Algernon Johnson Cooper, Jr.[2] (born May 30, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the mayor of Prichard, Alabama.
Cooper attended St. Peter Claver Elementary School in Mobile, Alabama, until he was sent to Marmion Academy in Aurora, Illinois, in 1958, where he was the first black student, and graduated in 1962.
[5] In 1970, he represented the NAACP Legal Defense Fund during a challenge to the constitutionality of Alabama's freedom of choice school desegregation law.
Cooper also stated that the election of Republican nominee Winton M. Blount would be "a disaster for Alabama because, unlike John Sparkman, he has no feeling for the people".
[20] In 1975, James Dotson Fail Sr., a white man, was arrested and charged with assault with intent to murder after a gunshot was fired into Cooper's house.
[27][28] In November 1979, Cain Kennedy, a member of the Alabama House of Representatives from the 98th district, was appointed as a state court judge by Governor Fob James.
James declared a special election to be held on January 29, to fill the vacancy created by Kennedy's appointment.
Former Attorney General Bill Baxley filed a petition to the Alabama Democratic Executive Committee challenging Cooper's campaign for the house seat due to his lack of residency.