ARTHUR GARFIELD HAYS CIVIL LIBERTIES PROGRAM
New York University School of Law Washington Square, New York 3
Area Code 212 SP 7-2000 NORMAN DORSEN Director
HAYS MEMORIAL COMMITTEE J. David Stem Chairman William Abramson Roger N. Baldwin William J. Butler April 22, 1963 Osmond K. Fraenkel E. Sheldon Stewart Mr. R. Hunter Morey ADVISORY COMMITTEE 807 Winslow Leonard B. Boudin Emergency Civil Liberties High Point, N.C. Committee
Helen Buttenwieser Dear Hunter:
Robert Carter National Association for the Thanks very much for your long letter. I Advancement of Colored People am particularly interested in getting a first Nanette Dembltz hand report of events in Mississippi, which N. Y. Civil Liberties Union are even more shocking than I had naively Saul C. Downes Comm. on Civil Rights, supposed. N. Y. County Lawyers Assn.
Edward J. Ennis As for your legal questions, I am afraid
Irwin Feinberg, M.D. that the civil liberties program doesn't work quite that way. We do not regard our work Arnold Forster Anti-Defamation League as generally available for questions of the
Murray Gordon character you raise. If the General Counsel BUI of Rights Comm., Assn. of CORE thinks that any or all of them are of of the Bar of /he City of N. Y. sufficient importance to the organization, I Bernard C. Hennessy shall be happy to consider doing some work on Theodore W. Kheel them. Theodore Leskes
American Jewish Committee I hope you're finding the field more
Anthony Lewis stimulating and rewarding than the desk. Ephraim London Sincerely, Will Maslow American Jewish Congress Robert B. McKay
James M. Nabrit, III NAACP Legal Defense and Norman Dorsen Educational Fund Associate Professor of Law Sol Rabkin Anti-Defamation League
Carl Rachlin ND:rc
Congress of Racial Equality
Charles A. Reich
Alan U. Schwartz
Jack Sheinkman
John C. Somers Workers Defense League Melvin L Wulf American Civil Liberties Union OUTHERN
HRISTIAN Citizenship Education Program EADERSHIP
Septima P. Clark ONFERENCE Dorothy F. Cotton Martin Luther King, Jr., President Andrew J. Young Ralph Abornathy, Treasurer Annell Ponder October 8, 1963
Mr» S. Hunter Morey
901J Nelson Street
Greenville, Miss0
Dear Hunter,
I am enclosing some brochures which describe our citizen ship education program. On the G S brochures are application blanks for attending the teacher training programs at Dor chester* I hope that you and one other person from the Greenville area will be able to attend the November workshop to be held on November 18-22,
Please work with Mrs. Mary Q. Robinson, our supervisor in the Greenville area, as you recruit people, and keep records on your contacts. We are choosing key people from many areas over the state and will be able to take only a few from Greenville next month since we have four teachers there now.
Good luck.
Sincerely,
(Miss) Annell Ponder }%U*.
334 AUBURN AVE., N. E., ATLANTA 3, GEORGIA • TELEPHONE 524-1378 I. A. A. C. P. LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 10 Columbus Circle, New York 19, N. Y.
JUDSON 6-8397
October 18, 1963
Mr. R. Hunter Morey 90l!< Nelson Street Greenville, Mississippi Dear Mr. Morey: I am in receipt of your letter of October 9th. The Legal Defense Fund will pay the legal cost of these cases as well as court costs, but we cannot pay any appeal bonds which is what I gather you were referring to in connection with the $500 discussed in your letter. We do not have a Legal Handbook out but we are in the process of preparing one. It is something that involves a great deal of effort while we must at the same time try all our cases. As to the question concerning a bonding company I do not have the answer but I am referring it to John Pratt of the National Council of Churches who may be able to help in this area although I am not at all certain.
Jack Greenberg JG:rh Director-Counsel
Contributions are deductible for U. S. income tax purposes National Officers Executive Officers National Officers President Director-Counsel Vice President DE. ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS JACK GREENBERG HON. FRANCIS E. RIVERS Secretary Associate Counsel Treasurer DR. GEORGE D. CANNON CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY MRS. THORNBURG COWLES
Board of Directors MRS. FARROW R. ALLEN DAVID E. FELLER L. D. MILTON Riverdale, N. Y. Washington, D. C. Atlanta, Ga. JESSE B. BLAYTON, SR. DR. HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK THE VERY REV. PAUL MOORE, JR. Atlanta, Ga. Bronxville, N. Y. Indianapolis, Ind. HON. HOMER BROWN DR. JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN JAMES M. NABRIT, JR. Pittsburgh, Pa. Brooklyn, N. Y. Washington, D. C. CHARLES BUCHANAN WALTER GELLHORN LOUIS H. POLLAK New York, N. Y. Englewood, N. J. New Haven, Conn. DR. GEORGE D. CANNON AMOS T. HALL SHAD POLIER New York, N. Y. Tulsa, Okla. New York, N. Y. DR. ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS HON. WILLIAM H. HASTIE DR. -C. B. POWELL New York, N. Y. Philadelphia, Pa. New York, N. Y. WILLIAM T. COLEMAN, JR. GEORGE E. C. HAYES BISHOP FRANK MADISON REID Philadelphia, Pa. Washington, D. C. KittreU, N. C. MRS. THORNBURG COWLE3 HANS W. HUBER HON. FRANCIS E. RIVERS New York, N. Y. Red Bank, N. J. New York, N. Y. JOSEPH DAVIS BENJAMIN KAPLAN MRS. SAMUEL I. ROSENMAN New York, N. Y. Boston, Mass. New York, N. Y. ADRIAN DeWIND JOHN G. LEWIS, JR. WILLIAM H. SCHEIDE New York, N. Y. Baton Rouge, La. Princeton, N. J. W. J. DURHAM MRS. ALFRED M. LINDAU DR. CHARLES H. THOMPSON Dallas, Texas New York, N. Y. Washington, D. C. THOMAS B. DYETT CHAUNCEY L. WADDELL New York, N. Y. New York, N. Y.
"COMMITTEE OF 100" Soger N. Baldwin John Hope Franklin Archibald MacLeish Albert E. Barnett Buell G. Gallagher Leopold Mannes Robbins W. Barstow Harry D. Gideonse Benjamin E. Mays Viola W. Bernard Mary Barnett Gilson Robert J. McCracken Leonard Bernstein Roland B. Gtttelsohn Karl Menninger Eugene Carson Blake Frank P. Graham Charles Merrill Sarah Gibson Blanding Morton S. Grossman Paul Moore, Jr. Justice Jane M. Bolin - John Gunther Carl Murphy Van Wyck Brooks r Herman Hailperin r Reinhold Niebuhr Fred L. Brownlee S. Ralph Harlow George L. Paine Ralph J. Bunche Hornell Hart Palfrey Perkins Charles Bunn James G. Heller Irving Pflaum Muriel M. Buttinger Harrison Hires Bishop James A. Pike Mrs. Samuel McCrae Cavert Bishop Henry W. Hobson A. Philip Randolph Allan Knight Chalmers John Haynes Holmes Frederick E. Reissig Grenville Clark Sidney Hook Carl T. Rowan Bernard C. Clausen George K. Huston John L. Saltonstall, Jr. William H. Seheide Rufus E. Clement Mrs. Raymond V. Ingersoll Guy Emery Shipler Fanny Travis Cochran Mrs. Henry A. Ingraham George N. Shuster James Bryant Conant Mordecai W. Johnson Mrs. Harper Sibley Albert Sprague Coolidge Horace M- Kallen Lillian Smith George S. Counts Kivie Kaplan Henry Hitt Crane Arthur B. Spingarn Frank Kingdon Ruth Ellington Stamatiou Albert Edward Day Freda Kirchwey Albert C. Dieffenbach Telford Taylor John Howland Lathrop Caston Doggett Norman Thomas Bishop W. Appleton Lawrence Ralph Ellison Charles J. Turck Herbert H. Lehman Morris L. Ernst William H. Vanderbilt Henry Smith Leiper H. William Fitelson Bruno Walter Harry Emerson Fosdiek Max Lerner Bradford Young Alfred Baker Lewis
The "Committee of 100," a voluntary cooperative group of individuals headed by Dr. Allan Knight Chalmers has sponsored the appeal of the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. since 1943 to enable the Fund to put into operation a program designed to make desegregation a reality throughout the United States. : , - xx&o
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SHE *" m%^ youra Vote For Freedom Headquarters AARON HEHRY for Governor 1072^10 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi 39203 State Executive Committee Rev. R. L. T. Smith, FINANCE CHAIRMAN Charles Evers, SPEAKERS BUREAU CHR. Henry Briggs, PUBLIC RELATIONS David Dennis, POLICY COMMITTE E CHR. Bob Moses, CAMPAIGN MANAGE R District Managers Frank Smith, nt CONGRESSIONAL DIST. Annell Ponder, 2nd CONGRESSIONAL DIST. Tom Block, 2nd CONGRESSIONAL DIST.
October 30, 1963 L.D. Bayfield Chief of Folic® Jackson, Mississippi Dear Chief Rayfield: In order to publicise our ©lection campaign, we would like to use sound trucks to wake annownements in favor of our candidate, These would be used only in legro neighborhoods, so it is extreme ly unlikely that any public disturbance will result. We respectfully request the issuance of a police permit en titling us to operate the sound trucks.
Sincerely, Dona Richards Hinds County Campaign Manager November 1^* ^9^3
Mr. Mike Miller ' l e/o Handel 2?0?| Virginia Berkeley §t California. Dear Miles,. • I hope yen!re still recovering null. Jean said to give you greetings,, Me made a mistake with your affidavit thing, as jm may knew |Ifia not pares.) • Anyway, »efi^ just beginning legal proceedings to get the stuff tvm out of the car which the authorities confiscated. Me can't find jour affidavit, ate, i .further complication is that Jesi Brown wqn*t take the case, even though the NAACP Legal Defense Fundi agreed to finance it* until' he is formally ro^ iea "3d to by the clients {you and Gene). We don't toon tenia dene's whereabouts. fheref©re, would you be so kind ss to?. •• 1. Write to Jesi Brown fatty* R. Jess Brown, 125) M. Parish St., Jaekson* Jdiss«)» asking Ms to represent you sac! tune In r recovering your property. " 2* Send us again, as sell as you'can replace it. the affidavit you originally prepared and/or signed* ©r tell us anytling you know abuut how we could find lte 3. dive us as address where we can contact Gene* if' you have one* Thanks greatly* The sooner y©u aas er this, ©specially the letter to Jess Brown* the seoner we can finally get started en the.thing. Yours truly, fau CMM^ (It- I, A. A. C. P. LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC.
10 Columbus Circle, New York, N. Y. 10019
JUDSON 6-8397
November 27, 1963
Mr. Oscar Chase Council of Federated Organizations 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear Mr. Chase: I have your letter of November 20. Let me see if I can deal with the questions raised point by point. As to the inadequacies of legal representation, I think we should realize the extent to which the three Mississippi lawyers are overworked. I do not doubt that coordination will help some. I have asked Derrick A. Bell of our staff to attend your meeting of December 15, to see what can be done along this line. As to law students, I think this also may be useful and I will talk to Howard Slater about it. As you know he is in a position to do some recruiting and assigning. However, I have some doubt about how much can be done even with this help. I am not as optimistic as you are, but all we can do is try. I do not think it is a good idea for private citizens to be filing their own law suits. There have been some efforts along this line, all of which have led to disaster. As to a single suit covering the whole state, this is a matter which we have researched and have come to the conclusion that it would complicate, rather than simplify things. After the December 15 meeting, perhaps we will have a notion of what can be done.
JacI Gxeenberg Director-Counsel
Contributions are deductible for U. S. income tax purposes ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS The "Committee or 10CT Chairman in support of
MEMBERS Roger N. Baldwin The N.A.A.CP. Le^al Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Viola W. Bernard Leonard Bernstein Barry Bingham Eugene Carson Blake Sarah Gibson Blanding SUITE 2030 Justice Jane M. Bolin December 9, 1963 Van Wyck Brooks 10 COLUMBUS CIRCLE . Ralph J. Bunche Charles Buon NEW YORK 19, N. Y. Muriel M. Buttinger Mrs. Samuel McCrae Cavert LACKAWANNA 4-6702 Allan Knight Chalmers Grenville Clark Rufus E. Clement Fanny Travis Cochran Dear Friend: James Bryant Conant Albert Sprague Coolidge George S. Counts It is not necessary to recall to any American the role of John F. Henry Hitt Crane Albert Edward Day Kennedy in the struggle to end the bondage of our Negro citizens. Albert C. Diffenbach Caxton Doggett On the day last summer, when his executive action enforced the Ralph Ellison court-ordered admission of two young people to the State Univer Morris L. Ernst H. William Fitelson sity of Alabama, the late President summoned all America to act Harry Emerson Fosdick John Hope Franklin against the injustice that weighs on every child born a Negro in Buell G. Gallagher Harry D. Gideonse our country. An excerpt from that appeal is enclosed for you. Mary Barnett Gilson Roland B. Gittelsohn Frank P. Graham The legal phase of this effort is the task of the N.A.A.CP. Legal Morton S. Grossman John Gunther Defense Fund. Throughout the South we defend citizens arrested in Herman Hailperin S. Ralph Harlow peaceful demonstrations—the count today is more than 8,000 men, Hornell Hart women and children! Our lawyers seek through court action to gain James G. Heller Bishop Henry W. Hobson equality for Negro Americans in education, housing, hospital care, John Haynes Holmes Sidney Hook voting, public accommodation and employment. We have appeared in George K. Hunt on Mrs. Raymond V. Ingersoll scores of cases now pending in behalf of Negro children who are Mrs. Henry A. Ingraham denied equal educational opportunity. Mordecai W. Johnson Horace M. Kallen Kivie Kaplan Frank Kingdon The costs of every legal action undertaken to defend the consti Freda Kirchwey John Howland Lathrop tutional rights of Negro Americans must be met by voluntary con Bishop W. Appleton Lawrence tributions. Every legal action to frustrate the granting of these Herbert H. Lehman Henry Smith Leiper rights is financed from the treasuries of Southern states. Max Lerner Alfred Baker Lewis Archibald MacLeish Leopold Mannes We have come during this tragic and yet hopeful year to a time Benjamin E. Mays when far greater opportunities exist than ever before to gain hu Robert J. McCracken Karl Menninger man rights through the judicial process. Our ability to achieve Charles Merrill Paul Moore, Jr. through the courts the fulfillment for every citizen of his con Carl Murphy Reinhold Niebuhr stitutional rights is only limited by the funds available to us. George L. Paine Palfrey Perkins Irving Pliaum In our country, grievances must be redressed through the orderly James A. Pike A. Philip Randolph process of the law. In this task we ask your urgent help. Frederick E. Reissig Carl T. Rowan John L. Saltonstall, Jr. Sincerely yours, William H. Scheide Guy Emery Shipler George N. Shuster Mrs. Harper Sibley Lillian Smith Arthur B. Spingarn Telford Taylor Norman Thomas ~ Allan Knight Chalmers, Charles J. Turck Chairman Harold C. Urey William H. Vanderbilt Bradford Young
Dedicated to the Creation of an America of Justice and Equality for Our Negro Fellow Citizens All contributions are deductible for U. S. Income Tax Purposes. February 5, 1964
Stephen I. Sehlossberg Bernard F. Ashe Mississippi Right to Counsel Problem
Dear Steve; As you know, from Ernie Mazey's letter of December 23 and, the attachments thereto, a problem exists in, obtaining counsel to represent defendants in some of the civil rights cases in the State of Mississippi. As best as I can determine, some of the judges of the local courts have announced that any out-of-state attorney appearing before them must have a local lawyer present at all stages of the proceedings. This has created a problem since there are only three Negro attorneys in the state and the white attorneys refuse to cooperate. Thus, if the rule is enforced, the assistance of out-of-state attorneys would be effectively precluded. The above circumstances create a conflict between the constitutional right of a criminal defendant to counsel of hia own choosing and the right of the state to determine who shall practice law before its courts. Section 8666 of Title 32 of the Mississippi Code nets forth the conditions and limitations under which attorneys of other states may appear and plead in special causes, A copy of the statute is attached hereto. I should point out, however, that the statute imposes no such condition as described above. The basis of an accused's right to counsel is the Sixth Amendment in federal prosecutions and the Fourteenth Amendment in state prosecutions. In Gideon, v. ffainwright, 372 U, S, 335, 9 L. ed. 2d 799 (1963), the Supreme ComrTolTi1:ie~tSlle^5tates, overruling contrary precedent, in an opinion by Justice Black, held that the Sixth Amendment's provision that in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to have the assistance of counsel for his defense was made obligatory upon the states by the Fourteenth Amendment, citing Powell v. Alabama, 237 U. S. 45, 84 ALR 527 {1932): Gros- jean v. American PrSnTUoTT^TM,' t, 233, 56 S. Ct 444 (1936); Johnson v. Zerbst, 3WirST^rar3*OrCt. 1019 (1938); Avery v. Alabama, 3lTB^CS7~" TO~ TD S. Ct 321 (1940); and Smithy, Q* GradyTTlirOT^rTg^TQl S. Ct 572 (1941). Mr. Justice BlacFHiteTtKiun^icited cases indicate that the Court had long ago unequivocally declared, subsequent cases to the contrary notwithstanding, that the right to the aid of counsel is fundamental and essential to a fair trial and is enforceable against the states under the Fourteenth Amendment. I agree wholeheartedly with Justice Black1 s decision and feel that the issue of the right to counsel is now, if not before, an absolute right which cannot be abridged in any criminal proceeding. I must acknowledge, however, that Justice Harlan takes issue with this position in his concurring opinion since he feels that the Court* s decision does not "automatically carry over an entire body of federal law and apply it in full sweep to the states. "As Justice Douglass points out in his opinion, however, this view of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights made applicable to the states has not prevailed and that rights protected against state invasion by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment are not watered down versions of what the Bill of Rights guarantees. See for example cases cited in Speiser v. Randall, 357 U. S. 513, 2 L. ed. 2d 1469 (1958) (concurring opinion of JuSHcSi" Black and Douglas); and Ohio ex rel Eaton v. Price, 364 U« S. 263, 4 JL, ed. 2d 1708 (1969) (separate opinion'of""justices T^renhan, Warren, Black and Douglas). Cf. Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U. S. 643, 6 JL, ed. 2d 1081 (1961), It is noteworthy that in Gideon, a case involving an indigent charged with a felony, the Court did noTspel'k in terms of an indigent charged with a felony but in terms of indigents "charged with crime". The constitutional right to counsel is not a right restricted to indigents. Consequently, any person charged with a crime, as I read Gideon, would be entitled to counsel and one of his own choosing as a matter cTrlgnU I do not think, from reading the recent cases in this area that the Court, if faced with the point blank issue whether the right to counsel is an absolute right would conclude other than that it is. See for example, Moore v. Michigan, 355 U. S. 155, 2 L. ed, 2d 167 (1957); Hamilton v. AlaTSn-£T"'loTTjT ST52, 7 L.. ed. 2d 114 (1961); Carnley v. Cocnran7'369 CHCSSST8 *- @d* 2d 70 (1962); Culorobe v. Connecticut,""36TTTS, 568, 6 L. ed. 2d 1037 (196 1) (concurring opinion of Justices Black and Douglas); and Reynolds v, Cochran, 365 U, S. 525, 5 L, ed, 2d 754 (1961). Compare the cited cases with the following Hudson v. North Carolina, 363 U. S, 697, 4 L. ed. 2d 1500 (I960); Mattox v, SicET, " 369 U. S. 656, 8 L, ed. 2d 178 (1%2); Chewning v. CuniilngfiamT^BTirg. 443, 7 L. ed. 2d 442 (1962); Crooker vTJSWfrWk, 5FI7 g.TTil, 2 L. ed. 2d 1448 (195 8) (Dissent of Justices 'Douglas as concurred in by Justices Warren, Black and Brezman); Cicenia y. LaGay, 357 U. S. 504, 2 -L. ed, 2d 1523 (1958) (Dissent); McI^eaT^Tulve?rT65 U. S. 109, 5 L. ed. 2d 445 (1961) (Separate opinion of * ''ju'stice'TSouglas, with whom Justice Brennan concurred); and Ferguson v. Georgia, 365 U. 5. 570, 5 L. ed, 2d 783 (1961). All of the cases cl^el™a¥oW^ei7KctlK© conflict on the Court in regard to the question of the right to counsel. However, whether dissenting or concurring, four justices, Warren, Brenaim, Black and Douglas have been consistent. Additionally, in Gideon the majority opinion was written by Justice Black and represented the view ol seven members of the Court, Thus it appears that the issue is now probably closed and the right to counsel of one's own choosing in a criminal proceeding, state or federal ha® for practical purposes fciCWW an absolute right, since more than likely the Court as constitiated would take that position.
