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URGENT ACTION MEMORANDUM Moh : Charles Mcdew, Chairman 6

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URGENT ACTION MEMORANDUM Moh : Charles Mcdew, Chairman 6 URGENT ACTION MEMORANDUM mOH : Charles McDew , Chairman St udent Nonviolent Coordinatin~ Co~mitt ee 6 Raymond str eet, N. 111[ . J Atlanta 14, Geor gi a. TO: All frie nds of justice Clyde K~nnard is in jail today in Parchman Penitentiary, Parchman, Mi ss­ issippi for alleged the ft of $2 5 worth of chicken feed. He has been in prison for almost two years; he hEls five to go . His ' crime ' was l1Gver r eally the ft; but hi s att empts to enter all- white Mississippi Southern University in 1958 and 1959. (See enclose d fact sheet.) Thi s case dem::mds action from all Americans dev:>ted to justice o 1'ie ask you to help. \fHAT YOU CAN DO 1. 'hTrite l etters to Pr esident Jehn F. Kennedy, Attnrney Gener al Rribert Fo Kennedy, your lc·cal congr essmen and sem.t8rs, asking that the JustL,e Dep2...T1jffient ent er Cl yde Kennard ' s case ,\-lith an amicus curae brief. Ther e is clear evidell'J8 that Kennar d ls rights have been violated under the 1 4th Amendment. 2 . ','Irite l etters about Kennard to your l o~al :)r C8.mpUS nm-Jspaper explaining the case . 3. Begin a t elegr am campaign t:J the 'VJhit e House in be half of Kennard. 4.. Write to Kennar d hirnsel f., at F.?rcht..lan state Penitentiar y, Par chman, Mississ­ i ppi. Send your l etters regi s t er ed so that they will be deliver ed o 5 . Pbket your lo c2~ Feder al building aski )lg for federal intervention in this c ase. 6. Picket any local Mississippi State office or Chamber of Comme rce. FET ITION Circulate petitions in your city or on your campus to the President and Att~rney Gener al, asking t hat t he Feder al Government enter i n behalf of Cl yde Ken n ard~ Individual petitions are ver y effe ctive, but sh~uld you want a samrl e , SOG enclosed; if you want to use it as is, duplicat e ~s many copi es as ne cGssaryc SEND CONPLETED PETITIONS OF ANY SORT TO THIS OFFICE . Cl yde Kennard has been in f,Tist)n in IvIiss i ssippi f~r almost two years . That is two years too long. \pIe ask you t o do everything in your pOvler to see t hat Kennard is r eleased ~~ediat e ly. Page 1 of three pages " FACT SHEET ON CLYDE KENNARD'S II"IPRISOID-lENT IN MISSISSIPPI Clyde Kennard, a .younr; Ne [~ ro !Tho finished ~hree years at the University of Chica.go, applied to fJIic:sissippi Southern University., As a result, he is now serving a 7-·year prison term for al13ged theft at Parchr:J.an State Penitentiary, ParchrlCtn, Hississippi. After successfully completing three years at the University ~f Chicago, Clyde Kennard had to return home to Hattiesburg, Vlississippi, t{9 support his mother and disabled step-father on their small farm .. In 1958, Kennard applied for admission to Mississippi S c -~_tn 8 1 T. jf~j.~"T' .'. ·' · · · i: -:; yo He ~vas then called to a meeting in Jackson, )\rlississippi, ~rHh Goven v,:::.' cT , ? , Coleman and Dr. W. D~ M{,Cain, President of :r-iSU. He was told that if he wl·,:ll- dre.. r his application, the State would pay his expenses at any college in ~\Jnerica l'11hich would accept him. Kennard refused this offer, b'J.t agreed -~~ at the Gover­ nor's request -- to \vithhold his application until after the app:coaching electionso In the Fall of 1959, Kennard reappJied to MSU. During an interview with President IVlcCain (at t.;hich )\rJr. Zack J 0 Van Landingham, chief investigator ::f the St,ate Sovereignty Commission was present) ho lioJa3 rojecte~ b,: ' !: -: ,' ~:!e Gf ;':1' ...-1~:; ~ clos e ,~ . "de ficiencies and irreg'J.::'aritjies" in hi.s ap~~ J.icdi. i.:r." t .~] ·l.'.~ "[ .~ -T'.J.'c,-,:,d t,o his C ell' a£,~jer the interview, Kennard. was arrested and ch-3.:::'gE".t 'r'';'' th ·~-e ·::: k :J. e ss driv:i.ng o 'l'ne charge of illecal possessi::-n of liquor Ivas adJeJ at the ~;;lice station after police al18geclly 'faun.'