R. Jess Brown

Richard Jess Brown, commonly known as R. Jess Brown (September 2, 1912 – December 31, 1989) was an American civil rights lawyer and teacher. Brown was known for his work in Mississippi with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He was involved in a 1948 civil right lawsuit over discriminatory teacher compensation, and lost his teaching job for signing on to the lawsuit. The experience inspired him to return to school to become a lawyer.

Early life and education Richard Jess Brown was born on September 2, 1912, in Coffeyville, Kansas, and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

He attended Illinois State Normal University, Indiana University Bloomington (M.Ed 1942) and the Texas Southern University Law School (now Thurgood Marshall School of Law). Brown decided to become a lawyer, and returned to studies at Texas Southern University's law school. During his career he frequently engaged in litigation seeking desegregation of specific Mississippi schools. Brown defended blacks accused of crimes, challenged laws restricting blacks from voting, and litigated to end the exclusion of blacks from white-only educational institutions in Mississippi.

Death and legacy Brown died at age 77 on December 31, 1989, at Hinds General Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi.

United States legislative bill H.R. 455, a 2017 resolution in the Mississippi House of Representatives, honored him after his death, and sought to rename a courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi in his honor. Representative Bennie Thompson gave testimony on the bill.

Brown was one of the three lawyer featured in the documentary film, The Defenders: How Lawyers Protected the Movement (2023).

The Magnolia Bar Association in Mississippi has an R. Jess Brown Award.