This brings me then to a consideration of the question of whether the state *§ right to determine who shall practice in its Courts overrides this constitu tional right of the individual. That a state has such a right is not questioned here. See Martin v. Wolton, 368 U. S. 25, 7 I„, ed, 2d 5 (1961). What is questioned imWflB h#w tlWK WfI* is to be exercised as it regards out-of- state attorneys representing criminal defendant®. The Martin case arose out of a Kansas judge's refusal to allow a Kansas attori{ey7*wEo was also i member of the Missouri Bar, with offices in Kansas City, Missouri, to appear in a probate matter without the appearance or association of Kansas counsel. The Supreme Court in a per cur jam opinion held that the judge's action pursuant to Kansas law was notHBeyon^the allowable range of state action under the Fourteenth Amendment. However, it is noteworthy that Justices Douglas and Black dissented, contending that the Kansas Court's action denied the petitioner of equal protection of the law under the Fourteenth Amendment. Martin is inapposite for our purposes since it involved solely the right of an attorney to appear in a "foreign" court and not the right of a criminal defendant to have counsel of Ms own choosing. However, it does point out that even in a civil case, there may be a question of denial of equal protection.
The specific question raised by the Mississippi right to counsel problem has never been squarely presented to any federal court, although they have trod on the fringes of it. See, for example, Cooper y. | Hutchinson, 1S4 F. 2d 119 (3rd Cir. 1950). The closest any federal court has" come' to deciding this issue was in the case of U, S. v. Bergamo, 154 F. 2d 31 (3rd Cir, 1946), a case in which the court w^rjaeedl wiia 'fc* problmm of whether, within the federal judicial system, a federal district court must admit, in a federal criminal proceeding, an out-of-state attorney who was not generally qualified for admission to the bar of that court. In the Bergamo case the rules of court regarding the admission of non-resident attorneys are similar to the rule allegedly propounded by the judges of the local courts in Mississippi. The out-of-state attorney involved had complied with the requisites of the rule but was still denied admission by the presiding judge. The court in deciding the right to counsel' s question stated; "In the case at bar it is unnecessary to decide what might be the law if an out-of-the district attorney, not in good standing at the bar of which he was a member, had attempted to conduct the defense in the case at bar; nor need we decide the issue of whether a district court of the United States' Sy" rWuIre^o^^^ lb "bays asgbciated' witji b'lm.'ln'a. criminal"case a member of the "bar''''of'tSe" district court before," whTcb 'he"" seeks" to aa"pe'a'ri.l''"'''M"'lbe»V bV 'necessary condltibmTTSey "were 'met'Intne" instant case. To hold that defendants in a criminal trial rosy not be defended by an out-of-the district counsel selected by them is to vitiate the guarantees of the Sixth Amendment, Under the circumstances of the case at bar the defendants were deprived of the advice of counsel of their own choosing. Nor was their representa tion effective. Since they were deprived of a constitutional right the judgment of conviction pronounced by the court was voided. Johnson v. Zsrbst, 304 U. S, 458, 58 S. Ct. 1019, 82 JL. iX'TIoT.'" (Emphasis supplied.) Thus, we have on record a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals holding that the right to counsel in a criminal proceeding is an absolute right and that this right includes the right to be represented by an out-of-the district or out- of-state attorney of one's own choosing.* The U. S. Supreme Court in Mapp v. Ohio, supra, held that states could not use evidence obtained through Ulegal^seaxch' antfseizure in state criminal proceedings. This was the first direct attack in a long time upon state trial procedures which infringed upon individual constitutional rights in state criminal prosecutions. The Court had previously taken the position that only that conduct that constituted a denial of fundamental fairness and that was shocking to the universal sense of justice constituted a denial of due process. Setts v, Brady, 316 U, S. 455, (1942).
^f he 'Ser|4"rno^ cited in some state court decisions. Since we do noTnavetne volumes referred to below I do net have the names of these cases, nor do I know in what regard, if at all, the Bergamo decision was followed in the cases cited. The citations are: 8c STTTSl 295, 194 P. 2d 833, 96 C. A. 2nd 295, 215 P. 2d 748, IS N. J.S. 344, 55 A. 2d 64, 47 N. J.S.400, 136 A. 2d 5, 135 W. V. 482, 63 5. E. 2d 850, 159 S. 2d 359, and 326 S.W. 2d 40. As Justice Black, in his concurring opinion in Mapp, points out in quoting Boydv. United States, 116 U. S. 635: • "Constitutional provisions for th& security of person and property should be liberally construed, A close and literal construction deprives them of half their efficacy* and leads to gradual depreciation of the right, M if it consisted more in sound than in substance. It is the duty of the court s to be watchful for the constitutional rights of the citizens, and against any stealthy encroachments thereon." 367 U. S. 663. I think this statement expresses very well the court's awareness of and concern for the rights of the individual which may suffer injustice in the hands of the state and in the name of the state. The court's concern is again evidenced in the Gideon decision, supra, when it emphasises Justice Cardoso's stateimsaTIn Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U. S. 319, that "immunities that are valid as against the federal government by force of the specific pledges of particular amendments have been found to be implicit in the concept of ordered liberty, and thus, through the Fourteenth Amendment, become valid as against the states &»d that guarantees ' in their origin , , . effective against the federal government alone* had by prior cases 'been taken over from the earlier articles of the federal bill of rights and brought within the Fourteenth Amendment by a process of absorption*. " It would appear that the court is willing to continue its process of absorption of Bill of Rights guarantees into the Fourteenth Amendment. CONCLUSION Since the court has seemingly completely incorporated the Sixth Amendment right to counsel into the Fourteenth Amendment, logically, if faced with the issue which is the subject of this memorandum, the Court will have to take the same position as did the Third Circuit in the Bergamo case. For as the Court stated in Gideon: "In returning to these old precedents, (Powell v, Alabama, Grossjean v. American Press Corgpany,,,"Jotmnan v 7"%'yfflj!t, aTT^1Tiaf™aBovTJl»oua^er we^eTievethanthe new, '(SeHj1"v»"* Brady) we but restore constitutional principles estibllsaeo to achieve a fair system of justice. Not only these precedents but also reason and reflection require us to recognise that in our adversary system of criminal justice, any person haled into court* who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless coons-al is provided for Mm, This seams to us to be an obvious truth. Governments, both state and federal, quite properly spend vast sums of money to establish machinery to try defendants accused of crime, lawyers who prosecute are deemed essential to protect the public's interest in an orderly society. Similarly, there are few defendants charged with crime, few indeed, who fail to hire the best lawyers they can get to prepare and present their defenses. That government hires lawyers to prosecute and defendants who have the money hire lawyers to defend are the strongest indications of the wide-spread belief that lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries. The right of on© charged with crime to counsel may not be deemed fundamental and essential to fair trials in soma countries, but it is in ours, "
Fraternally,
FBA:jjm oeiu42aflcio Also sent to: T.T. Stubs, Hurt Bldg, Atlanta (Secretary) Jefferson Davis, Hurt Bldg, Atlanta (V President) J.S. Stone, Hurt Bldg, Atlanta (V President^ Hrank M. Malone, Hurt Bldg, Itlanta ( V PResident); Robert Go Elliott, Hurt Bldg, Atlanta (V President) Ben Screws Gilmer, 45 Edgewood Ave., Atlanta P.O. Box 2896 (president)
February 5$ 1964
Mr, W.E. Duncan Southern Bell Telephone Hurt Building Atlanta, Georgia Dear Mr. Duncan? Recently I received jeNyery disturbing Information concerning tele|Mioi seryAoaFln Mississippi. I learned from very re Hal ces/that Negroes in Camden, Miss. (in Madison County e applied time and again for telephonesjtith lifl e success, At this time there is not one Negroxin tha' area, not even the Negro school, who has/a telephone, but local white stores have some. Negroes 3 are also having difficulty getting phones; o five hundred dollar deposits have beer f me. Obviously no one would pay that aiac simple telephone, so many are still shout p; to Investigate this matter very thoroughly, gest that you do the same, and take the neees- to ensure that we can get reasonable telephone edlately. Freedom First, Together
Mr. Roy Wilklns Mattheo F. Suares, Jr. BAACP Fourth Congressional District 20 West 40 St. New York 18, N.Y, Mr. James Forman SNCC 8£ Raymond St. Atlanta, Georgia Mr. James Farmer Congress of Racial Equality 38 Park Row New York 38, New York THE UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER BOSTON
Serving the Lutheran Students in the Greater Boston Area
Rev. Henry E. Horn, Pastor Dunster & Winthrop Sts. 338 Harvard Street EL 4-6250 Cambridge, Mass. TR 6-3256
February 16, 1964
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee 8§ Raymond Street Atlanta, 14, Georgia
Dear Sirs:
Enclosed is a check for the sum of two hundred dollars (#200).
We are primarily concerned, at this moment, with the case of Claude Weaver, presently in jail in Mississippi under charge of having threatened a family with violence in the Canton campaign of SMCC. Therefore, we desire that this sum of money be used in the first instance for fees, fines, etc., connected with Claude's case. If these costs are already covered, please use our small sum of money as seems best for your work.
We would appreciate any information you can give us about Claude as his case(s) progress through the courts.
We understand that you publish a weekly Student Voice. Please place the Library of University Lutheran Church on your mailing list.
Thank you very much for yotir assistance.
Sincerely yours,
Lowell Halverson, President of the Council
Bruce L. Krag Vicar for Harvard University Lutheran Church
LH & BLK:ems Enc.
[Retyped from a faint original (xerox)] Cautoa, Mississippi February 21, 1964
Mr. S*L,' Matthews Mhycrj, City of Canton 46? I* Liberty, Cantoa, Miss* Dear sir.. Matthews: We., ilia members of the HadiBOD County ffevesisistj, dp hereby request pens 3?ion to distribute the enclosed leaflet In Caito% - Mississippif cud jir.dison County. Ms also request the city to reconsider the jinti-airsiilar ordinance, because we feel that it is a Violation 'of.the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to deny anyone tbo right to distribute leaflets as long as the material is not libelous,' The fallowing eructation froa a Supreme Court decision {Jamison v. fesasAi 313 g%iLs. jl 13) supports ©UP belief 1 n .• , , One who is rightfully on a street which the state has left open to-the public carries with hiss'there as else* where the constitutional right to 'express his views in as orderly fashion. This right extends to the cordaimiaation of Meat by hasifeills and literature as mil as -by the spo ken word*B Sa request an inmediate answer to- this request * Thank you.
lope f11ly youre9
Mr. Cleorge Raymond, Jr. lc Enclosure • ees Bertha MteKay* City Clerk, city Hall, Canton, Hiss. Ban C. Thompson, 164 QentQ-p St., Canton" Jaek Cauthen, 'Sheriff, Ifadison County Courthouse, Canton itty« Sen* Robert p, KMVMttgr, Dept, of justice, Washington 2^ P* &, Council of Federated Organisations, 101? Lynch &t*« Jackson, Mas. Eiditsen County Ifefsaent 838 In'.", %% Canton, 'Etfisissispi Ffcbru .• 196*1 WaxWrnstm We** ifaeJc Csuthen, Sheriff ':: .lisoa County Courthouse, • Csnton,. Mississippi . • Bear Mr, Canthen* JfBj the members of the ifedlsoB County Itoveiaentj 4Q hereby request of the Madison County Registrar, Kr, Foctc- - -11 and the Sheriff, 8r. Jack S« Cnuthen, to hire deputy registrars beginning February m$ 1B&-K On tMt cir;/ we arc 1 isivo voter re^i^-;'r',tion-dr,t¥e in'an attempt »&,t© increase registered voters la igedison County, v/e are e: p-svtins ® large answer of people to Qi'taopt to register during o»r drlvs. to idLa - - . * 1 kyationg on both sides MM 1the possibility of int«rf©res©« from eitixen* who- oppose Megroea ¥©tingt wa feel that the hiring of deputy registrars »iiii be. wry helpfu.1, vn6 would ilao 'be a **. ^ t > - •*» ^«- •Natt th:s 01 1 who could register |& * i 1 , fhis teaf Madison County and the state could begin to secure eqtsLlity for u31 eit in tits @tat*« Me request an answer to this letter as soon as possible-** Tnank you,
* xsftt'i ly yours,
Mr. deorge Rayaond* Jr. le cot Iff, Foot® Cauptell, Registrar, Nkllson County Courthouse, Cantos ^tty» 0-3a* Bobart F, Kennedy* fiept. of Jttftsiee* Washington 22^ §,6* Council of Federated %ga»iasatidR8, 1017 lynch St,, Jackson, Miss* VOTERS E7^5YONLE OVER a\ SHOCJUD ^-RefrisTEftgn
II F^3RURRY ^efeB-veReo TO CON\£ TOTH£ COONTV COURTHOUSE \M CANTON TO'R£-S,ISTER; Fes. 3t(^- FR_e_fc_oo(y\ "DRV IN CDNTOIV HeW? 4o CULX % Better 3obs^ hi a he ujctq^*, tv^RyoA/fr «p| OR OVER Co/v\ETa -rile COUNTY COURTHOUSF II xo^ oTO P I $ "J/ , \o.. \ once OYO \cx\n u Het^ioa ^ vflwaerr-or, ^ REGISTER ON PR^_ep6.N% T^^Y \£ Hr&.SS^--- - CoMf To 1* COUNTY couRtt-tovse*^ SHEARMAN & STERLING CHARLES C. PARLIN FREDRICK M.EATON CHAUNCEY B. GARVER JOSEPH W. DRAKE HENRY B.GUTHRIE 20 EXCHANGE PLACE ROBERT NIAS WEST GRAYSON M-P. MURPHY WALTER K. EARLE CLIFFORD M.BOWDEN JOHN A.WILSON DOUGLAS B. STE1MLE HENRY JAMES NEW YORK 5 GEORGE B. PIDOT GILBERT KERL1N HENRY HARFIELD ERIC H. HAGER WALTER F. PEASE WILLIAM A. PATTY UPTOWN OFFICE THOMAS F. FENNELL.IE ROBERT L.CLARE, JR. BOWLING GREEN 9-8500 399 PARK AVENUE CHARLES GOODWIN, JR. THOMAS A.O'BOYLE N EW YORK 22 JOHN R. A. BEATTY PATRICK J.GROWNEY CABLE: "NUM LATUS" THOMAS P. FORD C.BEDFORD JOHNSON ROBERT H. KNIGHT WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER OTTO CROUSE ANDREW KIRKPATRICK EUROPEAN OFFICE THOMAS L.HIGGINSON JOSEPH A, DOYLE 23, RUE ROYALE, PARIS D.CHRISTIAN GAUSS HANS H. ANGERMUELLER AMJOU tO- 23 CHARLES C. PARLIN, JR. JAMES R. ROWEN THOMAS R- NANGLE WILLIAM D.CARROLL "NUMLATUS PARIS" EDWARD HALLAM TUCK HAROLD J. DAW DAVID T. McGOVERN ROBERT M. FEELY MYLES V. WHALEN, JR. March 2, 1964 AIR MAIL Mr. Robert H. Moses 1708 Everett Street Jackson, Mississippi Re: Hattiesburg v. Moses Dear Mr. Moses: It appears that the City of Hattiesburg has declared your bond forfeited because of your failure to appear at the last term of court. Of course, I was not advised as to this until after the forfeiture was declared. However, the next term of court Is at 9:00 A. M., Monday, March 9, 1964, at the Forest County Courthouse, Hattiesburg. At that time I will seek to set aside the forfeiture of the bond and also appeal your case. Therefore, it will be necessary for you to appear at that time and place, and I would appreciate your communicating with me to confirm this. Thank you for your cooperation. Very truly yours, JRLunney ^f^^^^ lm U.S. v. Leflore County Mississippi— There Is the highest public interest in restraining the misuse of state criminal processes for the purpose of Js intimidating Negro citizens who engage in voter registration activity, and who seek to become registered voters." Tn this act:'on the Justice Department asked the court to issue an order restraining Leflore County officials from "denying to any person, by arrest, prosecution, detention, or otherwise, the right peaceably to speak or to assemble in protest against denials of the right to vote or to register to vote, or against the absence of protection in the exercise or attempted exercise of the right to v ote or tobscome regitetered to vote." f.'\ if 7 7 / / —%rcrrrs^»*' COMM.TTEEONPUBUCWOHKS „N, N.C. D '5 jTJSP. " - . HAWASS AND STAFF omecTOB ' March 3, *9& •TON. CH!KT CLEKK Miss Miriam Cohen 6lH G Street, S. E. Wa sh i ngt on, D. C. I>ear Miss Cohen: I have received the enclosed letter from the Department of the Army concerning alleged racial segregation at the Armed Forces Induction Center in Jackson, Mississippi at the time Mr. McArthur Cotton was recently there. I hope this letter adequately explains to 'you the circumstances. As you will note the Director of Selective Service has been advised of the segregated seating directed by the bus driver, and I am sure the appropriate action will be taken. If I can be of assistance on some future occasion^ please do not hesitate to let me know. With warmest regaras. Sincerely, Birch Bayb. United States Senator f - "Ol 1 At I if'v. "VC KUNSTLER KUNSTLER a KINOY t - ATTORNEYS AT LAW 511 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 17, N.Y. WILLIAM M. KUNSTLER MURRAY HILL 2-83,7 CABLE ADDRESS MICHAEL J. KUNSTLER "KANDKLEX" ARTHUR KINOY March 9, 1964 Mr. Robert Moses c/o COFO 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Miss. Dear Bob: The enclosed brief was just filed with the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in our mandamus action which was dismissed by Judge Youngdahl. There are three copies for some of the other plaintiffs in your area who might wish to read it. I would appreciate it if you would see that all in terested parties get a chance to read it. I am glad that you solved your problem with respect to the three men charged with armed robbery, Please let us know if we can be of any help to you in any future matter. Cordially, 7§«AJ? William M. Kunstler WMK:bkf Enclosures LAW OFFICES GOODMAN. CROCKETT. EDEN, ROBB & PHILO 32ND FLOOR, CADILLAC TOWER ERNEST GOODMAN DETROIT. MICHIGAN 48226 GEO. W. CROCKETT, JR. MORTON A. EDEN TELEPHONE 9 65-OO30 DEAN A. ROBB HARRY M. PHILO P D. WM. MAKI RICHARD M. GOODMAN March 18, 1964 CLAUDIA H. SHROPSHIRE ROBERT L. MILLENDER MARIJANA REL1CH GEO. J. BEDROSIAN The Reverend John Cameron 401 Ashford Hattiesburg, Mississippi Dear Reverend Cameron j REs PETE STGHSR 1. As promised,* X am enclosing the proposed Petition for Habeas Corpus, which includes also a Petition re Repre sentation of Counsel and a Motion to Proceed in Forma Pauperis. It is requested that you have Mr. Stoner sign the verification which appears on the last page at the place marked "X", and also, that you have his signature notarized. This verification applies to and will be sufficient for the combined Petitions. 2. Return the signed and notarised document to me in P the enclosed self-addressed and stamped envelope. You may tell Mr. Stoner that these documents will then be sent to Attorney Benjamin Smith in Hew Orleans, who has agreed to come to Hattisburg immediately and present them to the Federal District Judge. ]| You may also tell Mr, stoner that in the event the Dis trict Judge refuses to accept these documents, Attorney Smith will return to Hew Orleans and present the documents to a Judge of the Federal Court of Appeals in Hew Orleans. Best wishes. Cordially, OWC/b Geo. w. Crockett, Jr. copies tot Mr. Robert Moses Attorney Benjamin B. Smith STATE OF MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY SAFETY RESPONSIBILITY BUREAU P. O. BOX 958 JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI March 20 196ft- Robert H. !4orey 9ft0 Sidney St. Case Number 1190£l Greenville,Miss. Accident Date Jan 8 196ft- Accident Location D-l The Department has withdrawn the Order of Security Requirement or Suspen sion issued to you on FeD 21 19 6I4 The termination of this order was brought about by the receipt of the following checked item: ^5 1. Verification of an Automobile Liability Policy being in effect at the time of the accident. 2. Deposit of the amount of security required, 3. Evidence of release from liability. 4. Evidence of payment of claim. 5. Evidence of final adjudication of nonliability. 6. Evidence that your vehicle was legally parked. 7. Evidence of a duly acknowledged settlement agreement. 8. One year elapsed from date of accident and no lawsuit pending. 9. Accident report received. 