Biography
Philip L. Allen was a 20-year-old Los Angeles City College student arrested on January 1, 1975 after Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies beat him during a confrontation in which one deputy was killed and two were wounded by gunfire. Allen maintained that he never took the deputy’s gun. He spent 67 days in county jail before his March 5 release on bail. A jury later convicted him of voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on an officer. On October 2, 1975, he received a five-years-to-life sentence; the judge initially continued bail pending appeal but revoked it later that day after learning that Allen had spoken publicly in his own defense. His eventual release date remains unresolved.
A November 1975 report says Judge Lawrence Rittenband revoked Allen’s appeal bail after learning that he spoke at an October 1 defense rally. It reports Allen arriving at jail on October 3 and a further bail hearing on October 7. This account describes renewed confinement after an earlier bail release; its chronology differs from the October 2 recommitment previously reported.
Workers Vanguard reported on December 19, 1975 that Philip L. Allen had been released on bail after two months in Chino State Penitentiary. Judge Lawrence Rittenband restored $25,000 bail on December 11, and Allen personally spoke at a Los Angeles City College rally celebrating his release on December 15. The report therefore confirms actual release during December, while distinguishing the bail order from the physical prison discharge.
Workers Vanguard no.89, December 19, 1975, PDF page 6; Workers Vanguard no.89, December 19, 1975, PDF page 9.
The continued LivernoisFive article cites the PartisanDefenseCommittee’s earlier PhilipAllen campaign as an example of defense against racial judicial victimization. This is contemporary campaign context without a new personal arrest, punishment or complete duration.
