Attorney Natalie Jackson, who represents the family of slain 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, said Thursday in Jacksonville that she has been surprised and gratified to see the public’s passion for the case.
“At this point, that movement is bigger than us. We don’t control that. People are calling us like we control it. It’s so beautiful to see because it’s the people’s movement. The people have taken this over,” said Jackson.
Jackson was the guest speaker at the D.W. Perkins Bar Association’s first Women’s History Month Luncheon.
She represents the family of Martin, who was shot by a member of a neighborhood watch group in Sanford.
During her presentation, reflecting on choosing her career, she referred to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless,” she told the group.
“This is why we are lawyers. You may not be able to change someone’s heart or what they may do. When we look at the Trayvon Martin case, we can’t make them bring Trayvon justice, but what we can do is inspire gun laws to be changed. We can inspire someone else to be looked at a different way in our system,” she said.
Duval County Judge Pauline Drake, president of the D.W. Perkins Bar Association, invited Jackson to speak after reading a University of Florida alumni publication.
“When I read about her in the magazine, what she had done and accomplished, I thought she would be a great speaker for our group,” said Drake.
“She agreed to speak to our group, and when I asked about her fee she said she didn’t have one because she liked talking to groups. She also agreed to visit prior to getting involved with the Trayvon Martin case,” she said.
Jackson said law is her second career. She was an intelligence officer for the U.S. Navy before becoming an attorney. She was part of the first group of female naval personnel to be deployed on an aircraft carrier.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Hampton University and her law degree from the University of Florida. After passing The Florida Bar exam, she opened one of the first black law firms in her hometown of Sanford, a city of more than 51,000 people.
“Having all the money in the world was not our goal. Our goal was to make enough money to take care of our family and spend time with our family,” said Jackson, who later created The Women’s Trial Group.
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