10. , For the Commissioner of Public Safety. George K. Saucier, Director Safety-Responsibility Bureau SR - 17 HAND, KIEFER, ALLEN & RYAN ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELLORS PENOBSCOT BUILDING Area Code DETROIT 26 3 13 MICHAEL J. HAND 48226 PHONE JOHN B. KIEFER WOODWARD ! -8O8O H. ROLLIN ALLEN OEORGE T.RYAN MaTChlS, 1964 Mr. Robert Moses, S.N.C.C. 1072 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi 39203 Dear Bob: As you may know, since I last saw you in Mississippi in November of 1963, I have been working with other attorneys in an effort to formulate a plan to blockade imposed against out-of-state lawyers practicing there. For your information, I am enclosing a brief of the law with regard to this prob lem which would appear to support a constitutional challenge to the practice. Last week I was in Washington D. C. , and 1 had a conference with Len Holt wherein we agreed that the best approach to the problem would be for me to attempt to appear on behalf of several defendants at their arraignments in circuit or county courts in Mississippi and force the issue. Accordingly, I would appreciate it if you would let me know when several defendants have arraignments scheduled within the same week so that I might handle their cases on one visit. I would prefer the timing to be in early Summer or late Spring. Perhaps you will have to get in touch with one of the local lawyers to determine these dates. However, it was Len's opinion that you would be the best person to have this information at hand. In addition to this project, I would be available for any other legal work while I am down there. If you feel that more could be accomplished by means of a telephone conference, you may call me at the above number. Very truly yours, HAND, KIEFER, ALLEN & RYAN )^^ hi John B. Kiefer JBK:ckb SHEARMAN & STERLING FREDRICK M. EATON GRAYSON M-P. MURPHY CHARLES C. PARLIN HENRY S. GUTHRIE ROBERT NIAS WEST COU NSEL 20 EXCHANGE PLACE CLIFFORD M. SOWDEN JOHN A. WILSON JOSEPH W. DRAKE DOUGLAS B. STEIMLE HENRY JAMES CHAUNCEY B. GARVER G EORGE S. PI DOT G ILSERT KERLIN WALTER K. EARLE HENRY HARFIELD ERIC H. HAGER NEW YORK 5 WALTER F. PEASE Wl LLIAM A. PATTY THOMAS F. FENNELL.IT ROBERT L.CLARE, JR. CHARLES GOODWIN, JR. THOMAS A. O BOYLE JOHN R. A. BEATTY PATRICK J. GROWNEY BOWLING GREEN 9-8500 THOMAS P. FORD C. BEDFORD JOHNSON ROBERT H. KNIGHT WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER UPTOWN OFFICE OTTO CROUSE ANDREW KIRKPATRICK 399 PARKAVENUE CABLE:"N U M LATUS" THOMAS L. HIGGINSON JOSEPH A- DOYLE NEW YORK 2 2 D. CHRISTIAN GAUSS HANS H. ANGERMUELLER CHARLES C. PARLIN, JR. JAMES R. ROWEN EUROPEAN OFFICE THOMAS R. NANGLE WILLIAM D.CARROLL 23, RUE ROYALE EDWARD HALLAM TUCK HAROLD J. DAW PARIS VIM DAVID T McGOVERN ROBERT M. FEELY ANJou IO-23 MYLES V. WHALEN, JR. "NUMLATUS PARIS" March 26, 196& Mrs, Lmon Imestine Woods 509 Mobile Street Hattiesburg, Mississippi 1st Insurance Company of Morth America, Philadelphia, TM, Dear Hens. Woods 1 As you will recall when 1 was In Hattiesburg on March 9th, you asked m© to look Into the cancellation of jour fire Insurance policy covering the dwelling at 515 1/2 Mobile Street and the concrete block Beer Qarden at 515 Mobile Street* I have been advised by the Insurance Company that the cancellation of your policy was brought to their attention on the afternoon of February 11th, the day you received the cancellation notice* An immediate investigation was ordered. W© have been advised that this cancellation was ordered solely for sound insurance reasons based on the physical condition of the property, and steps leading to the issuance of the cancellation notice were Instituted during the fall of 1963 by their processing office personnel in Austin, Texas, They have further advised that racial matters had nothing whatsoever to do with the cancellation, and as a matter of fact, they continue to insure two risks belonging to you In the same block. In view of the above, 1 am returning herewith your cancellation notice and transmittal letter of February 10th, Ymrf truly yours, JRLunney Ira Kncl, cc * vMr. Hobert H. Moses Mr. John M. Pratt LAW OFFICES GOODMAN, CROCKETT, EDEN, ROBB & PHILO 32ND FLOOR, CADILLAC TOWER ERNEST GOODMAN DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48226 GEO. W. CROCKETT, JR. MORTON A. EDEN TELEPHONE 96S-OOSO DEAN A. ROBB HARRY M. PHILO D. WM. MAKI March 31, 1964 RICHARD M. GOODMAN CLAUDIA H. SHROPSHIRE ROBERT L. MllXENDER MAR1JANA RELICH GEO. J. BEDROSIAN Mr. David Dennis 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear David: I am writing concerning the Pete Stoner case. I sent the papers to Reverend Cameron with instructions to have them Hffigned by Pete and notarized, and returned to me immediately. This was on March 18, and you will recall I discussed this procedure with you. A few days later, Attorney Conyers was going to Hatties burg and we asked him to expedite the return of the papers. He has returned. He informs us that before he left Hattiesburg the Stoner papers were signed and notarized and given to some one in the SNCC office to be mailed to me. Thus far, I have not received the papers. Obvious ly, nothing can be done by us for Stoner without these papers. Will you please investigate and let us know what happened. Vejrif tr u ly ,-yoiir s /- qfeo. W. Crockett,/ Jr GWC/b AIR MAIL SPECIAL DELIVERY t^SJI^Bloo -t frof& F#L(S- mo^/T k£t- (^ Cf §JU>~^LJL^S^ t% y, urn 1 «»»r . MertNirt 3t*4fc*« sir. HMnti laity **• JMMi Sow WT-,I April sw i$6k I - I l*gftt €«t«R#t far t!:i« fttwffif I* *JU#i«.«4»#i, S«HMOT HH -.*f f«*t 1 #f a at- i4f# at$af N% tint * f-at i? if mm«mm •* a* if ttitftfetr on **t m i® tJ*t iogal profosi'iiOii. *fca taalstva in ftfcs a»»# #f tswrnwa ftrw^we «r» fswpsiNeiJ i» *%•» unite #«* momti ami lWNsrl#iit# t# pwatoat lotto a** «r* tmtej««'tt#« i&#lr IbeaUat %» 1»rut.>i , «•# elaaliMHr Mi «*-# •apalAe if ,t*»*»li*tf at* still it etja i r#lA«# $t*tt afc&afli ka* «# «^te^ri-» .«•* ta avr tteitl Wtaaraat I It! «*>t aMtiajtit* tt fc* ley el tt aay ## ttot atgaiiaJMfctttl* away tf ya« *r# an «Bpsl#y®# tf, I ttfti it gqpn •yttlf it « tleet&ati tastoNMM a&*tlt •#ff yay#*tt tiiit awitr t» etitatrafta * aassat* e*ff fcattatfi all #f pig* 1* 1 feat* festal Ml ling «f vst«#sMwf#* 15 MUM to tte« Xa*Hi *f taftfcl, •Ktff iMMVli £#r t#*ffl# arfatt*a«» latitat******** awi«tlaa«f ex rataltattat ***!»** »t^r& f»r?s»**s m& bv.:>ln«a$3mm> -11 #f thtet mm #4ir«et«i nesit^t ^^T« ws^fcar* mm t&#*# «i» wffMNri MP t«r# IMSSMS ta»»lir## in 4 - ty« 1 ty i# ^tv rather Hwi *^»*.«ae»®.«f ra»«iiir*t; fmm tm^ptwmt betwttn **»*« »«f. •ad t»t *«:-£* ffei* *tll 4»#r»*j# t# KM •» aiai |alt ^»ta«»*a ti^^^ • Jnury trt*tt. it law *.: m*m&M®& toe €i*trii»t*«r I lure «*Uias for tr©4# ^j-«#*l l#r imU.timi im tm® 1»m$Wt a la* itlmm tt tant £|annfi#fpf 2 «w«4 that _«t inttna>aatutiaratltta* Milliajn Civil Llbtrtias Union, at) it** is" fill** in la* ®n®mm fiftt* Clneni*, tent it mis® a gantra! and »p#eial aannatl t§ tbt £>nanal faannlttlan and tbt S#»tnawi Cbrls* tlaa L#»4«P*ip tonfcrwce. B.an Ss^th/^ranttatttttd ttaa i-ettisiana MNI la* Orleans efea|^»rs @f tfc* ^S^^T/vii Libartia* Lilian an^ Mat Ltwytr* a «aaMa1« fe nfjtg:. fS©# / A^illnt T»%rar» Sttrolt, atebi- stnf aaat ^t;^y».:, C«ywS|^ i^^aan^a^ ttik p^nm atrwetwt*® ©f tst L«fFy«r*8 I than feSfcia mmM 1 ttnM ait with *&*» ^a«»«# tteia raiati^aaMF as a r#praaa«tatiir« tf ^r, Cv»rl * aclUin* ta atnti 1 mmld r#p^rt «I«P discuss* Inns, and alan rapwrt WMT eo«e«m» tt -ir» Bfsntoii» Ii©^^v«*'» 1 aJtsw* i»di#»ta4 that I an a wsatw of tha 7lori«sA civil Ltberfci^ E?aian# m& MaiM titt falata a»r dl»a«*alan to Atty* H«yt»#rt H«ifc««# an/ partner# • ttm s»#sl#.«ntt a^ to HI sjteani an* «lraat«r nf tfat laial ffta firat jstalaVan' an #ta«***i ama ^fet: aan-iftiintlanal rig&t it *s*it§» ta»a# tar aannaa-1, fc!si«, tf ttttrttt Sttrratrinu tt»« pmbiaaa ®f tfen awt«®r* ttafttt atto*nay* Ttaant is a difficulty i« finilna; «^?#pt*M# intnt etnntti ttaa tnnlii iriltinglj' intra^^a an m*t-#f«»t»ta ©tttnraay it Mat e»»rt. thm ajntttinn tf Urn slf»at«r# «tf tla# #nt*»f*#tat# ttttrnty a^a®- np ^blab was nnt r»»lva«* mm tbt an*-ft ion af §^ f««iar«i |sa^#» »*^ ra^nlra ^and far mv0ww ftatnral tf a ttiartjaajl a«»»». i&r* 1 tit H m$M. lanttltr ftaan pmstn^atf a p?npnniil that far awaey nniatnntaittaal distrtnt, «#«piyii*fg niife tbt fit* a**** Mch c«fs is nt**iatr# «bnrn alttys b® an attnrnty wis© an ptnatnt n* !*»€ tat tbt twaatr ntn- Jnci is btaiay tnnnsteta** %**is ^^4 tea fivvt nlbnMaayt fan 19 Mfftatf nr m fttttrneyaattnmty t tbtbtt afotnld bt wafts ayailafetf «itb natto itst)*ins *t ata^ far far tbtiv tanatitn* e«o natal* pwrl^n facts a "inent niaaasas kitty tbt trawling aa^aattatt nC Mat titntnay* bnt tbt attarnay nanM »«Tab#4«t* as aj^aibar e^m ttrtaNr* fbnm staaaai in bt a ttgnt gtsitlan nf tbt -uild, '«bat tbt CHiiist itajaM ttbn nana nf tbtir mm traraliafs na^tnata* *i*ct aMi valnninwini in aannat S in 9*4arnl frawta» tn t&* tn* ww* Matnrian* sn*b an »i«fs4s*lfpi ant batine e- rap^lintn far* nf inntaniaant «t stattA*** by aba Ctnatltntitn* I maite mist* Mm faint tuat aM lanynr* rmmtngr to anrt snt nf Mat «t*ta* tbann la * tmnnsslty ftar a wnrniat6i#r« Tbn isnapunsn wajs tbnt atsat -, ns It} tetnn in» till bn britftd by tbt »nt*cnlne at^nrnay* I ins anatan* nj*t nr faila* it bt fpinssnanta* ar tf^nAnfti tbn fmsjmr fsrajnai* fbatn ww Aiiwsanlan Matt Mat anlntttaafFs 1 Matt wmMmm taafe tnA property feaiwittnn Mian* banting! ansajiany nill tafet * mmm»mi p»r^v bania Mann nlrnrwiy tons* fnf€#iia*K bnt ibis isat MWMM aattti taw aaaattaMatitl nfftaya* tbn ©l#ei* ....,.»t ttti* dinnntnlnn* ftbtvt pat nt tnt f*nn tbn *>lafc fata**, e««s xr ftnn Inane* a an* ©watt* t 3, C*«ff-.Ab aanfilllfliffffiil' All nf ym§ tanm fenan laraniOias?. ltajnl t*a*t*annt in Btaniaaiypi mm m «^nmt« baal* in tntntfti ta>tnat&a*is* Ail nf ynn art atpnrat® nr#a«i- tstlsat nitb dirfaraa^ k^» nf mm®®& nblnb nab pWMMi a anwia^ affart* ^itbnn^ t " MT frnnt* any ntt bt pf«gt*nabi«s it it raaannalbl* Mnti all nf mm nn-«NBkna*n y#^ rffna^a, a»ab«af« aaaft itnrtiniptbt nn ttnnnn Itetl f»##nwnt» and taritfs* inbtrttnt n» tacb ntb«r*s «nana» and i^nrai *»a«t nMttr by »a«nr»ja«ne* nf Inn* far ««iplas *tty* --Mrtey i^^b^% e*l. « ln%» nasi atwtbnw ftn» »tn ¥n«H f rinaa*® nf «»ec '•n^^^Ws*n' W^faaasWvtiJ- •ww;^P$P' "^^PwW^w- Jpip^^^pwntw'^nt- '.awt^^fe^tpfflpp .:^^»^P*J^PS^ _;^ "^s^ta^n/'^Pta^^awPitn • Ip^p-.^pnw^n^ip- '^^npp*$lt'^'!* nnnM «^» Wba ^arriek isoii tf »aVT is .»»a«y^ & fnatrnl mjwetinn an* alnta^r bar* bt* bnmrla^f trMM a ninn b*« tnttMU Csirl RAtblin an^ ©•C-tya* bata ^nn Mai ft*** taatMNf in sn«M« am 'in- rtstrnin a sia^t #i* |sm#nnntin» in 4dbe Di*j trie* $©*«rt as ^m»€s n^^r "StaWaW1 ©m«®da. I antic? nan* «^«P ^i^^na *A»n all nf y^» are mat inf tataa* nnr la tn tn Al^aiatiisyi fan* is pm#antly airn«%y anriri^ nf Atnb la Hi • bacin t# a«-ais* ®f «etaWM# tm mm pntptrty bnnis lttb nf mttr b*t*«r fmit, it I »*»#»», % •*»* 5 i t E A. A. C. P. LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N. Y. 10019 JUDSON 6-8397 ftiJULT M^ 1 Apr ii6, wii flK^it ''—- Mr. Robert Moses Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committe 6 Raymond Street, N.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30314 Dear Bob: I want you to follow up two things which we discussed when you were last in our office. (l) We would like to provide instruction and guidance by lawyers for the Mississippi project this summer. Would you let me know when you will be meeting at Berea College and whether you can fit us into your program. I would suggest something along the line of a lecture of a large group followed up by smaller seminars led by one of our staff where particular questions can be answered and discussed. (2) There is a question on legal staffing in Mississipp i this summer. We are working out arrangement with the P resident's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, CORE, ACLU, and one or two other organizations all of who m will work cooperatively. We want to keep several st aff members in the state at all times and hire extra numbers to be in or near the state during the summer All of this, however, requires detailed cooperatio n and I would welcome your suggestions concerning a meeting to set it up. I look forward to seeing you concerning this. Sincerely, JackJ Gfreenberg JG:rh Director-Counsel Contributions are deductible for U. S. income tax purposes 3S, A. A. C. P. LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 10 Columbus Circle, New York 19, N. Y. JUDSON 6-8397 April 7, 1964 Mr. Robert Moses 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear Bob: Yesterday I received your letter in which you advised that the SN3C Executive Committee was accepting the offer of the National Lawyers' Guild to provide legal assistance in con nection with your Mississippi projects during the coming summer, I note, with a great deal of dismay, the criticism of the Legal Defense Fund and its lawyers which is contained in your letter. I can only reply that the Legal Defense Fund will not engage in any joint ventures of any kind with the National Lawyers' Guild, and that we will not agree to any division of juris dictional lines with them as you suggest. If SNCC or COFO enter into an arrangement with the Guild we will be unable to participate. These organizations, of course, have the right to choose their own lawyers. Similarly, our lawyers will continue to decide whom they will represent and the lawyers with whom they will work. But it should be clearly under stood that the Legal Defense Fund will not support or participate in any litigation in which the Guild is involved or enter into any agreement with it. I do not feel that it would be helpful for me to attempt to reply to your criticisms of the Fund. ery truly yours, &*X Jack Greenberg Director-Counsel Contributions are deductible for U. S. income tax purposes n April 7S 1964 atr. George ¥, Crockett, Jr. 32 Floo^, Cadillac Tower Detroit,., Michigan 48226 / Dear Mr^ Crocketti Thank fou for your letter of Mardh 31, advlsli us to get busy on returning Pete Stoner's papers. Thank u also for your concern for Pete* We checked the Hafetlsi g office and were Informed that the papers had been -se pme time ago?, ( I expect that you have already received th by now, Dave? Dennis asked me to write to ing you this. Iffey som e chance you have not e papers, we will check out the possibilities oi ase let us know. truly, (Miss) Lois ghaffee 13 April 196u ASMS KXH3Y, Esquire Sll Fifth Avenue , ' Hew York 17, fc%T# Dear Mr* Kinoy: • . . •' Tuesday March 31st 1 was in Qreeaasod, Mississippi "Bfaen lit people wer® arrested fbr peacefully picketing the Leflore County Courthouse in support of voter registration* Friday, . • ajtll'i 3rd, Jack Peebles'of SKI1H AY WALKER filed a'removal petition and'got the cases raanipd into federal court'(Claude Clayton's District Conrt)* The Greenwood polies court respected the removal/sradbfaaa: Then Friday JprH 10th Ben ftdth filed a habeous eorous and in Greenville (a *Jsat8 (?)) of the. District Court, all rejaaining 13 vem released (one kstiatg .iuviniie having been released into the custody of his parents M Greenwood). Throe (Dick Frey, Willie Peacock, and Tony Gaenslen) wars out on bond furnished by Dick's father* W& other 10 got out on bond aac faoney gotten up by Bsn Smith* 'ten Siattfa is also handling the Battleaburg ease© which are thjitt similar « In Greenwood the arrests war© supposedly baeed on refusal to confine nieketting .in a certain area* In * Hattiesburg the arrests were so*'® complex - one version saying that"they were based on the new "anti-picket ting* statute, another saying that they tact based on refusal to limit the tosmbor of pickets. Howard Foore was dam with Peebles in Gret«ii»od Taass Frl* April 3 •IxraAsrffes* as the major attorney, -but Asa, Smith can©'in Fri* ibril 10-th as THE Attorney, I think'that Perots and Smith astaally signed all papers, aid so are the legal representatives of the defendants. Mel Wulf accompanied Ben SadLtaa in Greenville the 10th, and stayed over to help ins prepare the forms 1 till use in being the legal Coordinator In Jackson (the function pe talked about)* Mel and Ben talked about the new Constituticnal Sights Defease Committee which its officially set up with Mel rfalf AGLU, Carl Rachlin GOES, Leo Pfeffar American Jewish Congress, W ttkaa American Jewish Corenf ttee, Jack Pratt national Council Of Churches, and Jade Qpeanburg, 1AASP lac .Fund, and deliberately 1©T you, Kunstler, Rabinowitz, , nor any Guild Lawyer FOR BOLJTJOffi BEAS01S* WAl SblTa I blasted Mel about* it and he was oulte * fens I've and got «ads sostly as he least he was wrong* It will be Marking out of the ACLU offiee# It has about $2$f<3pO sow, hopes to be tax exempt by June and got nore* 8afl Richlia. will work out the operations logistics* Jty Its office will be to with the ACLU* Also, he said thai the lawyers Cosiaitte© * > f will just really be working under tlie direction of Jack Greeriburg tilth the NCC V'"' project in Miss* Anyway, I called the Guild (Crockett) when 1 was in Greenwood handling the situation, and B&n Smith did fabulously* If yon have any suggestions as to forms and atnar in which I can develop files of all the arrests and cases pending that S10G sad OOfG are Interested la I would appreciate It* It also looks as if 1 will ha «a to stevis® Spheres. Of Action for the diaWerent- lawyers groups this Staatr to keep, them out of each otters hair* What do you {"Tl&iZnP*^think of th"t* ""• v*- April 15, 1964 TO: All Members of the National Lawyers Guild. FROM: Ernest Goodman, President. SUBJECT: Mississippi, and the Guild's Committee for Legal Assistance in the South. Dear Guild Member: The "Committee for Legal Assistance in the South" is the new name for what was formerly CASL. George Crockett and Ben Smith are Co-Chairmen of the Committee and George Downing and Len Holt are Co-Secretaries. Crockett, Smith and Downing recently returned from a conference at Jacksonrr Mississippi where they were participants in what is, perhaps, the most exciting and promising development in the whole civil rights struggle in the South today: the proposed "Mississippi Project" to be sponsored and conducted in Mississippi this summer by the Mississippi Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). What is COFO? In 1963, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi joined with CORE, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the NAACP and several other voter and civil groups in that state to form a statewide civil rights organization. Since then COFO has continued under the leadership of Aaron Henry as President and Robert Moses (of SNCC) as Program Director. What is The Mississippi Project? This summer, SNCC, in cooperation with COFO, is launching a massive Peace Corps-type operation for the disenfranchised citizens of Mississippi. One Thousand (1,000) college students, teachers, technicians, nurses, artists and legal advisors from all sections of the country are pledging themselves to come to Mississippi to staff a wide range of programs that include voter registration freedom schools, operation of community centers and special projects. How Will The Project Operate? ——=^-_-.- The Freedom Schools and Community Centers will operate essentially the same as the Peace Corps operates abroad—a combination of adult education, arts and crafts, work-while-you-learn projects, health and recreation centers and political science seminars. Voter Registration will be conducted by workers deployed in teams of four (4) in every county, with larger concentrations of roughly 100 in the major urban centers. These workers will assist in developing local leadership and organization. They will encourage as many Negroes as possible to attempt to register on the county books and will assist in a campaign, launched in February, to register over 400,000 Negroes on "Freedom" registration books. The "Freedom" registration campaign, now in progress, involves establishing local registrants in every precinct in Mississippi with registration books resembling as much as possible the official books of the state. The "Freedom" registration books will serve as the basis for challenging the official books of the state and the validity of "official" elections this fall. Finally, voter registration workers will assist in the summer campaigns of Freedom candidates who are running for Congress against the present incumbents. Page Two The Problem for Lawyers. A problem of major concern to the delegates at the COFO meeting was how to assure maximum legal protection and assistance for the workers in such a campaign in a state that has only three (3) attorneys (all Negroes) who will accept the defense of civil rights cases, and where court-assigned attorneys refuse to raise constitutional issues. Mississippi officials are preparing for all-out resistance. According to Newsweek (2/24/64), the Mayor of the capitol city of Jackson boasts of a "riot-trained police force" which is "twice as big as any city our size"; the acquisition of two "detention compounds" for "demonstration POWs; and a specially built "13,000 pound armored battle-wagon" ..."abristle with shotgunds, tear-gas guns and a sub-machine gun." In addition, the New York Times (4/7/64) reports pending state bills authorizing municipalities to restrict the movements of citizens in the interest of "public safety;" and making it a felony to threaten or coerce another from lawfully carrying on business, or to print or circulate any matter encouraging economic boycotts. The problem of litigating these restrictions on freedom and defending those who insist upon their freedoms is further complicated by the fact that, while the state courts are open to out-of-state lawyers without the necessity of formal motion and admission, the right of out-of-state attorneys to handle such cases can be challenged by any two (2) local attorneys at any time. The local Federal Court rule requires formal motion and at least one Federal Judge in the past has required that a local attorney physically accompany any out-of-state attorney appearing in his Court. Two (2) proceedings sponsored by the Guild already are pending in which it is sought to have this local Federal Rule declared inapplicable in all instances where the inability to obtain local counsel is shown. The Guild's Concern As A Bar Association. The Guild is not a civil rights organization. It is a national bar association of attorneys, professionally and personally committed for the past twenty- seven years to the defense of the civil rights and liberties for all people. The distinction is important because it explains why the Guild itself cannot become an integral part of a lay defense organization or association of such organizations. Our concern in the Mississippi Project is to attempt to redress the lack of available lawyers in Mississippi ready, willing, and able to handle civil rights cases. And we would hope that our example might bring an increasing awareness of their professional obligation to members of the Mississippi bar, which would permit us to reduce and eventually withdraw our commitment. Unfortunately, no indication of such a development has yet taken place. The Guild's Program For Mississippi. The Proposal: It is proposed that the Guild and its members make available the maximum legal assistance possible to those participating in the Mississippi Project. It is further proposed that such assistance be coordinated through a field office to be established in Mississippi, with a full-time integrated staff, con sisting of two (2) attorneys, two (2) law students and a secretary. The function of this staff is A. to handle, on an emergency basis, all request for immediate assistance until such time as particular Guild attorney can be assigned. B. to set up immediately a register of Guild attorneys who will accept full responsibility for particular cases assigned to them; and C. to keep a progress docket of all Guild cases and render such on-the- scene assistance to assigned attorneys as possible. Page Three The Register of Guild Attorneys: Services of Guild attorneys would be solicited and utilized on the following bases: 1. General Guild Attorneys are those attorneys who agree to come and stay in Mississippi for an extended period of a week or more. Such an attorney would be assigned to a particular community, county or district for the duration of the stay. He would be expected to handle, on an emergency basis, all cases referred to him in that community or district. This includes arraignments, preliminary hearings, releases on bail, summary trails in magistrate's courts and appeals and trials de novo in County Court. It also includes habeas corpus and removal proceedings. COFO would provide him with subsistance and the facilities for working. His legal services would be rendered gratuitously and the Guild would pay for his transportation to and from his Mississippi location. When the tour of duty of a General Guild Attorney is about up, another would be on hand to step immediately into his place. 