Changes

==Other controversies==

==Other controversies==

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As DA, Brown was involved in several controversies. In 1975, he dropped twenty-six [[felony]] counts against Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry\\ Dave L. Pearce on grounds of Pearce's age and the state of health. In 1984, as his tenure wound down, Brown was [[indictment|indicted]] by a federal [[grand jury]] for [[extortion]], [[mail fraud]], and [[perjury]] after he failed to indict two men for possession of ten grams of [[cocaine]]. The day after the East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury declined to take action against the two suspects, the wealthy father of one of the men lent Brown $168,000. A state district judge testified that Brown had asked him to suppress evidence in the case. Brown was acquitted  and said that [[God]] wanted him to seek a third term. He had during his tenure crusaded against [[narcotics]] and [[pornography]]. Though Brown had been the first EBR DA in memory to have been unopposed for a second term in 1978, he was defeated in 1984 by the Republican candidate, [[Bryan Bush]], who was unseated after one term.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_v38/ai_4328771/pg_8|author=[[Ben C. Toledano]]|title=Laissez les bons temps rouler: Louisiana in its pre-modern era|publisher=''[[National Review]]'' and BNET Business Review on-line|date=August 15, 1986}}</ref>​

As DA, Brown was involved in several controversies. In 1975, he dropped twenty-six [[felony]] counts against Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry\\ Dave L. Pearce on grounds of Pearce's age and the state of health. In 1984, as his tenure wound down, Brown was [[indictment|indicted]] by a federal [[grand jury]] for [[extortion]], [[mail fraud]], and [[perjury]] after he failed to indict two men for possession of ten grams of [[cocaine]]. The day after the East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury declined to take action against the two suspects, the wealthy father of one of the men lent Brown $168,000. A state district judge testified that Brown had asked him to suppress evidence in the case. Brown was acquitted  and said that [[God]] wanted him to seek a third term. He had during his tenure crusaded against [[narcotics]] and [[pornography]]. Though Brown had been the first EBR DA in memory to have been unopposed for a second term in 1978, he was defeated in 1984 by the Republican candidate, [[Bryan Bush]], who was unseated after one term.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_v38/ai_4328771/pg_8|author=[[Ben C. Toledano]]|title=Laissez les bons temps rouler: Louisiana in its pre-modern era|publisher=''[[National Review]]'' and BNET Business Review on-line|date=August 15, 1986; no longer on-line.}}</ref>​

In 1973, Brown prevented Baton Rouge theaters from showing the NC-13-rated [[film]], ''Last Tango in Paris,'' with [[Marlon Brando]].  In 1979, Brown blocked the showing of the comedy, ''Monty Python’s Life of Brian.'' Brown asked Baton Rouge [[magazine]] distributors not to offer the March 1977 issue of ''Hustler'', which a state court judge in [[Ohio]] ruled [[obscene]].<ref name=advo>Steven Ward, "Former DA Ossie Brown dies at 82," ''The Baton Rouge Advocate,'' August 29, 2008, p. 1.</ref>​

In 1973, Brown prevented Baton Rouge theaters from showing the NC-13-rated [[film]], ''Last Tango in Paris,'' with [[Marlon Brando]].  In 1979, Brown blocked the showing of the comedy, ''Monty Python’s Life of Brian.'' Brown asked Baton Rouge [[magazine]] distributors not to offer the March 1977 issue of ''Hustler'', which a state court judge in [[Ohio]] ruled [[obscene]].<ref name=advo>Steven Ward, "Former DA Ossie Brown dies at 82," ''The Baton Rouge Advocate,'' August 29, 2008, p. 1.</ref>​

In 1980, the African-American attorney [[Murphy Bell]] filed suit against the city of Baton Rouge and District Attorney Brown regarding [[civil rights]] protection for African-American suspects. The suit, which stemmed from the accidental fatal shooting by police of a black teenager named Clarence Morrison, Jr. (born c. 1963), claimed, among various allegations, that Brown had used the grand jury investigative procedure as a "legal backup" to support arbitrary actions by the police department. The city and Brown, however, prevailed in the initial court and on appeal.<ref>{{cite web|url=

In 1980, the African-American attorney [[Murphy Bell]] filed suit against the city of Baton Rouge and District Attorney Brown regarding [[civil rights]] protection for African-American suspects. The suit, which stemmed from the accidental fatal shooting by police of a black teenager named Clarence Morrison, Jr. (born c. 1963), claimed, among various allegations, that Brown had used the grand jury investigative procedure as a "legal backup" to support arbitrary actions by the police department. The city and Brown, however, prevailed in the initial court and on appeal.<ref>{{cite web|url=

http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/614/614.F2d.77.79-2532.html|title="Mrs. Susie Lite MORRISON and Clarence Morrison, Sr., Mother and Father of Deceased Clarence Morrison, Jr., suing on their behalf and as Administrators of Clarence Morrison, Jr., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. City of Baton Rouge et al., Defendants-Appellees, including East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Ossie B. Brown|publisher=resource.org|date=1980}}</ref>

http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/614/614.F2d.77.79-2532.html|title="Mrs. Susie Lite MORRISON and Clarence Morrison, Sr., Mother and Father of Deceased Clarence Morrison, Jr., suing on their behalf and as Administrators of Clarence Morrison, Jr., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. City of Baton Rouge et al., Defendants-Appellees, including East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Ossie B. Brown|publisher=resource.org|date=1980; no longer on-line.}}</ref>

==Leadership role as DA==

==Leadership role as DA==