!. several pints Gf l'11hish3Y in his car. Says a cousin; "It!s ohv-~.u\j.s those men planted that whiSKey in Clyd". is C'8.r o oo He neithe:c drinks nl~r smokes. 1t The verdict was guilty, the fine, $600 .. 00. An appeal was denied. In 1960, Kenm.rd W2.S chffi'ged H~_t :: rO~8iving 5 bass of s · i j O~: . e~: ., dLl.cken feed (v8~ued at $5 each) and 1.v i"ljh be ir:.g ct:. C'.(;:- 8 S ~-; G :L' y to their· r:-hs .f t ~ 'n."; illiterate teen-ager charged ..lith the actu2.l ·GhBft c:.l2i ; ~18 d ;. as ~/';::'''lJ ':' ' b 1I,·:t '.,ne ss, that Kenn::trd had initiated and planned the burglary. HOviCver:J the witne s s I f ~a·t.l:'E'r testimony shOived that Kennard did not in fact have the nece ssary kntlwle dge cf the ,,rarehtJUse and of the watchman's schedule to have done sOo The State 's witness,Johr~y Lee Roberts, was sentenced to five years on probation and is not in prisono Clyde Kennard was sentenced to seven ye ars in Parchman Penitentiary. The verdict reached by an al1-white jury (Negroes in F~rr e st CO~lty are systematically excluded from registering to vote, and thus from tho jury rolls) took ten minutes. Kennard has served approximately two years of his sentence. During part of this time he was seriously il1 and was moved to a hospital in Jacks~n where he received numerous blood transfusions. The State has announced that the time spent in the hospital 1\dll not be credited to his sentence. In 1959 Governor Coleman stated: "If Clude did reapply, there'd be no way of holding him out, because h1.s record 1ITaS sufficient. There'd be no alternative but to close (the school).!! Today, there is an alternative, for state law pro­ hibits the admission into a state school of anyone convicted of a felony. PETITION TO: JOHN F. KENNEDY, President of the United states of America ROBERT F. KENNEDY, Attorney General of the United states of America WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, petition you fer relief of Clyde Kennard, imprisoned for almost t ..ro years in Po.rcru;lan Penitentiary, Parchman" Mississippi, on a charge of alleged theft of $25 worth of chicken feed c }rr . Kennard had applied to Yuss­ issippi Southern University in 1958 and 19590 In 1959; as he was leaving his interview with MSU ~fficials, he was arrested for reckless driving. At the police station, officials said Mr. Kennard had several pints of illegal whiskey in his car. YlI' . Kennard was fined $600 -- with no appeal of the case~ In 1960, five sacks of chicken f eed ~vere st~len from the K,rrest County Cooper aUve 1.va:!:'8ho1;.se~ J0hnny Lee Roberts, a 19-year old illitern.t e , confessed to the cl'jr,1G as S{;~tije~3 k Ltness, but said that 1'1ro Kennard had ins'ijigated the theft. Roberts I C';';{l ·~.t% :'J J jTLC.Cl~{ !'8- vealod that Mr. Kennard did not have the necessary knm"il edge of: t.he 'ITa:r.c::!hUU33 and of the w'atchman's schedule to have planned the burglary. An all~T;Jhit8 Jury (Negroe s are systematically excluded from registering to vote in :Ft:~l~rest County, and are therefore excluded from jury rolls) deliberated ten minutes before find­ ing Mr . Kennard guilty and sentencing him to seven years I imprisonment .. 1.fE , THE UNDERSIGNED, ask you to intervene in this case on L 8jU.~ f :, f Clyde Kennard and on be half of justice. It is clear that the c::\"L'. :c ~, ~LL:.·; ;;, " II":::,.) Ke nnard, a Negro, have been violate d under the 14th Amendnlerlt (; f tIlr;:! l.fr:,' :'. -,.'; ;-;;i d C.r:o~; l~o n­ stitution. NE, THE U1\1DERS IGtTED 5 ElTare of the position of t he F3d!3n'. :. ',;u:,rerr;mu·.' G in the case of Jame s l'1e r edit,h . ~ ask you to file an aJnicus curac hdef l . ~l ha:.f () f Clyde Kennard and to r elease this man from bondage. l1 Clyde Kenm.rd IS f'nly "crime is that he w~nte~, ~j : ~~:_..:~~~~>~ :tvIeredith~ to attend the Gchool uf his ch-;l ce L::,,~: .~:?:. .~ ~ .~ t.3 n ~1~.3sissipr)~~ 1. (Name ) (Addre ss ) 2. 3. 4. - - ---- ------- 5. 6. 7. 5. 9. 10. .
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