2. Special Guild Attorneys are those attorneys who accept an assigned Mississippi case or cases for preparation in their own offices and who come to Mississippi-—;for the- single- purpo&e of trying or presenting argument in the particular case assigned to him. In such instances the "work-up" of the case or group of cases will have been handled (as outlined above) by a General Guild Attorney or the staff attorneys on the scene. The Special Guild Attorney would be expected to try such cases on appeal and to follow the case to its ultimate conclusion (including higher appeals). He also might be called upon to prepare briefs and argue removal proceedings or juvenile court proceedings. His services also would be volunteered and the Guild would assume responsibility for his travel and other expenses incident to his assignment. Attorney's Registration and Commitment Form. 1. It is believed that we can achieve and maintain a fair territorial coverage if we can provide a total of sixty (60) "lawyer-weeks" (one lawyer for one week) of service for our General Guild Attorneys. This presupposes one (1) fulltime General Guild Attorney in each of the five (5) Congressional Districts in Mississippi for each of the twelve (12) weeks of the Project, or five (5) attorneys for each week from June 2, to August 31. In addition, of course, we shall need as many Special Guild Attorneys as we can obtain. 2. It is imperative that registrations of volunteer attorneys begin now. I am enclosing the Committee's Commitment Form and ask that you execute it and return it as promptly as possible. In addition to indicating whether or not you or someone from your office - wilL-he—able tagatQ-the. South ^Mississippi),, please specify with as much certainty as possible the dates and total period of time you or someone from your office can stay in Mississippi. 3. Each Guild member who registers will be used to the extent that our finances will permit; and he will be informed, as far in advance as possible, of the place where he is wanted and the time when he is expected. 4. If you cannot come to Mississippi for a week or more, please indicate your willingness to work on any of the other aspects of the Guild's Mississippi program. General Observations 1. The Guild's function in Mississippi is to bring clients and attorneys together — to "guarantee" a competent attorney for any civil rights defendant who request an attorney. Page Four 2. The Guild will interest itself in a person's defense only upon request by the person or a representative of the person. In such cases, the function of the Guild will be limited to assigning counsel and providing for counsel's travel expenses where the client or the attorney is unable to do so. 3. Each attorney assigned by the Guild is required to obtain a written retainer from his client appointing the attorney as attorney-in-fact (as well as at law) to do what in his judgment is necessary to the client's defense. This applies also in those instances where either of the staff attorneys mentioned above undertake to represent any person with respect to any aspect of his defense. 4. It is not the Guild's function to itself handle or be responsible for the handling or even the direction of any defense case. The Guild is not a Civil Rights defense organization. Once the attorney is recommended by us and is accepted and engaged by the client, the relationship of attorney and client is established and it is the attorney's case. 5. The full support of the Guild is pledged to the assistance and to the defense of any attorney who accepts a case at the request of the Guild. Initiation of Program: We propose to initiate the Guild's Mississippi program by conducting our third conference for civil rights attorneys in or near Jackson, Mississippi, on June 5-7, 1964. In addition to our usual work-shop discussions, the conference would explore in detail the legal needs of the Mississippi Program and the implementation of the Guild's proposals to meet these needs. Budget: The proposed budget for this program is estimated at $15,000.00; the larger part of which represents the allocation for travel to and from Mississippi. This budget can be reduced to the extent that attorneys or their offices pay for their travel or the travel is provided by the local chapter of the Guild. Mr. Crockett - with the approval of his firm - will spend the entire twelve (12) weeks at the Mississippi field office. We desperately need an additional volunteer attorney whose circumstances will permit a similar commitment "for the duration." The two (2) law students and the secretary in the field office would be paid a subsistence of $50.00 per week. Rent, phone, office supplies, office rent, auto expense, travel and miscellaneous expenses should be kept to $1,000.00 per month. We should anticipate travel expense averaging $150.00 round trip for sixty (60) attorneys to come to Mississippi. And the expenses for the initiating conference could be kept at about $800.00. Thus, we have the following minimum proposed budget for three (3) months: Field Office Staff Salaries $1,800.00 Field Office Operating Expenses 3,000.00 Initiating Conference 800.00 Round Trip Travel for 60 Attorneys 9,000.00 Miscellaneous Expenses 400.00 Total $15,000.00 (The above budget does not include expenses for Special Guild Lawyers or for costs and expenses on appeals) Conclusion. The realization of the Guild's objective in Mississippi will require the personal commitment of every Guild member. All of us cannot go to Mississippi; but we can help make it possible for others to go. We can do this by immediately sending a substantial increase in our current tax-exempt dues payment to the Guild, specially earmarked for this project. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 2801 Cadillac Tower Detroit 26, Michigan FOR RELEASE: 12:00 Noon Thursday, April 23, 1964 A "LAWYERS' PEACE CORPS" MOVES INTO MISSISSIPPI . . The National Lawyers Guild launched its summer Mississippi Project at a luncheon meeting, Thursday, April 23, 1964, at Detroit's Sheraton-Cadaiiac Hotel. The Project calis for lawyers to participate in a Peace Corps-type operation in Mississippi, defending, without fee, persons who would otherwise be without defense. A letter has been sent to every member of the Guild urging them to donate from a week to three months of their time to the Mississippi Project. A copy of that letter is enclosed. "Law Day, U.S.A." will be celebrated on May 1st, said Ernest Goodman, Detroit attorney and Guild national president. "It is appropriate to add a new dimension to this day by including support to the movement for equality under the law of our nation." "One situation which cries out for a remedy exists in Mississippi. Of two million people living in that State, 900,000 are Negro; yet, only 3 Mississippi lawyers (all Negro) will handle civil rights cases," Goodman said. "Our purpose in going to Mississippi is to help bring into reality one of the principles of Law Day—equal justice under the law. As far as I now, the "Lawyers Peace Corps" is the first project of its kind." A number of prominent Michigan lawyers have urged their colleagues to contribute to the Mississippi Project as a fitting commemoration of Law Day. A joint effort this summer, by civil rights organizations in Mississippi, will attempt to secure justice in that state with emphasis on voter registration. The need for lawyers was highlighted by a recent report in Time Magazine, that local officials in Mississippi are already preparing -"detention compounds for demonstration POW's." It is expected, therefore, that hundreds, perhaps thousands of registration workers will be arrested, and that the full power of the State will be brought down on persons seeking citizenship rights. Goodman stressed that the Guild is not a civil rights organi zation, but a national bar association of attorneys, "professionally and personally committed to the defense of civil rights and liberties of all people. The distinction is important," he de clared. "Our concern in the Mississippi Project is to attempt to redress the lack of available lawyers in Mississippi, ready, willing and able, to handle civil rights cases. We are going there as lawyers, and only as lawyers." The "Lawyers' Peace Corps" will be under the direction of the Guild's Committee for Legal Assistance in the South, with George W. Crockett, Jr., of Detroit, and Benjamin Smith, of New Orleans, as co-chairmen, and George Downing of Detroit, and Len Holt of Washington, D.C., as co-secretaries. April 16, 1964 Please Post ARKANSAS MANIFESTO TC SUPPORT HUNTER MORET/S IDEOLOGY FOR FREEDOM AND HIS NINE ALLUSIONS TO SEX, After reading Hunter Morey's brilliant treatise on a New Ideology for Freedom, we, of the Arkansas Project, whoeheartedly support Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee field secretary, Hunter Morey's 9 Allusions to Sex and urge that it be incorporated in a New Ideology for Freedom. Mr. Morey's timel^r call to arms has indicated to us that we can no longer pretend to be leading the people forward until we call on the officials of SNCC to extend more sexual freedom'to us. The mandate for sex is necessary as a prerequistite to implementing our programs in the field, and our political activities-, The revolution will never be manifest until we liberate ourselves from dangerous 19th century values: If we are, in fact, to over come in the totalitarian south our program must screen out Ail persons who do not subscribe to the 9 Allusions to Sex. Therefore, we hereby denounce, SNCC National Chairman, John Lewis, so-called "Man of Peace", as a bourgeois puritan. We also denounce and call for the dismissal of SNCC Executive secretary James Forman. He has proven himself to be an adventurist by abandoning his people and going to Europe on a so-called comference to appease our arch enemies the south africans. This action is consisten with his exposure as a Victorian capitalist in his last utterance to the Associated Press* Me are now accepting donations to implement Mr. Morey's 9 Allusions to Sex and to mount a campaign to seat him as National Chairman of SNCC. Send contributions to the SNCC office at 4201/2 North Cedar Pine Bluff, Ark. . Me urge our brother and sister snickers to rally to our cause and to depose our sexless leaders. The voice of the people will no longer remain silent while these usurpers rule. Me repudiate the African cry, "One Man-One Vote, and replace it with the Hunter cry."Freedom Mow-fertically and Horizontally." Arkansas Staff of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Iris Greenberg Mildred Neal James Jones Wi111am Hansen C.Miff Vaughs Bruce Jordan(proxy) John Hanna Joe Wright cc: SNCC Field Offices. Excutive Committee SNCC KUNSTLER KUNSTLER & KINOY ATTORNEYS AT LAW 511 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 17, N.Y. WILLIAM M. KUNSTLER MURRAY HILL 2-8317 CABLE ADDRESS MICHAEL J. KUNSTLER "KANDKLEX" ARTHUR KINOY April 16, 1964 Mr. Hunter Morey 940 Sidney St. Greenville, Mississippi Dear Hunter: Bill and I have just heard the good news that you will be functioning, in effect, as a legal coordinator for the work. This will mean of course that we will be seeing a good deal of you in the weeks and months to come. Do not hesitate to call us at any time as problems develop. We will plan to send to you, from time to time, copies of whatever important papers or briefs come out involving our Mississippi cases. We will also send on to you any other material out of the Southern cases which will be of general interest to you in respect to similar problems in Mississippi. I am enclosing with this letter some recent material which will be of interest: (a) The Court of Appeals brief in the Fourth Circuit in the Golden Frinks case. Bill and I will argue this case before the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit the end of this month. This case is very important for the Mississippi situation because it involves, for the first time, the whole question of right to counsel where a defendant in a state civil rights criminal case is represented only by out-of-state counsel. It also involves very important questions concerning the availability of federal habeas corpus in such cases. We will, of course, keep you posted as to the outcome of this case. This Is naturally the same problem we are involved with presently in the Fifth Circuit, together with Ben Smith, Bruce Waltzer and Jack Pratt, arising out of Judge Coxfs refusal to permit the filing of the removal petitions in the Hatties burg situation. I assume you have seen copies of the mandamus petition we all filed in this case. If not, let me know and I will send you copies. (b) A copy of the removal petition we filed in the St. Augustine cases. I am sure you know the details of this situation. We are presently on appeal from an order of remand in these cases. Mr. Hunter Morey -2- April 16, 1964 (c) In the event you do not have them, I am enclosing, also, a copy of the petitions filed in the Cox matter, both in Poole v. Barnett, the Jackson church cases, and In re Henry, the general petition. We will include you on our general mailing list for this material as it comes out from time to time. The way things are developing I rather think we will see you in Jackson within the next week or so and then we will have a chance to discuss in more detail some of our joint problems. Bill and I send our best to all of our friends in Jackson. Arthur Kinoy AK SKT enclosures T^^^ ^7U^ ^^-« \ [A- ^(/*- $> -fOU- ^^ jfjy, ^ ?2M^W^. i^r ^U^X, O^uu^ UtMu- HrrvL. ua* mfa^ x,^. 4yvC 4ju- &«B*fe "^ Adytum ^*^C ^14- <*6 %w >^*~ ^^ V^*-}.^' L/LLM*A- y^tL- A,£u ^J 4J^ <^Je^ Jr^ ^— / (%IU_ commission on Religion ano RACG national council of the chimches of chRist mtheu,., 475 RIV6RSI66 0RIV6, new yORk, n. y. IOO27 telephone: 870-2438 Bishop ReuBen h. muelLep, ppesi&ent R. h. ed win espy, qeneRalsecRetaRy ROBeut w. spike executive 6mectoR April 27, 1964 Mr. Robert Moses Council of Federated Organizations 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi 39203 Dear Bob: My attention has been drawn to the fact that a recent executive meeting of SNCC determined to accept an offer of legal assistance from the National Lawyers' Guild. While it is not, of course, the business of the Commission on Religion and Race to interfere with the internal operations of SNCC or COFO, nevertheless this decision creates so serious a complication for the Commission that I feel I must raise the issue with you. Working through its Counsel, the Commission has, as you know, sought the assistance of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law by asking it to provide highly competent attorneys as legal advisors to the various clergy men who will be working in the State of Mississippi this summer. Mr. Pratt tells me that the Lawyers' Committee has considered our request and has agreed to provide upwards of 30 attorneys working directly in the South for at least a month during the coming summer. He has also advised me, however, that it is the policy of the Lawyers' Committee that none of these lawyers are to work in cooperation with the National Lawyers' Guild. You are aware, of course, that during the past nine months the Commission on Religion and Race through its Counsel has participated in many litigations with several attorneys, some of whom are, I understand, members of the National Lawyers' Guild. The Commission had no objection to this procedure so long as these attorneys were acting in their individual capacities and not in furtherance of, and subject to, a policy of the Guild. In as much as it nox>? appears that these and other attorneys will, in future, be representing defendants in the name of and on behalf of the Guild, the Commission has no alternative but to instruct Mr. Pratt not to participate in any further litigations with Guild members. As it now stands, this official action of the Executive Committee of SNCC jeopardizes not only the possibility of extensive legal help this summer but the nt. Rev. ARthup UchtenBeRqeR, chaiRman euqeneca.RsonBla.ke • Bishop B. Julian smith • mRs. j. fount tillman-vice chaiRmen Mr. Robert Moses -2- 4/27/64 also many other joint projects in which we have common interests. We believe this deliberate link with the National Lawyers' Guild is a great mistake for SNCC. I would appreciate hearing from you about this. Sincerely yours, Robert W. Spikd Executive Director RWS:bas JV. A. A. C. P. LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N. Y. 10019 JUDSON 6-8397 MEMORANDUM April 28, 1964 This confi. r teljphon, conversation with you. j» +. holtj the conference Arrangements ^JlTthl Dooky Chase Restaurant E^nts^ve KriSTfJ^nS stay overnight Enciosed is a check to cover travei ana incidental expenses. Marian E. Wright Enc. Ck. deductible for U. S. income tax purposes Contributions are «t^>25 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee 6 Raymond Street, N.W. Atlanta 14, Georgia 6M-0331 April 28, 1964 ft. Hunter Morey 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear Mr. Morey: This is to verify that you have been appolinted by the Personnel Committee of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to serve as Jjegal Coordinator for the state of Mississippi. In effect, this means that your proposal (which I might add arrived late) has been accepted as presented. Hopefully, after you have had an opportunity to become involved in your new "job" and become more sensitvie about its needs as well as the methods used in collecting materials, there can be an evaluation an further discussion as to how we can better facilitate the growing needs of the field. Best of luck, and don't forget to keep me posted periodically. Iours:in the Ruby Dorife/ Smith Robinson Mministrative Secretary tt \Jne Mian,'an, \Jne Vote NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD COMMITTEE TO ASSIST SOUTHERN LAWYERS April 29, 1964 COMMITTEE OFFICE NATIONAL GUILD OFFICE 3220 Cadillac Tower Detroit, Michigan 48226 WOodward 5-0050 Co-Chairmen GEO. W. CROCKETT, JR. Mr. Robert Moses ERNEST GOODMAN c/o COFO 3220 Cadillac Tower 1017 Lynch Street Co-Secretaries Jackson, Mississippi LEN HOLT 250 Nicholson, N.E. Washington, D.C. Dear Bob: BENJAMIN SMITH 305 Baronne St. New Orleans, 12, La. I want to keep you and COFO up-to-date on the progress being made in implementing the enclosed program of the Committee Members Guild. I. DUKE AVNET Baltimore, Md. MARTIN BRADLEY, JR. A. The Civil Rights Conference Buffalo, N.Y. 1. We have obtained the use of the Masonic Temple JOHN BRATTIN (on Lynch Street) for Friday-Saturday-Sunday, Lansing, Michigan June 5-6-7, 1964 for the purposes of our con JOHN COE Pensacola, Flo. ference. ANN GINGER 2. The conference will consist of four (4) work Berkeley, Cal. shop sessions and a public Mass Meeting. The ERNEST JACKSON workshops and the invited leader-participants Jacksonville, Fla. are: ARTHUR KINOY New York City (a) Mississippi Criminal Practice and Procedure- SAMUEL KOENIGSBERG Jack Young, Esq., Jackson, Mississippi Newark, N.J. Henry Heading, Esq., Detroit, Michigan NORMAN LEONARD Larry Warren, Esq., Lansing, Michigan San Francisco, Calif. JONATHAN LUBELL New York City (b) Mississippi Constitution and Statutes HUGH R. MANES Relating to Civil Rights -- Hollywood, Cal. Professor Chester Antieau, Washington, D.C. SAMUEL A. NEUBURGER Geo. W. Crockett, Jr., Detroit, Michigan New York City Bruce Waltzer, New Orleans, Louisiana BETTY OLENICK New York City (c) Federal Removal in Civil Rights Cases— GERALD H. ROBINSON Portland, Ore. Arthur Kinoy, New York City WILLIAM ROSSMOORE Benjamin E. Smith, New Orleans, Louisiana Newark, N.J. MORTON STAVIS (d) Federal Habeas Corpus— Newark, N.J. Morton Stavis, Newark, New Jersey SAMUEL SUCKOW New York City Geo. L. Downing, Detroit, Michigan HERMAN WRIGHT Houston, Texas Mr. Robert Moses -2- April 29, 1964 3. Each session of the conference will be open to all COFO staff members and participants in the "Missis sippi Project" without payment of any registration fee. 4. The major presentations at the conference will be in writing with references to controlling case cita tions and statutes and with sample forms attached. These will then be collected in booklet form for easy access and use by attorneys. 5. The conference will conclude on Sunday with a public mass meeting. We have invited Justice Otis Smith of the Michigan Supreme Court to be our speaker. 6. The Conference Call will be sent out by May 10, and we are hopeful of having a minimum of sixty (60) attorneys in attendance. B. COFO Arrangements: We should like your assurance that the following tasks will be undertaken by COFO to aid the success of the conference: 1. Arrange with the Masonic Temple (or otherwise) to pro vide a full noon day meal for the conference partici pants at a reasonable price. The price agreed upon can be included in the conference registration package fee so as to meet the guaranteed number of plates. 2. Begin now to compile a list of available homes where conference attorneys may live. And arrange to have a "breakfast table" of coffee and doughnuts for sale in the lobby (the proceeds of such sale go to COFO, of course). 3. Just as soon as we have Justice Smith's confirmation, you should begin to publicize the Mass Meeting. The Mass Meeting is under the sponsorship of the Guild; but a collection will be taken. The expenses of the Mass Meeting will be deducted and the balance of the proceeds of the collection will go to COFO. Please telephone and let me have any comments you wish to make on the above proposals, since much of this must be set forth in our Conference Call for the information of those who will attend. Cor lly, GWC/b Geo. W. Crockett, Jr. IV. A. A. C. P. LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. ID Columbus Circle, New York, N. Y. 10019 JUDSON 6-8397 April 30, 1961+ Mr. R. Hunter Morey 9ii0 Sidney Street Greenville, Mississippi Dear Mr. Morey: Enclosed please find the annual report of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. I am forwarding your request for general information to Miss Virginia Brazington at the NAACP National Office, 20 West ij.0th Street, New York 18, N. Y» She will send you additional data. It would be well to point out that the Legal Defense Fund last year defended 10,ii87 persons involved in more than lii-0 civil rights actions across the country. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund is the legal arm of the entire integration movement. The majority of the landmark cases in the field were won by our attorneys, including the 195U Supreme Court decision. Thank you for your interest in our work. Sincerely, WlcW-^- Betsy Zwicker, Secretary Public Information BZ: emc Encl. cc: Miss Virginia Brazington Contributions are deductible for U. S. income tax purposes 25 JY. A. A. C. P. LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N. Y. 10019 JUDSON 6-8397 May 5, 196* Mr. R. Hunter Morey Council of Federated Organizations 1017 Lynch Street P.O. Box 2896 Jackson, Mississippi 39205 Dear Mr. Morey: We have already arranged for Howard Moore to be present at Robert Zellner's trial as you may know. As to your request concerning the list of cases in Mississippi, I think that by now you see that we do not have an opportunity to do this kind of administrative work. We are far too busy with litigation and must rely upon local counsel at the lower level. As cases reach the appellate court we can take hold of them here. Jack Greenberg Director-Counsel JG: rh Contributions are deductible for U. S. income tax purposes M. A. A. C. P. LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N. Y. 10019 JUDSON 6-8397 May 12, 1964 Mr. R. Hunter Morey 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi Hey, Hunter: If you are out of jail, I want you to get me that law pending in the Mississippi Legislature designed to outlaw y'all's "Freedom Schools" and any other thing you think relevant. We should prepare our papers now for injunctive relief. Know you are busy but time taken now may save much more time later. Regards to everybody. Sirxcexely, Marian E\. Wright MEW:deh Contributions are deductible for U. S. income tax purposes A UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS WASHINGTON, D.C. 20425 May 12, 1964 Mr. R. Hunter Morey Legal Coordinator Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear Mr. Morey: Thank you for your letter of May 4, 1964. I anticipate that within the next several weeks Michael Finkelstein, Assistant General Counsel to the Commission, will be coming to Jackson on a field trip. I think your questions can best be answered by discussing them with Mr. Finkelstein at that time. He will contact you either before he leaves Washij^tJ?.ILj°r when he arrives in Mississippi. Sincerely yours, ?Ku- William L. Taylor General Counsel y{/rz4sf ^o&Z£^~~ £&?£, BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ernest Angell Founded 1920 Robert Bierstedt American Civil Liberties Union Incorporated Algernon D. Black Ralph 5. Brown Robert L. Crowell 1 56 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 10, N. Y. • ORegon 5-5990 Edward J. Ennis Luther H. Evans Ernest Angell Ralph S. Brown Edward J. Ennis Dorothy Kenyon Morris Ernst James Farmer Chairman, Sophia Yarnall Jacobs Osmond K. Fraenkel Osmond K. Fraenkel Secretary John F. Finerty Board of Directors Vice-Chairmen General Counsel John Haynes Holmes Walter Frank and the Corporation B. W. Huebsch Lewis Galantiere Treasurer Norman Thomas Walter Gellhorn Gordon Haskell Directors Emeritus Louis M. Hacker John de J. Pemberton, Jr. Alan Reitman Melvin L. Wulf Membership August Heckscher Executive Director Associate Director Legal Director & Development Director Frank S. Home Roger N. Baldwin Leanne Golden Louise C. Floyd Colleen Katzowitz Aryeh Neier B. W. Huebsch International Work Adviser Sophia Yarnall Jacobs Executive Assistant Administrative As Membership Secretary Field Development Officer John Paul Jones Dorothy Kenyon Dan Lacy Will Maslow Harry C. Meserve Edward O. Miller Walter Millis Gerard Piel Harriet Pilpe! Herbert Prashker Elmer Rice George Soil May 19, 1964 Stephen C. Vladeck J. Waties Waring Alan Westin Howard Whiteside Edward Bennett Williams Mr. R. Hunter Morey NATIONAL COMMITTEE 1017 Lynch Street Chairman Francis Biddle (D.C.) Jackson, Mississippi Vice Chairmen Pearl S. Buck (Penna.J Howard F. Burns (Ohio) Prof. Albert Sprague Coolidge (Mass.) Dear Hunter: Prof. J. Frank Dobie (Texas) Lloyd K. Garrison (N.Y.) Dr. Frank P. Graham( U.N.) Pulmer Hoyt (Colo.) Rather than me preparing the digest of con Dr. Karl Menninger (Kans.) Loren Miller (Calif.) stitutional law which you suggested in your Morris Rubin (Wise.) Lillian E. Smith (Ga.) April 30th letter, you will find it all spelled Mrs. Sadie Alexander (Penna.) out in the enclosed book and can prepare the J. Garner Anthony (Hawaii) Thurman Arnold (D.C.) digest yourself. Send me your draft and I Clarence E. Ayres (Tex.) Roger N. Baldwin (N.Y.) Alan Barth (D.C.) will go over it. Dr. Sarah Gibson Blanding (N.Y.) Catherine Drinker Bowen (Penna.) Prof. Julian P. Boyd (N.J.) John Mason Brown (N.Y.) Our plans for sending in lawyers this summer Prof. James R. Caldwell (Calif.) Dr. Robert K. Carr (Ohio) is unfolding pretty well. The enclosed letter Prof. Allan Knight Chalmers (Mass.) Stuart Chase (Conn.) Grenville Clark (N.H.) will give you some specific details. Dr. Rufus E. Clement (Ga.) Prof. Henrv Steele Commager (Mass.) Prof. Giovanni Costigan (Wash.) Prof. George S. Counts (HI) Okay? Prof. Robert E. Cushman (D.C.) Melwn Douglas (N.Y.) Chancellor Thomas H. Eliot (Mo.) Victor Fischer (Alaska) Walter T. Fisher (111.) Sincerely yours, James Lawrence Fly (Fla.) Dr.' Erich Fromm (N.Y.) Prof. Ralph F. Fuchs (Ind.) Prof. Willard E. Goslin (Tenn.) Prof. Mark DeW. Howe (Mass.) Ouincy Howe (N.Y.) . Dr. Robert M. Hutchins (Calif.) Gerald W. Johnson (Md.) Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson (D.C.) Melvin L. Wulf James Kerney, Jr. (N.J.) Benjamin H. Kizer (Wash.) Legal Director Prof. M_iHon R. Konvitz (N.Y.) Mrs. Agnes Brown Leach (N.Y.) Max Lerner (N.Y J Louis Lusky (Kv.J Prof. Robert S. Lynd (N.Y.) Patrick Murphy Malin (Turkey) Prof. Robert Mathews (Ohio) Prof. Wesley H. Maurer (Mich.) Emil Mazey (Mich.) Dr. Mtlltcent C. Mcintosh (Mass.) Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn (Calif.) Sylvan Meyer (Ga.) Donald R. Murphjr (Iowa) Dean Frank C. Newman (Calif.) Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer (N.J.) John B. Orr. Jr. (Fla.) James G. Patton (Colo.) A. Philip Randloph (N.Y.) Elmo Roper (N.Y.) Prof. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (D.C.) Dr. Edward J. Sparling (111.) Prof. George R. Stewart (Calif.) Mrs. Dorothy Tilly (Ga.) Jose Trias-Monge (Puerto Rico) William L. White (Kans.) Wa.hinjton Office — 1101 Vermont Avenue. N.W., Wa.hinjton 5, D.C; Lawrence Speiaer, Director; Julie N. Barrow., Executive trirtmtt Thornton Wilder (Conn.) Aubrey Williams (Ala.) With organized affiliates in twenty-seven statea and 800 cooperating attorney! in 300 citiea of 48 states Marion A. Wright (N.C.) Dean Benjamin Youngdahl (Mo.) NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD COMMITTEE TO ASSIST SOUTHERN LAWYERS May 19, 1964 COMMITTEE OFFICE NATIONAL GUILD OFFICE 3220 Cadillac Tower Detroit, Michigan 48226 WOodward 5-0050 Co-Chairmen Mr. R. Hunter Morey GEO. W. CROCKETT, JR. c/o COFO ERNEST GOODMAN 3220 Cadillac Tower 1017 Lynch Street P.O. Box 2896 Co-Secretaries Jackson, Mississippi 39205 LEN HOLT 250 Nicholson, N.E. Washington, D.C. Dear Hunter: BENJAMIN SMITH 305 Baronne St. New Orleans, 12, La. We have your letter of May 16, and the enclosed bills. You did not enclose the material on the housing Committee Members I. DUKE AVNET situation and we would like to have that as soon as Baltimore, Md. possible. We are especially interested to know which MARTIN BRADLEY, JR. of the bills have actually been enacted into law. We Buffalo, N.Y. are preparing for use of our field attorneys in Missis JOHN BRATTIN sippi, a mimeographed booklet which will describe the Lansing, Michigan various provisions of the constitution and statutes of JOHN COE Pensacola, Fla. Mississippi which are likely to be invoked during the ANN GINGER summer. If any of these recent bills have actually been Berkeley, Cal. passed by both houses of the legislature and signed into ERNEST JACKSON law by the government, we will want to include them in Jacksonville, Fla. our booklet. ARTHUR KINOY New York City SAMUEL KOENIGSBERG Your letter enclosed the Anti-Picketing Law (which Newark, N.J. has been passed) and Senate Bill No. 2027 and 1969, and NORMAN LEONARD San Francisco, Calif. House Bill No. 870. We should like to know the status of these last three bills. JONATHAN LUBELL New York City HUGH R. MANES Congratulations upon your designation as legal co Hollywood, Cal. ordinator for COFO. I think you understand that we SAMUEL A. NEUBURGFR stand ready to render to you and to COFO all possible New York City legal assistance within our means. We are especially BETTY OLENICK New York City happy to learn of the resolution passed by the COFO staff. GERALD H. ROBINSON Portland, Ore. I am enclosing a copy of the report will our com WILLIAM ROSSMOORE mittee will be presenting to the Guild's Executive Board. Newark, N.J. This report should answer any of your questions concern MORTON STAVIS Newark, N.J. ing our progress. I would call attention especially to SAMUEL SUCKOW New York City HERMAN WRIGHT Houston, Texas Mr. R. Hunter Morey -2- May 19, 1964 Section 3 of this report, entitled Basic Policy Consideration, because this will be the guiding principle in our relation ship with the "Unity Council", the NAACP, and others. We are not interested in spreading ourselves all over Mississippi, but we are interested in making certain that civil righters, no matter where they may be in Mississippi, can always feel assured that the Guild will make every effort to provide them with competent legal assistance. We are not interested in making a "name" for the Guild in the field of Civil Rights; this was done long, long ago. Nor is it necessary that we establish a record of "cases handled" in order to justify contributions or impress foundations. We, frankly, recognize that it is necessary that some civil rights organizations do precisely this. We are not in competition with them. Therefore, it will be our policy to step in and render assistance only in those instances where no other civil rights organizations operating in Mississippi is ready, willing and able to act. You inquired concerning our initial proposal to have an attorney stationed in each of the five congressional districts in Mississippi. Our present view is that such a proposal might be extremely wasteful of man power since it will not follow that there will be a shortage of legal assistance in each of these five districts at the same time. Accordingly, we have decided (subject to further revision when the program is actually under way) to have all Guild attorneys report to our Guild Headquarters in Jackson and to be assigned from there to whatever trouble spot requires their assistance. In this way we hope to reduce to a minimum the necessity for such attorneys to find overnight accom modations in strange communities. It also is expected that travel to and from the assignments will be by motor vehicle and that wherever possible, two attorneys will be sent to each assign ment. I should like to confirm our telephone conversation of yesterday to the effect that you will attend our Orientation Con ference here in Detroit on June 5th, 6th, and 7th, and that you will be available to drive our station wagon back to Jackson (with anyone else who wants to go along for the ride) . We are very pleased to learn of the arrangement you have Mr. R. Hunter Morey -3- May 19, 1964 made for the use of law students to serve as clerks to the lawyers. We would like to have two law clerks (one Negro and one white) assigned to our field office in Jackson, and if possible, we would prefer to interview them prior to their assignment. We have retained office space at 507^ North Farish Street (four rooms overlooking Farish Street). My associate, Attorney Larry Warren (formerly law clerk to Michigan Supreme Court Justice Otice Smith), will be coming down to Jackson this weekend for the purpose of getting the offices into shape and getting them equipped. I am asking that he get in touch with you immediately upon his arrival, and I will notify you where he will stop initially in Jackson. He will need your active and understanding assistance since this will be his first experience in the deep south. We should like, if pos sible, for you to find three or four young fellows who will agree to paint our offices at a reasonable sum. Larry can explain to you what is needed in this connection. And, incidently, if you are in need of office space we should have enough space in our four rooms to accommodate you and your operation without charge of any kind. I expect to arrive in Jackson sometime between May 28, and June 1, and I will return (along with you, I hope)for our conference here on June 5th and 6th. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to let me know. Just write them out in long hand and wend them to me. cerely, Geo. W. Crockett, Jr. GWC/b Enclosure P. S. I neglected to discuss one matter: It seems to me that from a tactical point of view, it is crucial that litigation testing the constitutionality of these recent statutes on picketing, demonstration, etc., be instituted and an effort made to obtain a temporary injunction before the Mississippi Project is officially begun. I discussed this previously with Bob when he was here, and I assume he will endeavor to get the NAACP or the Unity Com mittee to move on this expeditiously. We doubt very much if this will happen, and accordingly, we think serious considera tion should be given to the proposal which we have made. Our proposal, as you know, is that a suit to this effect should be filed by the leaders of COFO who would be represented by the President of the Detroit Bar Association--the third oldest and the fifth largest bar association in the country. We do not look upon this as a Lawyers Guild suit, nor do we regard it as essential that any member of our committee and of the Guild be identified with the prosecution. In short, our concern is that the litigation be filed, that it be filed expeditiously, and that we be successful at least to the point of getting a temporary injunction before demonstrations and picketing is commenced. To that end I offer the following suggestions: 1. You and Bob and the leaders of COFO should realistically assess the value and the importance of such a move and select the persons who (in addition to COFO as an organization) will be the plaintiffs; 2. You and I can then meet with Attorney George Bushnell, the president of the Detroit Bar, at the time you and I are \ attending the conference here on June 5th and 6th; and N. 3. Within one week from this meeting--and before June 15 — rv Attorney Bushaell would have the suit filed in Court. i /7 Sincerely, ^j (Geo. W. /Crockett, Jr, 4 v5 .—• • ' 2© H^ 1^64 ftp. -ua. Civil M#ttfi Xtfisicsfi jfcow 25, D,S„ G§§£ Ii»„ Qwaaisj ia*» .tot llMBsas of the Natiaiml Ootiati&l af'OnaMhea • called ;.ie -Mid r.^ruasted Ml to nmA you mplM of tti© «eld» gaent *m.if51 antl-fi'-aaiec. school bllla feat hav» fete iai»it«9d into t&© I-lsdLssippl leglslfittsro. Picas© find thosj cMSioscM, S'anato SOI Ee. IP6? fallot! la ia^ Edtaaati*ai &•£&%$•», aa bast as I e*» tfotortfbis. Sasat* Mil B», 2136 was jtist intawiacod into ti;a IttHqtagy QM • this last Tsiosday, Hay 19* as best ss I ess determine. It is srceasped that thi3 Mil td31 I lav, CCSPQ .feels that this wtmldbo usel to earsplG'toly aiifjflo eta» pstsp^ri, M*as n&eti&gSj loaTlotiiay, 3CL3 C&ti&enship : * :^ier.tioa classes, ©to,s vsaM all veqx&m licenses and votil tfesroforo set ba allaw&d. Up th© dooonstsaKly yaedat gjBWSHaw^at h33fO«, L-st tm late tills tepartgaslfer to ISfora yen that 1 era •, • »1y t&o lapA GQa*£toata* £01* t*io Otwtesii tatrlslaol OaeWS&natiiig Cxr-ditts 2E# fas* Htaedaaippi afkj legal Cdcedinatd* fapffea ' • i' : 1 ' OafflBfltl Of Itoiiiwtadl C, vtions, Ibis Jot s'i^ll SKP*» • texipiag trasft of all ^rr®gts# bond situations, trial datea, einU actions, et,»,.s &3 uoll a* eooKsixatifig «a* lagfi|l da-' md aggroai&'Wi cation, & Hdj Itog&ftl. ©oaid rroa plsasa toad/ no sopios of all 8.8* suits aw3 teiefa that touch OK./ f$ tifclfljf ; lnrolvv Mmofflfy tftaalaal&pl. ©will this b* donaf I istuM s also jppJMttjr igpfiaatito ipttdag &$ pymraaant te&aC in tha s £it«In oas03, tho on© tho ftegmsm OotBrt eistewi Sax to smlx4t» .1, c,-;, ..^; '/o2»j- .;,;:...„", H Khadal atga&ajata taS as at » not 'yet baan abio tc sail ap this gab * a * a- as as ma ?m& yet. bvt.::Hal2yf tha.ftKBB C®0 lags! (jrflapftrai ".M b© a roliaalo souro© fey earnest afsmsi, jcdi and,, stdt tix£tosati3», f© it oo:jsia&riu£ filing a. suit -to injata action fMM th© alalia fa i bill* ar« lia - d? mJX£SHIgIffig2 Legal Deists® ,aad BAaoati It) J 918 -:. | i slresuiy wapklns on it, although I do not fesw haw fir along ho is* - aai Mr, Art fhaa 8a*Ealljr, % Ifaiitep !3e;' S&fal Coarcir.-. . . ft ' X \ ! • • •-'. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CADILLAC TOWER DETROIT. MICHIGAN 48226 //- WOODWARD 1-1705 — ._ May 22, 1964 PRESIDENT ERNEST GOODMAN DETROIT VICE PRESIDENTS GEORGE W. CROCKETT, JR. DETROIT THOMAS I. EMERSON NEW HAVEN 08MOND K. FRAENKEL NEW YORK ARTHUR KINOY Mr. Robert Moses NEW YORK COFO NORMAN LEONARD 1017 Lynch Street SAN FRANCISCO Jackson, Mississippi JOHN T. MCTERNAN LOS ANGELES Dear Friend:' VICTOR RAB1NOWITZ NEW YORK BENJAMIN SMITH There is enclosed for your information a NEW ORLEANS copy of the Progress Report prepared by our Committee HERMAN WRIGHT for presentation to the Guild's National Executive HOUSTON Board. EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT DAVID Y. KLEIN Since the report was prepared, additional DETROIT financial contributions totaling more than One Thou sand ($1,000.00) Dollars have been received, including SECRETARY contributions from members of the Michigan Supreme HERMAN B. GERRINGER NEW YORK Court and from several law professors and public offi cials here in the midwest. TREASURER BERNARD J FIEGER We also enclose for your information a copy DETROIT of the "Instructions Sheet" which we are furnishing ADVISORY BOARD each attorney. JOHN M. COE PENSACOLA Following our Orientation Conference which EARL B. DICKERSON will be held at Wayne University's Conference Center CHICAGO here in Detroit on June 5th and 6th, we expect to BENJAMIN DREYFUS have available a brochure of relevant principles and •AN FRANCISCO practices under Mississippi law. We will be glad to ROBERT W. KENNY forward a copy of this document for your information. LOS ANGELES MALCOLM SHARP CHICAGO 100 Page Two May 22, 1964 We welcome any suggestions you care to offer which might aid us in insuring that adequate and competent legal assistance is rendered to all who will be volunteering to serve in the Mississippi Project this summer. We are most pleased to note from the New York Times of May 21, 1964, that a New York Committee of Lawyers has been formed to also bring lawyers to the South. We look forward to unstinted co-opera tion with all organizations and individuals engaged in this common struggle for democratic rights. Sincere personal regards, dordially, / Geo. W. Crockett, Jr. GWC:mz ends. TO: All Guild Members FROM: Ernest Goodman, President SUBJECT* Mississippi and the Guild's Committee for Legal Assistance in the South Dear Guild Members The "Committee for Legal Assistance in the South" is the new name for what was formerly CASL. George Crockett and Ben Smith are Co-Chairmen of the Committee and George Downing and Len Holt are Co-Secretaries. Crockett,Smith and Downing recently returned from a conferen at Jackson, Mississippi where they were participants in what is, per haps, the most exciting and promising development in the whole civil rights struggle in the South today: the proposed "Mississippi Project" to be sponsored and conducted in Mississippi this summer by the Mississippi Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). What Is COFO? In 1963, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi joined with CORE, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the NAACP and several other voter and civic groups in that state to form a statewide civil rights organization. Since then COFO has continued under the leadership of Aaron Henry as President and Robert Moses (of SNCC) as Program Director. What la The Mississippi Project? This summer, SNCC, in cooperation with COFO, is launching a massive Peace Corps-type operation for the disfranchised citizens of Mississippi. One Thousand (1,000) college students, teachers, technicians, nurses, artists and legal advisors from all sections of the country are pledging themselves to come to Mississippi to staff a wide range of programs that include voter registration freedom schools, operation of community centers and special projects. How Will The Project Operate? The Freedom Schools and Community Centers will operate essen tially the same as the Peace Corps operates abroad — a combination of adult education, arts and crafts, work-while-you-learn projects, health and recreation centers and political science seminars. Voter Registration will be conducted by workers deployed in teams of four (4) in every county, with larger concentrations of roughly 100 in the major urban centers. These workers will assist in developing local leadership and organization. They will encourage as many Negroes as possible to attempt to register on the county books and will assist in a campaign, launched in February, to register over 400,000 Negroes on Freedom registration books. The Freedom registration campaign, now in progress, involves establishing local registrants in every precinct in Mississippi with registration books resembling as much as possible the official books of the State. The Freedom registration books will serve as the basis for challenging the official books of the State and the validity of "official" elections this fall. Finally, voter registration workers will assist in the summer campaigns of Freedom candidates who are running for Congress against the present incumbents. The Problem For Lawyers. A problem of major concern to the delegates at the COFO meeting was how to assure maximum legal protection and assistance for the workers in such a campaign in a State that has only three (3) attorneys (all Negroes) who will accept the defense of civil rights cases, and where court-assigned attorneys refuse to raise constitutional issues? Mississippi officials are preparing for all out resistance. According to Newsweek (2/24/64), the Mayor of the capitol city of Jackson boasts of a "riot-trained police force" which is "twice as big as any city our size";the acquisition of two "detention compounds" for - o - "demonstration POW"; and a specially built "13,000 pound armored battle- wagon". .. .abristle with shotguns, tear-gas guns and a sub-machine gun. In addition, the New York Times (4/7/64) reports pending State bills authorizing municipalities to restrict the movements of citizens in the interest of "public safety? and making it a felony" to threaten or coerce another from lawfully carrying on business, or to print or circu- late any matter encourgaing economic boycotts. The problem of litigating these restrictions on freedom and defending those who insist upon their freedoms is further complicated by the fact that while the State Courts are open to out-of-state lawyers without the necessity of formal motion and admission, the right of out- of-state attorneys to handle such cases can be challenged at any time. The local Federal Court rule requires formal motion and at least one Federal Judge in the past has required that a local attorney physically accompany any out-of-state attorney appearing in his Court. Two (2) proceedings sponsored by the Guild already are pending in which it is expected that the local Federal Rule will be held to be inapplicable in all instances where the inability to obtain local counsel is alleged in the pleadings. The Guild's Program for Mississippi The Proposal: It is proposed that the Guild furnish the maximum legal service possible to those participating in the Mississippi Project. The Staff: It is further proposed that such service be coordinated through a field office to be established in Mississippi with a full- time integrated staff consisting of two (2) attorneys, two (2) law students and a secretary. The primary function of the staff is (a) to handle, on an emergency basis, all requests for immediate assistance until such time as a Guild attorney can be assigned? (b) to set up immediately a register of Guild attorneys who will accept full responsi bility for particular cases assigned to them? and (c) to keep a progress - 3 - docket of all Guild cases and render such on-the-scene assistance to assigned attorneys as possible. Register of Guild Attorneys: Services of Guild attorneys would be soli cited and utilized on the following bases: a. General Guild Attorneys are those attorneys who agree to come and stay in Mississippi for an extended period of a week or more. Such an attorney would be assigned to a particular community, county or district for the duration of his stay. He would be expected to handle, on an emergency basis, all Guild cases in that community or district. This includes arraignments, preliminary hearings, releases on bail, summary trials in magistrate's courts and appeals and trials de novo in County Court. It also includes habeas corpus and removal proceedings. COFO would provide him with subsistence and the facilities for working. His legal services would be rendered gratuitously and the Guild would pay for his transportation to and from his Mississippi location. When the tour of duty of a General Guild Attorney is about up, another would be on hand to step immediately into his place. b. Special Guild Attorneys are those attorneys who accept an assigned Mississippi case or cases for preparation in their own offices and who come to Mississippi for the single purpose of trying or presenting argument in the particular case assigned to him. In such instances the "work-up" of the case or group of cases will have been handled (as outlined above) by a General Guild Attorney or the staff attorneys on the scene. The Special Guild Attorney would be expected to try such cases on appeal and to follow the case to its ultimate conclusion - 4 - (including higher appeals). He also might be called upon to prepare briefs and argue removal proceedings or juvenile court proceedings. His services also would be volunteered and the Guild would assume responsibility for his travel and other expenses incident to his assignment. Attorney's Registration and Commitment Form 1. It is believed that we can achieve and maintain a fair territorial coverage if we can provide a total of sixty (60) "lawyer-weeks" (one lawyer for one week) of service for our General Guild Attorneys. This presupposes one (1) full-time General Guild Attorney in each of the five (5) Congressional Districts in Mississippi for each of the twelve (12) weeks of the Project, or five (5) attorneys for each week from June 2nd to August 31st. In addition, of course, we shall need as many Special Guild Attorneys as we can obtain. 