Cooper received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1978.

He was also the first African American assistant district attorney hired to a State Prosecutor's office in Georgia in 1968[3].

In the case Selman v. Cobb County School District, he ruled that these stickers are an endorsement of religion and as such violate the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution.

[7] Cooper was assigned to the case of Whitaker v. Perdue, a federal challenge to Georgia House Bill 1059 which requires that registered sexual offenders cannot live or work within 1,000 feet from schools, school bus stops, churches, day care centers, and areas where children gather, such as parks, recreation centers, playgrounds, swimming pools, etc.

In July 2006, Judge Cooper issued a restraining order barring enforcement of the law near the vicinity of bus stops.