John L. Phillips Jr.

John L. Phillips Jr. (1924 or 1925 – February 16, 2008) was an American judge, businessman, and civil rights activist. He served as a New York City Civil Court Judge for the second Brooklyn district from 1977 to 1994, with the exception of a six-year period between the 1980s and 1990s. He owned the Slave Theater and Black Lady Theatre, as well as several properties in Bedford–Stuyvesant. After being legally judged mentally incompetent in an investigation observers said was politically motivated, his estate was heavily sold off by court-appointed guardians and he was living in poor conditions in assisted care during the final decade of his life.