2. It is imperative that registrations of volunteer attorneys begin now. I am enclosing the Committee's Commitment Form and ask that you execute it and return it as promptly as possible. In addition to indicating whether or not you or someone from your office will be able to Go To The South (Mississippi), please specify with as much certainty as possible the dates and total period of time you or someone from your office can stay in Mississippi. 3. Each Guild member who registers will be used to the extent that our finances will permit; and he will be informed, as far in advance as possible, of the place where he is wanted and the time when he is expected. - 5 - 4. If you cannot come to Mississippi for a week or more, please indicate your willingness to work on any of the other aspects of the Guild's Mississippi Program. General Observations 1. The Guild's function in Mississippi is to bring clients and attorneys together — to "guarantee" a competent attorney for any civil rights defendant who requests an attorney. 2. The Guild will interest itself in a person's defense only upon request by the person or a representative of the person. In such cases, the function of the Guild will be limited to assigning counsel and providing for counsel's travel expenses where the client or the attorney is unable to do so. 3. Each attorney assigned by the Guild is required to obtain a written retainer from his client appointing the attorney as attorney-in-fact (as well as at law) to do what in his judgment is necessary to the client's defense. This applies also in those instances where either of the staff attorneys (or law students) mentioned above undertake to represent any person with respect to any aspect of his defense. 4. It is not the Guild's function to itself handle or be responsible for the handling or even the direction of any defense case. The Guild is not a Civil Rights defense organization. Once the attorney is recommended by us and is accepted and engaged by the client, the relation ship of attorney and client is established and it is the attorney's case. 5. The full support of the Guild is pledged to the assistance - 6 - and to the defense of any attorney who accepts a case at the request of the Guild. Initiation of Program: We propose to initiate the Guild's Mississippi program by conducting our third conference for Civil Rights Attorneys in or near Jackson, Mississippi, on June 6-8, 1964. In addition to our usual work-shop discussions, the conference would explore in detail the legal needs of the Mississippi Program and the implementation of the Guild's proposals to meet these needs. It is our hope that the Conference will have the joint sponsorship of COFO and can be held on the campus at Tougaloo College. Budget: The proposed budget for this program is estimated at $15,000? the larger part of which represents the allocation for travel to and from Mississippi. This budget can be reduced to the extent that attorneys or their offices pay for the travel or the travel is provided by the local chapter of the Guild. Mr. Crockett - with the approval of his firm - will spend the entire twelve (12) weeks at the Mississippi field office. We desper ately need an additional volunteer attorney whose circumstances will permit a similar commitment "for the duration". The two (2) law students and the secretary in the field office would be paid a subsistence of $50.00 per week. Rent, phone, office supplied, office rent, auto expense, travel and miscellaneous should be kept to $1,000 per month. We should anticipate travel ex pense averaging $150.00 round trip for sixty attorneys to come to Mississippi. And the expenses for the initiating conference could be kept at about $800.00. Thus, we have the following minimum proposed budget for three (3) months: - 7 - Field Office Staff Salaries $ 1,800.00 Field Office Operating Expenses 3,000.00 Initiating Conference 800.00 Round Trip Travel for 60 Attorneys 9,000.00 Miscellaneous Expenses 400.00 TOTAL $15,000.00 - 8 - TO: NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD - EXECUTIVE BOARD FROM: COMMITTEE FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE IN THE SOUTH RE: MISSISSIPPI SUMMER PROGRAM President Goodman has requested that we prepare a report on the Guild's Mississippi Program for submission to the Board for its June meeting. The report follows: 1. Announcement of Program The Guild's Summer Program for Mississippi was announced to our members in a special memorandum sent by President Goodman to each member on April 15, 1964, The program was announced publicly at a luncheon-press conference at the Sheraton-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit on April 27. The luncheon was attended by approximately thirty (3 0) persons and received radio and television coverage as well as feature stories in newspapers from coast-to-coast (including the Jackson, Mississippi Daily News). Special Guests at the luncheon included the President of the Detroit Bar Association, the President of the Wolverine Bar Association, the Dean of the University of Detroit School of Law and the General Counsel of the State Bar of Michigan. 2. Response From the Bar The response of the Michigan Bar to the announcement of the Guild's Mississippi Program has been magnificent. Such outstanding members of the profession as the Michigan State Bar President, the Lieutenant-Governor of Michigan, the immediate past Governor of Michigan, the deans of the University of Michigan Law School and the Detroit College of Law and many others joined the Guild in celebrating Law Day by issuing an appeal to the profession for financial assistance to assure success of the Mississippi program. At this writing approxi mately $2, 000 has been collected as a result of this appeal. 3. Basic Policy Consideration The Guild is not a civil rights organization. It is a national bar associa tion of attorneys, professionally and personally committed for the past twenty- seven years to the defense of the civil rights and liberties for all people. The distinction is important because it explains why the Guild itself can not become an integral part of a lay defense organization or association of such organizations. Our concern in the Mississippi Project is to attempt to redress the lack of available lawyers in Mississippi ready, willing, and able to handle civil rights cases. And we would hope that our example might bring an increasing aware ness of their professional obligation to members of the Mississippi bar, which would permit us to reduce and eventually withdraw our commitment. NLG - Executive Board Page 2 4. Commitments As of this writing we have approximately 125 attorneys who have signed commitments to donate forty (40) hours of work in legal assistance in the South. Of this number, approximately forty (40) (from New York to California) have specifically committed themselves to come to Mississippi and to spend at least a week handling civil rights matters there this summer. In addition to these commitments, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Otis Smith is releasing his law clerk, Attorney Larry Warren, to join Mr. Crockett in Mississippi for the entire summer. 5. Orientation Conference An orientation Conference, designed especially for attorneys going to Mississippi this summer, will be held at the beautiful McGregor Conference Center at Wayne State University in Detroit on Friday and Saturday, June 5th and 6th. The Conference will present the following four (4) workshop sessions: I. Mississippi Constitution and Statutes Relating to Civil Rights. Friday, June 5, 1964 at 7:30 P.M. , Room E, Conference Center. II. Mississippi Criminal Law and Procedure. Saturday, June 6, 1964 at 9:00 A.M., Room E, Conference Center. III. Federal Removal in Civil Rights Cases. Saturday, June 6, 1964 at 2:00 P.M. IV. Federal Habeas Corpus. Saturday, June 6, 1964 at 3:30 P.M. Discussion Leaders will include: Prof. Chester Antieau of Georgetown University Law School, Washington, D. C. ; Morton Stavis, Esq. , Newark, New Jersey; Arthur Kinoy, Esq. , New York, New York: Benjamin Smith, Esq., New Orleans, Louisiana; William Kuntzler, Esq. , New York, New York; Carsi Hall, Esq. , Jackson, Mississippi; Bruce Waltzer, Esq. , New Orleans, Louisiana; Edward Bell, Esq. , Detroit, Michigan. The major presentations at the Conference will be in writing with refer ences to controlling case citations and statutes and with sample forms. These, then will be collected in booklet form for easy access and use by attorneys. NLG - Executive Board Page 3 A Conference luncheon will be held Saturday, June 6, at which time the volunteer attorneys will be told of travel, housing and office accommodations available for their use in Mississippi. 6. Jackson (Mississippi) Headquarters The Committee has leased office accommodations at 507-1/2 N. Farish Street in Jackson, Mississippi. The office is expected to be in operation by June 1st. Various contributions for the office have been received, including air conditioners, mimeograph and photocopy equipment, typewriters and a set of recent volumes of United States Reports. There is an excellent prospect that a station-wagon also will be placed at the disposal of the headquarters staff. 7. Our Needs The Program is off to an encouraging start; but there is still much to be done. Our major need is for financial assistance to insure the effective operation of the field office and adequate travel and living accommodations for our volunteer attorneys. The following specific contributions are greatly needed: (a) Travel. A contribution of $1500 to enable us to purchase a used station-wagon for travel needs in Mississippi and a contribution of $1500 to cover the cost of all anticipated auto travel in Mississippi for the entire summer; (b) A contribution of $1200 will guarantee the subsistence salary for the entire field office staff for the entire summer; (c) A contribution of $300 will pay the office rent, light and water bills for the entire summer; and (d) A contribution of $150 will pay the round-trip air trans portation and one week's subsistence for a volunteer attorney. 8. Special Gifts Some special gifts are beginning to come in as more publicity is given to our program, The Cotillion Club of Detroit, composed of Negro business and professional men--has contributed One Thousand Dollars ($1, 000); the Flint, Michigan, NAACP Branch has contributed One Hundred Dollars ($100); and two Detroit doctors have pledged contributions totalling $1, 000; and several attorneys, in addition to volunteering their services for the south, also have sent in financial contributions. NLG - Executive Board Page 4 The Committee requests the assistance of the Board and each Guild member to the end that the minimum proposed budget of $15, 000 for the Mississippi program can be realized. Respectfully submitted, Geo/ W. Crockett, Jr., and Byenjamin Smith o-chairmen; and i Jeorge L. Downing Secretary INSTRUCTION SHEET TO: All Attorneys Participating in the Guild's Mississippi Project FROM: George W. Crockett, Jr., Program Director The Field Office for the Guild's program in Mississippi will be opened by June 1, 1964 and will be located at 507% No. Farish Street in Jackson, Mississippi. The office will be under the direction of Attorney Larry Warren and myself and it is expected that stenographic assistance as well as research assistance from two law students will be available at all times. All attorneys coming to Mississippi on the Guild's project will come first to the Jackson office and re ceive their assignments from that office. As nearly as practicable, they will be transported by automobile to the community where their services are needed and they will be accompanied at all times by either another attorney or a law student. It should be realized that living accommodations for civil rights attorneys in Mississippi are not likely to be ideal. None of the white hotels will be available to an attorney who is known to be sympathic to the civil rights struggle: and Negro hotels are practically non existent. Moreover, local mores outside of Jackson tend to frown upon white persons living in the homes of Negroes. To some extent the experience with the "Freedom Riders" have tended to alter this picture and in the City of Jackson, it is accepted that white people interested in the civil rights struggle will be furnished living accom modations with Negro families. Also, Negroes and whites in Mississippi do not frequent the same restaurants. As of this writing, two (2) Jackson restaurants are "open to interracial groups. Whenever it is necessary, therefore, that living accommodations be provided in communities other than Jackson, such arrangements will be made by the Council of Federated Organizations District leadership; other wise the attorney will return to Jackson where such accommodations will be available at all times. Every effort will be made to provide each of our attorneys with living accommodations in close proximity with each other but where such accommodations are not ideal, it is expected that you will recognize this as one of the contributions you must make to the success of our venture. The following suggestions will be helpful in orienting you to the professional responsibility which you undertake by coming to Mississippi: 1. Authority to Practice. Bring with you your license (or other document) showing your authority to practice in your home state. (Michigan attorneys will be furnished a letter of certification over the seal of the "State Bar of Michigan" and signed by the General Counsel for the State Bar Grievance Com mittee. ) ? 2- Relationship to the Movement. We must at all times demean ourselves in a manner befitting our status as lawyers. Attorneys should not become active participants in demonstrations, picketing and other lay activities in which it is reasonable to expect that they later may be called upon to represent professionally persons charged with law violations as a result of such activity. -2- 3. Accepting Assignment. Do not undertake to represent anyone unless you have a written authorization or acceptance signed by the client or his duly author ized representative. This should be obtained at the time of your initial interview with the client. 4. Admission in Federal Cases. The rules of the Federal Court for the Southern District of Mississippi re quire that out-of-state counsel have local counsel associated with him. This has been interpreted by the District Court to mean that local counsel must move the admission of the out-of-state attorney and must be present in Court with him at all times. However, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently has held that where local counsel is not available for this purpose and this fact is made to appear by affidavit or otherwise, the District Court is expected to waive this rule or to permit out-of- state counsel to move his own admission. (It is a well-known fact that local counsel is not available for such cases. The Committee will provide the necessary affidavit.) *.;-*T..;: In some instances the Court might offer to appoint associate counsel. Such an offer should not be declined out of hand. Our purpose if to interest more local counsel in meeting their responsibility. However, it is our view that the defendant (or the plaintiff, as the case may be) is not obligated to accept (or pay for) such appointed counsel. (Cf. Mississippi Constitution's guarantee of counsel of one's choice in both "civil and criminal cases".) -3- 5. Admission in State Courts. Section 8666 of the Missis sippi Code controls the admission of attorneys of other states to appear and plead in cases before any Court or Administrative Agency of the State of Mis sissippi. - copy of this statute is attached. It will be noted that there is no requirement that out- of-state attorneys have local attorneys associated with them and it does not appear that any formal - '.' motion for admission is required. However, two members in good standing of the Mississippi Bar may protest the qualification of the out-of-state attor ney and, in that event, he must cease and desist until such time as his qualifications have been certified following an inquiry by the State Board of Bar Ad missions. In any such inquiry, the out-of-state attorney may be required to appear and testify. In the past out-of-state attorneys appearing for defendants in these civil rights cases have ex perienced little difficulty in the State Courts (i.e. Justice of the Peace, Police Courts, Munici pal Courts, County Courts and Circuit Courts.) There always is the possibility, however, that a challenge might be made. If so, the statute is to be obeyed and the out-of-state attorney will cease and desist. Consideration will then be given to mandamus or other appropriate proceedings in the State Appellate Court to challenge the validity of the above statute as applied. Meanwhile, if the defendant requests, we will assign another attorney or, in some instances, it may be preferable to use Court appointed counsel. Whenever Court appointed _4_ counsel is used the defendant should be told, should understand and should insist upon his right to have his appointed counsel raise all *f of the pertinent constitutional issues, including: (a) Right to a public trial (a trial from which representatives of the public are not precluded from attending); (b) Trial in an unsegregated courtroom and where all of the public facilities are unsegregated; (c) Indictment (and trial) before a grand (or petit) jury from which no eligible person has been excluded because of race, creed or color; (d) Trial before an impartial tribunal (judge); (e) Trial in a public atmosphere not so in flamed as to preclude a fair and impartial consideration of the evidence. George L. Downing, Secretary of the Committee, will be in charge of the other activities of the Committee during the summer and can be reached at the National office :f the Guild, 2801 Cadillac Tower, Detroit 26, Michigan, telephone 961-1705. -5- 22 Hay 196* mm ywyas WBBWZkf tiisss - ' • strat •*£ tw©in plans© find sgr cheek for $15 ecw^ing the fee for tiMeter i«¥±«ta lnaatrad. fcgr M§« Oat&i 1 ala^ hmm en ©attest® tgr y®s» gat&g® of how aoah it wM aaat la irapair the ear. possibly tat aatftsst fi eouM h® glvoe* One, the Kixdmal repars ttaoasaaiy la order to pass the t&aslssippi tnspootlen raqptrsBKmtsg !to% a full rapdrlng Job. Please escstssa ay latanoss, • CQadiaUy, a, {Stnass1 «®s*©3r iOl? i^nah St. fesksoa* lflLas. