained and tracked within a geometry expressed by an expanding sphere whose surface is defined by six great circles and 14 vertices into 24 equal right-angle spherical triangles. The perimeter of each triangle is equal to pi times radius, and the ratio of the sides, hypotenuse, and height of the triangle is exactly 3:3:4:2.5. To determine these ratios, Cox constructed and measured a number of physical models over the years and was able to finally prove them, mathematically, following the advent of the Internet and the availability of relevant formulas.
To more accurately calculate the geometry of the pi spheres, Cox imagined the expansion of base-10 mathematics to base 16. As an alternative to ASCII, "Universal Mathematics" is symbolized by: 1,2,3,U,4,5,6,N,7,8,9,S,C,X,W,10. The mathematics produce an elegant set of base numbers, such as .12UN, and allows pi to be essentially rounded off at 3.2U3W58NNN.
In 2012, Cox published two eBooks on physics, geometry, and mathematics―Time Travel To Ancient Math & Physics and Mindkind: Math & Physics for the New Millennium In December 2015, Cox published a combination of the two eBooks as a full-color trade paperback book titled Millennial Math & Physics.
Personal
Cox has three children (Catherine, Lori, and Steven), six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren from his marriage to Patricia Ann Reed, a stepdaughter (Michelle) from his marriage to Brigitte Zickbauer, and a stepdaughter (Naomi) from his current marriage to artist Helen Werner Cox. They live in Long Beach, California.
Books
- (1978), Hello: We Speak the Truth, (As Thomas Donn); (2012) electronic version, ISBN 978-0985785000
- (2004), You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth: A Brief on the Bush Presidency, ISBN 978-0930852320.
- (2012), Mindkind: Math & Physics for the New Millennium, ISBN 978-0985785017.
- (2012), Time Travel To Ancient Math & Physics, ISBN 978-0985785031.
- (2012), Mitt Romney and the Mormon Church: Questions, ISBN 978-0985785048.
- (2012), Target Iran: Drawing Red Lines in the Sand, ISBN 978-0985785055.
- (2015), The Holocaust Case: Defeat of Denial, ISBN 978-1632131607.
- (2015, Transforming America: A Voters' Bill of Rights, ISBN 978-0692562536.
- (2015) An Essential History of China: Why it Matters to Americans, ISBN 978-0985785086.
- (2015) The Book of Mindkind: A Philosophy for the New Millennium, ISBN 978-0985785062.
- (2015) Sam: A Political Philosophy, ISBN 978-0985785079.
- 2015) Millennial Math & Physics, ISBN 978-0985785093.
- http://www.amazon.com/Hello-Speak-William-John-Cox-ebook/dp/B008EDNNJK/ref=la_B0028ENU8K_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390837588&sr=1-5
- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/172474
- http://www.amazon.com/Youre-Not-Stupid-Get-Truth/dp/093085232X/ref=la_B0028ENU8K_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390837588&sr=1-1
- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/173043
- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/177130
- http://www.amazon.com/Mitt-Romney-Mormon-Church-Questions-ebook/dp/B00919UNCG/ref=la_B0028ENU8K_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390837588&sr=1-2
- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/218370
- http://www.amazon.com/Target-Iran-Drawing-Lines-Sand-ebook/dp/B0099RYXNU/ref=la_B0028ENU8K_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390837588&sr=1-3
- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/234584
- http://www.amazon.com/Holocaust-Case-Defeat-Denial/dp/1632131609/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435864409&sr=1-1&keywords=the+holocaust+case+cox
- http://www.electiopublishing.com/index.php/bookstore#!/The-Holocaust-Case-Defeat-of-Denial-Paperback/p/52199109
- http://www.amazon.com/Transforming-America-Voters-Bill-Rights/dp/0692562532/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450819406&sr=1-1&keywords=transforming+america+cox
- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/608761
- http://www.amazon.com/Essential-History-China-Matters-Americans/dp/098578508X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450819571&sr=1-1&keywords=an+essential+history+of+china+cox
- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/608887
- http://www.amazon.com/Book-Mindkind-Philosophy-New-Millennium/dp/0985785063/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450966548&sr=8-1&keywords=%22the+book+of+mindkind%22+cox
- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/608845
- http://www.amazon.com/Sam-Philosophy-William-John-Cox/dp/0985785071/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450819772&sr=1-4&keywords=sam%3A+a+political+philosophy
- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/609157
- http://www.amazon.com/Millennial-Math-Physics-William-John/dp/0985785098/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450819970&sr=1-1&keywords=millennial+math+%26+physics