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CADILLAC TOWER DETROIT. MICHIGAN 48226 WOODWARD 1-1705 May 22, 1964 PRESIDENT ERNEST GOODMAN DETROIT VICE PRESIDENTS GEORGE W. CROCKETT, JR. DETROIT * THOMAS I. EMERSON NEW HAVEN OSMOND K. FRAENKEL NEW YORK ARTHUR KINOY Mr. R. Hunter Morey NEW YORK COFO 1017 Lynch Street NORMAN LEONARD SAN FRANCISCO Jackson, Mississippi JOHN T. MCTERNAN LOS ANOELES Dear Friend: VICTOR RABINOWITZ NEW YORK BENJAMIN SMITH , . There is enclosed for your information a NEW ORLEANS copy of the Progress Report prepared by our Committee HERMAN WRIGHT for presentation to the Guild's National Executive HOUSTON Board. EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT DAVID Y. KLEIN Since the report was prepared, additional DETROIT financial contributions totaling more than One Thou sand ($1,000.00) Dollars have been received, including SECRETARY contributions from members of the Michigan Supreme HERMAN B. OERRINOER NEW YORK Court and from several law professors and public offi cials here in the midwest. TREASURER BERNARD J. FIEGER We also enclose for your information a copy DETROIT of the "Instructions Sheet" which we are furnishing ADVISORY BOARD each attorney. JOHN M. COB PENSACOLA Following our Orientation Conference which EARL B. DICKERSON will be held at Wayne University's Conference Center CHICAGO here in Detroit on .June 5th and 6th, we expect to BENJAMIN DREYFUS have available a brochure of relevant principles and SAN FRANCISCO practices under Mississippi law. We will be glad to ROBERT W. KENNY forward a copy of this document for your information. LOS ANGELES MALCOLM SHARP- CHICAGO 100 Page Two May 22, 1964 We welcome any suggestions you care to offer which might aid us in insuring that adequate and competent legal assistance is rendered to all who will be volunteering to serve in the Mississippi Project this summer. We are most pleased to note from the New York Times of May 21, 1964, that a New York Committee of Lawyers has been formed to also bring lawyers to the South. We lode forward to unstinted co-opera tion with all organizations and individuals engaged in this common struggle for democratic rights. Sincere personal regards, Cordxally Geo. W. Crockett, Jr. GWC:mz ends. 23 Ha/ 1964 George Bushnell, Esquire 2500 Detroit Bank and Trust Building Detroit, Michigan Dear Atty. Daahnell: Attorney George W. Crockett, Jr. first infc your interest in challenging the uneonstitutioaal statutes. Just this last IdSdnesday Atty. Crockett a detailed letter continuing his outlining_ action. These pftans are exactly what COFO want crying for for a long time. I am lookingforward to you in Detroit when X 002m for the ilatioaaKLawyars QuiJ Civil Rights Conference June 5, 6, I also have a letter of I .vin L. Wulf, Legal Director of the ACLU who es of the Mississippi Statutes which are ax now in eff* pass between now and the end of the We are not a Legislative Reporting ssippi Legislative Reporting Service, 31 Building, Jackson 5* Mississippi costs $1 luckily I have been able to obtain the enclose introduced into the Senate aatx and an up those bills which have been ..Mch have been made law. I ssion On Civil Rights whom I lied our only set of House bills to mail Atty. t, I shall also request them to you a As Lag^Coordfeator of COFO, I requested I4el Waif, as Director o£33li^awyers Constitutional Defense Coaadttee to join in your action. It is COFO policy to request aid from all people and x groups who will work with and under COFO program and policy, i To quote a recent COFO staff resolution *We will not segregate anybody." I am leaking forward to meeting you end to receiving ooplao of the complaint papers. I hope that I can be a party to the s action. -. Cordially, 00« Mel Waif *V*V-£/ 1 jP*»»lli'fts»iu.i..w..JMi. $. George Crockett R. Hunter Morey Legal coordinatoCoordinator P.S, To keep up to date for the rest of the legislative session, subcrifee or Oy-^ the Mississippi edition of the TBffi-PICAXUNE, of New Orleans, for the N&aa« Lagislative Digest. 1 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20530 Address Reply to the Division Indicated and Refer to Initials and Number BM:ILB:bco 144-35-0 MAY 261964 Mr. R. Hunter Morey 940 Sidney Street Greenville, Mississippi Dear Mr, Morey: In response to your request we are happy to enclose a copy of our briefs in Griffin v. Maryland and related cases. Sincerely, BURKE MARSHALL Assistant Attorney General Civil^Rights Division /> / ' By: HAROLD H. GREENE Chief, Appeals and Research Section Enclosures ( ( < ' LAW OFFICES GOODMAN, CROCKETT, EDEN, ROBB & PHIUO 32NO FLOOR, CADILLAC TOWER ERNEST GOODMAN DETROIT. MICHIGAN 48226 GEO. W. CROCKETT, JR. MORTON A. EDEN TELEPHONE 868-0060 DEAN A. ROBB HARRY M. PHILO May 27, 1964 D. WM. MAKI RICHARD M. GOODMAN CLAUDIA H. SHROPSHIRE ROBERT L. MILLENDER MARIJANA RELICH GEO. J. BEDROSIAN R. Hunter Morey COFO Legal Coordinator 1017 Lynch Street P.O. Box 2896 Jackson, Mississippi Dear Hunter I found the material which you sent awaiting me on my return from New York City. Thanks for your thought- fulness . The housing information is of considerable interest because it is the one unknown factor in our plans. We must find a house in Jackson where we can house our attorneys; otherwise our program of legal assistance cannot succeed. Will you please make a concentrated effort this week to find a house that will accomodate four (4) lawyers on a continuing weekly basis? Attorney Larry Warren is available to assist you. We would be agreeable to guaranteeing the rental of such accomodations for the entire summer. We would appreciate it if you could give this matter the highest priority and telephone us collect as soon as you have any results. [I Geo. W. Crockett, Jr GWCrmz P.S. Dear Hunter: Thanks for the copy of your letter to Attorney Bushnell. I think it will be most favorably received. Also, I am delighted about the law school assign ments; I only hope we can find a place for them to stay. I met Slater in New York and he told me they were coming. I will reach Jackson on Saturday and will look you up. Hope that by then you will have someone who is ready to rent us their four bedroom home "for the duration" George GWC:mz 1st Session COUNCIL OP FEDERATED 0BGANI2ATI0N S 1017 Lynch Street URGENT Jackson, Mississippi T0:SUMMEB PROJECT PARTICIPANTS FROM:SUMMER PROJECT COMMITTEE RE: ORIENTATION Your assignment for the summer begins June Ik. On that date you should arrive at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio for orientation. Because of the number of volunteers working in the Mississipp Freedom Summer Program, there will be two orientation sessions. It is crucial that you attend the orientation to which you have been assigned. There you will meet your field staff supervisor as well as the other volunteers on your working team. . Oxford-, Ohio, is 35 miles northwest of Cincinnati, 30 miles south of U.S. Highway 40. You will find signs on the campus directing you to registration center. You should register on Sunday, June 14, between 1 and 6 p.m. Dinner will be the first meal served. The orientation will end at noon on Saturday, June 20, and you will leave directly from there to your field assignment. The conference fee is $25*00 per person, which includes registration, room, board, etc. It is hoped you will pay this fee, although we want to make it "clear that no one must miss orientation simply because he can't afford it. The enclosed card must be returned immediately to the National Council of Churches, which is organizing the orientation. If you cannoib attend the ''• • • >June~14th orientation, let us know immediately at the Jackson office. It is crucial that you make every effort to arrive at the orientation to which you are assigned. Some people are not planning to arrive in the state until July or August. aWe^ will be. holding orientation sessions" ' throughout the summer.; If you cannot make the orientation session above and plan to arrive, late in the, summer, send.us the.date you plan to arrive. Immediately. Last Minute Information: 1. Cars: Cars which are in the state 30 days must have Mississippi tage. This is a correction on the last memo. Please note this change. 2. Clothing: Bring cool, casual clothing. You will only need one dressy outfit. Men should not bring Bermuda shorts. Women should plan to wear skirts most of the time, and should not bring short shorts or tight Bermudas and slacks. 3. Bring a sleeping bag or one set of linens. k. Contafct your freedom center for help on transportation to the orientation site.* Also let the center know if you will be (ffriving down. Contact the Freedom Center nearest you, even though you may not have been in touoh with them before. l^H 2nd Session COUNCIL OF FEDERATED ORGANIZATIONS 1017 Lynch Street URGENT Jackson, Mississippi TO: SUMMER PROJECT PARTICIPANTS FROM: SUMMER PROJECT COMMITTEE RE: ORIENTATION Your assignment for the summer begins June 21. On that date you should arrive at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, for orientation. Because of the number of volunteers working the Mississippi Freedom Summer Program there will be two orientation periods. It is crucial that you attend the orientatition to which you have been assigned. There you will meet your field staff supervisor as well as the other volunteers on your working team. Oxford, Ohio, is 35 miles northwest of Cincinatti, 30 miles south of U. S. Highway 40. You will find signs on the campus directing you to the registration center. You should register on Sunday, June 21 .between land 6 P.M. Dinner will be the first meal served. The orientation will end at noon on Saturday, June 27, and you will leave-directly from there to your field assignment. The conference fee is ^25.00 per person, which includes registration, room, board, etc. It is hoped you will pay this fee, although we want to make it clear that hoone must miss orientation simply because he can't afford it. The enclosed card must be returned immediately to the National Council of Churches, which is organizing the orientation. If you cannot attend the June 21st orientation, let us know immediately at the Jackson office. It Is crucial that you make every effort to arrive at the orientation to which you are assigned. —- Some people are not planning to arrive in the state until July or August. We will be holding orientation sessions throughout the summer. If you cannot make, the orientation session above and plan to arrive late in the summer, send us the date you plan to arrive. Immediately Last minute information: 1. Cars: Cars which are in the state 30 days must have Mississippi tags. This is a correction on the last memo. Please note this change. 2.- Clothing: Bring cool, casual clothing. You will need only one dressy outfit. Men should not bring Bermuda shorts. Women should plan to wear skirts most of the time, and should not bring short , shorts or tight Bermudas am§ slacks. 3. Bring a sleeping bag or one set of linene. 4. Contact your freedom center for help on transportation to the orientation site. Also let the center know if you will be driving down. Contact the Freedom Center nearest you, even though you may not have been in touch with them before. St CLEVELAND THURBER LAW OFFICES OF SIDNEY T. MILLER EDWARD S. REID, JR. 1864- 1940 LAWRENCE S. KINO MILKER, CANFIELD, PADDOCK AND STONE GEORGE L. CANFIELD EMMETT E. EAGAN 1866 -1928 JOHN H. NUNNELEY WILLIAM G. BUTLER 2500 DETROIT BANK & TRUST BUILDING LEWIS H. PADDOCK C. GRANT BARNES 1866- 1935 JOHN A. GILRAY, JR. DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48226 FERRIS D. STONE JAMES E. TO BIN 1 882 - 1 9-45 BERRIEN C.EATON, JR. SIDNEY T MILLER, JR. STRATTON S. BROWN I 8 9-4 - I 936 RICHARD B. GUSHEE LOUIS H. FEAD GEORGE E. BUSHNELL, JR. 1877 -1943 PETER P. THURBER LANSING OFFICE BIRMINGHAM OFFICE HARRY F. MCMASTER FRED M. TH RUN 318 WABEEK BUILDING LAWRENCE A. KING ROBERT M.THRUN BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGAN -480II ROBERT E.HAMMELL 525 HOLLISTER BUILDING TELEPHONES JOSEPH F. MAYCOCK.JR. LANSING. MICHIGAN -48933 MIDWEST 6-6800 ALLEN SCHWARTZ TELEPHONE 48-4-7791 JORDAN 6-0757 JOHN W. GELDER CABLE GEORGE E.PARKER III RICHARD A.JONES 'STEM DETROIT" STEVAN UZELAC TELEPHONE GILBERT E. GOVE 963-6420 WOLFGANG HOPPE ALAN C. MILLER ROBERT S. KETCHUM GEORGE B. HEFFERAN, JR. IRA J. JAFFE GEORGE E.BUSHNELL June 1, 1964 COUNSEL Air Mail R. Hunter Morey, Esq. Legal Coordinator Council of Federated Organizations 1017 Lynch Street P. O. Box 2896 Jackson, Mississippi 39205 Dear Mr. Morey: I acknowledge and thank you for yours of May 23rd and for the enclosed legislative material. I also thank you for requesting on my behalf a set of the Mississippi House Bills from the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights. George Crockett has also provided some material which is in the process of being reproduced, and which I in turn will forward to Mr. Wulf. I look forward to meeting with Mr. Wulf in the very near future so that we may best determine how to proceed. I would anticipate that you will be in Detroit before I have had a chance to be in New York, and I hope that we may get together this week. Cordially, l^te^ George'E*£.. Bushnell , Jr. GEBjr eg cc: George W. Crockett, Jr. , Esq. Melvin L. Wulf, Esq. American Civil Liberties Union 156 Fifth Avenue New York, N. Y. JOHN H. WHEELER, PRESIDENT ALBERT W. DENT, VICE PRESIDENT MARION A. WRIGHT, VICE-PRESIDENT JOSEPHINE WILKINS, VICE-PRESIDENT RUFUS E. CLEMENT, VICE-PRESIDENT JOSEPH HAAS,COUNSEL Southern Regional Council, inc. LESLIE W. DUNBAR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 5c cAnevTFORSYTHu STREETcrnrrT , kNi . \AW/ . ^-S ATLANTAATI AkITA , GEORGIncnoriAA 3030OAO3m JAckson 2-8764 * A Council to attain the ideals and practices of equal opportunity for all peoples in the South June 5, 1964 Mr. R. Hunter Morey Legal Coordinator Council of Federated Organizations 1017 Lynch St., P.O. Box 2869 Jackson, Miss. 39205 Dear Mr. Morey: We are putting you on our mailing list, to receive all subsequent SRC research publications. Will you be with COFO just for the Summer, or is your job to be continued after the Summer? In reply to your question regarding SRC, I think perhaps listing the program areas and their directors will give you the information you seek: Executive Director - Leslie W. Dunbar Research - no director at present, LWD acting New South (monthly publication) - Margaret Long, editor Field Activities - Paul Anthony, director Executive:.Assistant to the director - Vernon Jordon Director of Information - Pat Watters Director of Women's Work (churchwomen) - Mrs. M. E. Tilly Treasurer - Ruth Alexander Voter Education Project - Wiley A. Branton, director SRC is working primarily through the Mississippi Council on Human Relations which, as you know, is cooperating with COFO. We are also in close touch with Aaron Henry, who is very familiar with SRC program and personnel. You may wish to discuss further your questions re SRC when next you see him. Sincerely yours, | xx^JL: tJL^^^ jt*-*^ jz-^. e-C^cv/ Montez Q/ Albright (Mrs.) Research Associate KUNSTLER KUNSTLER a KINOY ATTORNEYS AT LAW 511 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, N.Y. IOOI7 MURRAY HILL a-8317 WILLIAM M. KUNSTLER CABLE ADDRESS MICHAEL J- KUNSTLER "KANDKLEX" ARTHUR KINOY June 12, 1964 Mr. R. Hunter M0rey Legal Coordinator, COFO 1017 Lynch St. Jackson, Mississippi Dear Hunter: Just a brief note to indicate that I have received the material you sent up yesterday. I do not think there will be any problem at all in respect to Mr. Rauh's project. In any event, as I indicated to you on the telephone this morning, we will all have ample opportunity to discuss the last stage of the litigation program in detail before taking any action. Morton Stavis and Ben Smith will be contacting you directly as to the time of their arrival in Jackson. Bill and I have agreed to send Phil Hirshkop down with them for two purposes: (1) to work with Stavis and Smith in the preparation of the immediate project, and (2) to work directly with you for several days thereafter in assisting you in whatever way may be helpful in setting up your own operation. As you know, Phil is working for us this summer. We are sending him down for the express purpose of helping you in whatever way is necessary in establishing your own operation. He will arrive either with Morton Stavis or sometime on M0nday. I will let you know definitely over the week end. He will probably be able to stay through Friday. Bill and I hope that his presence will be of some assistance to you. I also received the injunction and opinion you sent up, in Jackson v. Salter. As soon as I obtain some information as to the status of this matter, I will let you know. There are, of course, a numberof affirmative steps which could be taken in this respect, but the first thing to discover is whether it is being handled already. As I mentioned to you, Bill or I, or both of us, will probably be down the following week. Best regards to everyone. Don't hesitate to call at any time if there is anything you want to talk over. f\ r+W -— Arthur Kinoy AK SKT LAW OFFICES OF MCKISSICK & BURT 313V2 WEST MAIN STREET DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA 27701 OFFICE 683-8106 P. B. McKISSICK M. C. BURT, JR. June 18, 1964 Mr. R. Hunter Morey COFO Legal Coordinator 1017 Lynch Street Post Office Box 2896 Jackson, Mississippi 39205 Dear Hunter: Thanks for your note of May 23, 1964. I am indeed happy to know that you are now with COFO. Pat Cusick is in jail but we hope to have him out sometime in July. You are absolutely correct when you say our (liberal white friends) cause us a lot of problems. This was the situation in Chapel Hill which is too lenghty to explain in a letter. The cases in Guilford County including yours, have been continued indefinitely. We are hoping that the actions will be dismissed soon. We won the "Blocking the Streets Cases" growing out of the Greensboro cases which went to the North Carolina Supreme Court this past week. Continue the good work. FBMcK:Is UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS WASHINGTON, D.C. 20425 June 10, 1964 Mr. Robert Moses Mr. Robert Weil Council of Federated Organizations 1017 Lynch Street, P.O. Box 2896 Jackson, Mississippi 39205 Dear Messrs. Moses and Weil: . The plan for a two day meeting at which reports will be \taken from representatives of each of the project groups and ilaw students in Mississippi has been approved. Accordingly, iwe will go ahead with plans for the meeting which will be held on August 15 and 16 in Jackson. This is not a Commission hearing, but a staff meeting for the purpose of assembling information and appraising witnesses. The meeting will be closed to the public. Publicity at this stage would almost certainly lead to a misapprehension of the function of the meeting; accordingly, we ask that you refrain from making this a subject of any news release at the present time. Kindly send to me as soon as possible a list of the names and addresses of the representatives from each of the project areas who will appear at the meeting. I suggest that in order to ^insure representation from each project, you name an alternate U^T/representative in case the original representative is unable to come. You may also name, if you think it appropriate, more than one representative from a project. We will prepare a letter which we will mail direct to each representative advising him of the meeting and of the subjects to be covered. We will follow this up with a reminder letter about a week before the V meeting. As I am sure you are aware, it is important to keep records of the activities of each project. Let me hear from you promptly so that we can prepare and mail the necessary letters. Sincerely yours, Michael 0. Finkelstein Assistant General Counsel July 2, 1964 Thomas F. Lynch 1103 Paulsen Bldg. Spokane, Washington Dear Mr. Lynch This letter is to inform you that COFO would be very pleased to have you participate In the legal aspect of its Mississippi Summer Project. Legal assistance is currently being provided for the Summer Project by several groups of lawyers, The National Lawyers Guild and The Lawyers Constitional Defense Committee. The Guild is an older group with an established in the fight for the protection of American civil liberties . The LCDC group is a newly formed group which is rapidly gaining a reputation for its great work in the protectionof basic American rights. In order to maintain the current relationship between COFO and these two groups, we request you to contact one of the two groups, iflform the group you can ooae to Jackson and make arrangements to work with that group. After these arrangements have been made, we would appreciate a short note telling when we can expect you to arrive. Sincerely a William L. Robinson Assistant Legal Co-ordinator KUNSTLER KUNSTLER & KINOY ATTORNEYS AT LAW 5 11 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, N.Y. IOOI7 WILLIAM M. KUNSTLER MURRAY HILL 2-8317 CABLE ADDRESS MICHAEL J. KUNSTLER "KANDKLEX" ARTHUR KINOY July 13, 1964 R. Hunter Morey, Esq., Cofo 1017 Lynch Street, Jackson, Miss. Dear Hunter: Per our discussion the other day, the following legal rec ommendations are submitted for your consideration: 1. All prosecutions of civil rights workers should be removed. It does not matter whether the offenses themselves are what we would ordinarily call civil rights cases because the jury system is unconstitution al, thus making a fair trial in the state courts im possible according to subdivision 1 of Section 1443, Title 28. Thus all removal petitions should contain a provision attacking the Mississippi jury system as being exclusionary insofar as Negroes are concerned. This would also adversly affect whites who are involved in racial cases. 2. Where lawyers are not permitted to defend clients because of the absence of local counsel, all defend ants should stand mute by announcing this intention to the court and then saying nothing. 3. A federal injunctive action should be started at tacking the validity of the section pertaining to out-of-state lawyers (8666, I believe) on the grounds that it denies right to counsel and unfairly discrimi nates against our people. A memorandum prepared by some of the law students on this point is enclosed. 4. A federal injunctive action against the traffic violation device should be started if it can be well- documented. If you decide to proceed with 3 and 4, please let us know and we can, if desired, work with the lawyers you decide to use. Cordially, William M. Kunstler NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD Ernest Goodman, President Cadillac Tower Herman Gerringer, Secretary Detroit, Michigan lj.8226 WOodward 1-1705 July lli, 1961; Honorable Lyndon B. Johnson President of the United States The White House Washington, D. C. Honorable Sir: Recent events in the State of Mississippi have led to calls for Federal intervention in that State for the protection of those who are attempting to assist Negro citizens in the exercise of their constitutional right to vote. The Attorney General of the United States has responded by expressing his opinion publicly to the effect that the Federal government lacks the power to take preventive police action in Mississippi. The National Lawyers Guild has, in such circumstances, referred the question of the powers of the Federal Govern ment to a Committee headed by Mr. Laurent Frantz, a mem ber of the Alabama and Tennessee Bars, who is an authority on Constitutional Law in the area of civil rights. Our Committee has studied the legal questions involved and the applicable law. Its Memorandum of Law Is annexed. We respectfully submit that the Memorandum establishes that the Federal Government does have explicit and adequate powers by which it can protect the voting rights of the Negro citizens of Mississippi, or any other State, through the use of whatever Federal agencies it deems necessary to overcome systematic resistance to the execution of Federal law or the exercise of Federally protected rights. We believe it is appropriate and necessary that such powers be used with all possible speed in order to bring to an end the intimidation of voters in Mississippi and those who would assist them in voting. In our view, the best way to reduce the necessity for employing massive Federal power, possibly including the use of Federal troops to take over the administration of the State of Mississippi, is to employ without delay, the full measure of Federal power through the less drastic measures described in the attached Memorandum. Following this course will place Federal-State relationships upon the footing intended by our constitutional system rather than serving to impair those relationships. National Lawyers Guild Letter to President Cadillac Tower Lyndon B. Johnson Detroit, Michigan Concerning Powers of the Department of Justice July Hi, 1961; -2- We further suggest the immediate assignment to Mississippi of additional visiting United States District Judges who are needed to preside over the many proceedings which will be initiated as the voter registration campaign progresses and the new Federal Civil Rights Law is implemented. The present complement of three District Judges is obviously inadequate for present and future needs in this large state. The future of our country as a nation founded on law depends on the speed and forthrightness of our nation's leaders' action in this time of crisis. We pledge our support for such leadership. Respectfully submitted National Lawyers Guild Ernest Goodman, President Herman B. Gerring 17 July 1964 Dear Mr. and Mrs. Gates: lour son Herman Gates has been in to this office several times in the last few days asking if he could work with our organisation. We have told him that, if there were any possibility that he might, it could only be with his parents consent. He has shown us letters which he maintains have come, although we are not sure, from you giving such consent. But under all the circumstances, we do not believe that it would be wise to have him work with us. We are therefore providing him with a bus ticket back to Belzoni today, and urging him to return home and comply with your wishes in regards to his future. We believe that this is the best advice that we can give him, and we are sure that you will agree. ne hope that everything will go well with Herman. Very Truly Yours, NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CADILLAC TOWER DETROIT. MICHIGAN 48226 WOODWARD 1-1705 July 24, 1964 rmiiDENT ERNEST GOODMAN DETROIT VICE PRESIDENTS GEORGE W. CROCKETT, JR. DETROIT THOMAS I. EMERSON NEW HAVEN Mr. C. Sidney Carlton, President Mississippi Bar Association OSMOND K. FRAENKEL NEW YORK Sumner, Mississippi ARTHUR KINOY NEW YORK NORMAN LEONARD Dear Mr. Carlton: •AN FRANCISCO JOHN T. McTERNAN LO« ANSIUt From a report published in the Jackson Daily News VICTOR RABINOWITZ on July 17th, which has just come to my attention, NEW YORK it appears that the Mississippi Board of Commis BENJAMIN SMITH sioners unanimously adopted a resolution calling NEW ORLEANS upon members of the Mississippi bar to represent HERMAN WRIGHT persons charged with crimes arising out of inte HOUSTON gration or civil rights activities. The press re port also reported that the State Bar association EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT would appoint a committee of attorneys who would DAVID Y. KLEIN DETROIT be available to handle these cases. SECRETARY We are indeed happy at the action taken by the HERMAN B. GERRINGER NEW YORK Commissioners. As you may know, our organization has undertaken to bring lawyers to Mississippi this TREASURER summer because of the unwillingness of local law BERNARD J. FIEGER yers to provide adequate legal counsel in these DETROIT cases. We also have established a field office at Jasckon, under the direction of George W. Crockett, ADVISORY BOARD JOHN M. COB Jr., to assist our volunteer attorneys in this project PENSACOLA EARL B. DICKERSON I would appreciate it if you would send me a full CHICAGO copy of the resolution which you adopted. As soon BENJAMIN DREYFUS as your committee has been appointed, it will be SAN FRANCISCO helpful if you were to advise me, or Mr. Crockett ROBERT W. KENNY directly, so that we can discuss the matter and LOS ANGELES facilitate that process of referring requests for MALCOLM SHARP legal assistance which come to our attention to the CHICAGO available attorneys. 100. Page Two July 24, 1964 Our commitment in undertaking this project included the following statement: "The Guild is not a civil rights organization.... Our concern in the Mississippi Project is to attempt to redress the lack of available lawyers in Missis sippi ready, willing and able to handle civil rights cases. And we would hope that our example might bring an increasing awareness of their professional obligation to members of the Mississippi bar, which would permit us to reduce and eventually withdraw our commitment." We trust that the action of the Mississippi bar may enable us to withdraw our commitment by reason of the willingness of the Mississippi lawyers to accept their responsibility in this area. Very truly yo Ernest Goodman, President EG:mz c.c. Hon. Sidney Mize Hon. Percy Lee Hon. Harold Cox Edward W. Kuhn Hon. Claude F. Clayton Nathan B. Goodnow Hon. Elbert P. Tuttle Walter E. Craig To: Lai/yers and Law Students Date: August 1, 196^* From: COFO Legal Coordinator 1. Attached is revised copy of the COFO Legal Guide which has been issued to all COFO personnel throughout the state. Please follow general policies contained therein--unless this office agrees to a change. 2. Lawyers and their legal offices should have stock removal peti tions (including isrits of habeas corpus cum causa and applications for admission to bail) mimeographed for all standard arrest situa tions, such as leafleting, picketing, traffic harassment, breach of peace and inciting to riot. Upon notification of an arrest to be handled by your office, the blanks in the mimeographed petitions can be filled out and the petition filed. Je want removal petitions filed before the J.P. trial. This eliminates the necessity for an appeal bond. We must try to obtain continuances, therefore, when quick trials are threatened. However, when this cannot be done, we still remove as soon as possible and, of necessity, before the County Court trial. One major goal is to get people out of jail. Because the fed eral commissioners usually set lower bonds, we want cases removed and the application for bond made as soon as possible so that people can be released. We consider $500 bail unreasonable and think that local people should be released on their recognizances and out-of- state workers at no greater than $100. While not responsible for obtaining the bond money, attorneys should inform us as to what the bond requirements are, their forms and the necessary procedures. 3« Our office needs reports on each individual case; weekly reports on all cases handled by each law office; and individual summaries by each attorney at the close of his period of volunteer service. b. Each law office is responsible for the security of its lawyers and lax* students. A strict check-in system for traveling must be maintained. 5. August 15 and 16 there will be a staff meeting of the U.S. Com mission on Civil Rights with COFO workers. For this, affidavits and summaries must be presented regarding: individual harassments, of ficial intimidations, and the law enforcement job done by local, state and federal agencies. Any material that you can provide us for this meeting would be greatly appreciated. 6. COFO has several projects under way for which we need your on going help. Send us whatever you can gather about: (a) difficulties concerning telephones; (b) availability of local counsel; (c) diffi culties of out-of-state counsel in appearing in state courts; (d) problems concerning notaries; and (e) anything concerning voting rights or intimidation in regard to exercise of the same. 7. Each Tuesday evening, at 7*00, in Jackson there is a dinner and discussion in the back room of Smackover's Cafe (on Lynch St. near COFO) for all lawyers, law students and their office staff. Come and exchange ideas, air gripes, and maybe even relax. August 4, 1964 Dr. A. U. Britten 527§ North Farrish Street Jackson, Mississippi {pear Or. Britten: / I forgot to indicate to you while I was in Jackson last week that the coordination between the State Advisory Committee and COFO should be handled through Mr. Hunter Morey, the Legal Cordinator. Matters could be discussed ofcourse, with Bob Moses, but Hunter Morey remains in the Jackson office and will coordinate any plans with the Advisory Cetmittee that is agreed upon. When 1 visited the COFO office, yiur message concerning persons to appear before the committee had not reached Mr. Morey and preparations were not made for the Meeting. This is certainly understandable, in view of the immense activities undertaken by that organization, incidently, Mr. Morey can be reached through telephone number 355-1464. however, calls to any of the other personnel at COFO should use the regular number of 352-9605. Best regards, Courtney Siceloff^ ^^^ CS:f» Tbt Kunstler * Kunstler Date: August 5, 196» Ben Smith Hunter Morey Treat Vie tor rtabinowits X propose to the COFO legal committee that notions bo started in throe Counties agalnat the sheriff, too ehiof of police and tho stayer, pattenred aft or Hague against 0X0. The aotion would ssek an induction against county and eity officials to prevent thosi front interfering with peaceful picketing, leaflet distribution and other forms of rotor registration or ciril righto activities. X tentatively ouggoat Leflore, Coahoma and Madison Counties (Greenwood, Clarkodalo and Canton)* In this connection, X would bo prepared to collect a staff of four or firo lawyers, mostly frow How York, to assist In drawing of tho necessary papers, preparation of briefs, collection of affldarits, ate. Tho following problems aro raised and aro presented to you for your consideration: 1. X do not contemplate that any logal faos will bo paid, but there will bo espensee wbloh, in view of tho traveling Involved, Might wall run to $1,500 or mere* 2. Seme oonsldoration baa to bo given to tho extent to which this oaso duplicates or overlaps tho GOTO against Ralnar oaso. X do not believe that thoro la any conflict with tho ftainey oaso but thoro is, X think, sosio ororlapping. X nevertheless believe this aotion should bo brought because it la a concentrated attack in two or three apoolfio situations in wbloh specific sheriffs or police offloors would bo defendants and in wbloh Tory specific relief could bo sought. X suggest that even the bringing of tho aotion would hare a beneficial effect. Xt will be noted, of course, that the aotion will bo directed only against officials and will not hare any direct offoot on the local hoodlums. 3. X would. In each action. Join COFO, a local COFO loader and a local COFO rank and filer, preferably a resident of tho city in which the law suit Is brought. X also would like to Join SRCC as a party In each oaso—or. If not S9CC, then the specific organisation responsible for tho area in question. Thus if tho throe actions sug gest ed above wore brought, SMCC would bo a party in Greenwood, CORE in Canton, and perhaps tho NA\CP in Clarkodalo* This, of course, would require tho approval of the organisations involved. There should be no problem about Greenwoods there is likely to be at least a slight problem in Clarksdale and perhaps a major prob lem in Canton. Seme of this arlsss from point h below. *• X am prepared to undertake this litigation, but net anony mously, Xt is inevitable that seme red-baiting will follow. Tho Heme to K A K, at al. -2- August 5. 196* Meridian press yesterday carried a front-page story headed, in sub stance, "Civil Rights Lawyer is Castro Agent," referring to the foot that Ben Smith who represents seme Meridian defendants is registered as a lawyer for Cuba. Obviously, this will happen In my ease as well* And we must assume that it will happen if X am to undertake the ease* X have reason to believe that Carl Hachlin will net asso ciate himself with me in any law suit, nor will he permit me to re present C0R1 without him. This raises a problem about any action in Canton. To a lesser degree, the earns problem may exist in Clarksdale* 5* Hunter Mercy is in favor of as much of tho foregoing program as is possible* X discussed the matter with Sob and Jim and they would like to think about It a little further. Bob in particular being quite firm en consultatien with the CORS people in Canton and with Aaron Henry in Clarksdale. All of thoforogolngii* of course. f»*>Jff j *t.fflt »??£»•»* tf ,fhf frtJTO.90*q;*»« •** «H »f the discuLeeuss- slen thus far has been en tho assumption that the legal committee will approve* £»• Time is an elementt first, because it will take long enough to get the action started, even If all of the policy question are cleared awayf second, because there are people available to work en this in the summertime who may not be available after September 15; and, finally, because X have tho time and energy Just new to work en this ease — and this will net be true to the came extent after Since X would prefer to continue to act in tho capacity of a lawyer here and net as a member of any policy committee, X wish that someone elss would decide the policy questions that aro raised hero* Furthermore, X think that someone ought to have the responsibility of clearing this with the Canton and Clarksdale people. X have al ready cleared it with Stokoly and Bob Zollner and they are strongly in favor of proceeding at once* Of course, it would bo possible to begin Just one action; it would also bo possible perhaps to select cne cr two other counties in which similar actions aro necessary. Merely as a matter of convenience, however, X would prefer te stay cut ef the southern part of the state beeause traveling from Green wood to Jackson to (for example) MeComb creates problems of logistics. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CADILLAC TOWER DETROIT. MICHIGAN 48226 WOODWARD 1-170S August 7, 1964 PRESIDENT ERNEST GOODMAN DETROIT EXECUTIVE SECRETARY JAMES T. LAFFERTY VICE PRESIDENTS GEORGE W. CROCKETT, JR. Walter E. Craig, President DETROIT American Bar Association THOMAS I. EMERSON Waldorf-Astoria Hotel NEW HAVEN New York, New York OSMOND K. FRAENKEL NEW YORK ARTHUR KINOY NEW YORK Dear Mr. Craig: NORMAN LEONARD SAN FRANCISCO At the American Bar Association 1963 Convention, the JOHN T. MCTERNAN LOS ANGELES House of Delegates adopted the Recommendations of your Special Committee on Civil Rights and Racial VICTOR RABINOWITZ NEW YORK Unrest which called upon State Bar Associations to co-operate in urging their members to undertake their BENJAMIN SMITH NEW ORLEANS professional responsibilities in the "present civil rights controversy". HERMAN WRIGHT HOUSTON Early this summer the Guild's Committee for Legal EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Assistance in the South established a field office in DAVID Y. KLEIN Mississippi to help provide lawyers for persons en DETROIT gaged in voter registration and other efforts to SECRETARY bring a modicum of their constitutional rights to the HERMAN B. GERRINGER Negro people of that state. NEW YORK The need for such legal assistance arose from the cir TREASURER cumstance that out of over 2,000 lawyers in Missis BERNARD J. FIEGER DETROIT sippi, only three (all Negro) were willing to under take civil rights cases. ADVISORY BOARD JOHN M. COE PENBACOLA Approximately fifty (50) of the volunteer lawyers have already served their week or two in Mississippi and EARL B. DICKERSON CHICAGO thirty-seven (37) more are scheduled for the remainder of the summer. These lawyers have come from thirteen BENJAMIN DREYFUS SAN FRANCISCO states. Many of them are not Guild members, but have volunteered because of their belief that the need is ROBERT W. KENNY LOS ANGELES great and that the obligation of the bar is clear. MALCOLM SHARP CHICAGO Page Two August 7, 1964 In our original commitment, we had advised the Mississippi Bar Association of our program and had urged it to under take the responsibilities which your Resolution had called to its attention. Unfortunately, we have seen no evidence of its willingness to do so. Recently, we felt encouraged by the appointment by the President of the State Bar of a Special Committee which we had hoped would serve as a panel of state lawyers who would undertake civil rights cases. But it now appears that this Committee is primarily a "liason" committee, although we are still seeking to determine whether it will handle these cases. Perhaps the reality behind the system of justice in Missis sippi for those who oppose the pattern of segregation of Negroes may best be understood by the fact that only one lawyer (white) has responded to our direct written requests to hundreds of lawyers in Mississippi to accept these cases, and this courageous man has already begun to suffer the eco nomic and social reprisals which have uniformly hounded Southern white lawyers who have associated themselves with the defense of these cases. Of even deeper concern has been the frequency with which persons, engaged or suspected of being engaged in civil rights work, have been beaten, injured and murdered; and property, including numerous churches, burned and destroyed. Yet rarely has the perpetrator of the crimes been apprehended and even more rarely has he been brought to trial and con victed . On the other hand, hundreds of the persons who are assisting the Negro people of Mississippi in the exercise of their rights, have been arrested, jailed and convicted for minor infractions. If the bar of our country is to give more than lip service to the concept of "equal justice under law"; if it is to take seriously the belief that social change can occur with out violence only where aggrieved people have available a Page Three August 7, 1964 ready and friendly forum for the judicial enforcement of their legal rights; then American lawyers must undertake to act now and effectively to make justice available to every person in Mississippi and other areas in the South where justice is not "equal" and where the judicial system, with rare exceptions, cannot or will not vindicate the rights of the Negro people. May we urge that you find some practical means whereby the American Bar Association can act upon this matter at its current convention. Sincerely youirs "dZ 1UU\ Ernest Goodman, President EG:mz Report on Mississippi Law dealing with out-of~et te Attorneys §8666 of the Mississippi Code read, in its entirety, before the 1956 amendment as followst Attorneys of other states— Any attorney or counselor at law of another state, ia good standing, shall be permitted to appear and plead in any apeeial cause in the courts of this stats. The aew §8666 was passed on April 5* 1956 and ean be found as §255 of the collected laws of 1956. There was nothing in the capital library, to which I was able to obtain access, which said anything about the legislative history of the new law or the Governor's mes sage at the beginning of that session. Briefly suramarized, the laws passed at the saae time as §255 and the dates of their pasaags are as follows* ^253 Feb. 20. Pregibits soliciting for purposes of fomenting litigation* §25^ April 5» Bars members of the executive branch from eoaplying with the dec isions of the U,S« Supreme Court by all lawful, peaceful and con stitutional means* §256 Feb, 20, Provides that a person entering any public place of business and creating a disturbance ia guilty of a aisdeameaor* y257 Feb. 21. Declares the risht of a business, profession, or trade to select patrons. §258 Feb. 21. Com-on carriers in intrastate commerce must segregate waiting rooms, §259 Mar, 9» uommoB carriers in intrastate coia-eree must segragete toilet facilities. J260 Mar. 22, Requires people traveling in intrastate commerce to use the wait ing room marked for them. 9161 Apr, 5# Aa act to prohibit profane, vulgar, indecent, offensive or slanderous language ove language over a telephone. §262 Har, 29. An aiendseat in the Parole Act of 1950 Chapter 5Zkt which has no application to Civil Rights. §26J Apr. 5. rovidee for employees of Parohmaa Stats Farm. Starting with §26%, are a number of acts dealing with the administrationO* of the schools and which seem to have no direct connection with civil rights. The Jackaon Public Library has no back Issues of the Jackson papers and no other information which would halp in researching this problem. I have not yet had a chance to go to the offices of the Clarion-Ledger to check their bask files, but hope to do so as soon as I have time. I aa enclosing a notarized affidavit from the attorney who was not allowed to practice in Marks* Sherwin Kaplan August 18, 1964> To Jesse Morris and others A.B. Dugle Postal Inspector From Bill Robinson 109 Post Office Bldg. re: An interview with postal inspector Tuscaloosa, Ala August 29, 196** Office phone 758-^315 Res, Phone U 752-1174 About two weeks ago I had an interview with Postal Inspector A.B. Dugle. Be told me that he had been conducting an inspection on the mail travelling to and from COFO, after having received several complaints from all around the country, about the poor mail service . Dugle informed me that the Chief Inspector had put him under orders to clean the mess up and that the Chief wanted fast and thorough action. Dugle said that all complaints would be given immediate attention and that if we had any complaints jisxsksjdabaBaiixEDdEExixkim about the way he handles one of our conplaints we should contact his superior T.P.Dal^y, Postal Inspector in Charge, Chrttanooga Teen. (615) 267-67^. (daly) When writing Dugle it would ## probably be a good idea to leave his tittle off when writing to Dngle. Dugle recommends that we at COFO first check out all possible angles at the COFO office XX state or local. However,we shouldn»t be deterredfrom mailing in a complaint because it doesn't seem like a good case to us. Dugle recommends that the following information be sent to him when we have a complaint. All Particulars concerning the incident; what kind of mail; to whom was it addressed; who was the sender; what happened to it. The name of the communications person attached to the local office ——so Dugle can set up an investigation system. The following are offenses investigated by the federal postal inspectors: DTheft of mail. Z) Breaking the seal of first class mail. 3) Writing defamatory things on the outside of mail. 4) Writing obscenity on the inside or ojrtslde of mail. jr 0V£ ^ B. DUGLE POSTAL INSPECTOR U. S. POST OFFICE DEPARTM 109 POST OFFICE BLDG. OFFICE PHONE 758-4315 TUSCALOOSA, ALA. RES. PHONE 752-1174 U5£ : A. ft- Duqh Dear Bill Robinson: Herewith the notes I took when Mr. D. was talking to you: We are to advise our local offices that postal inspectors are working on and actively testing cases of mail tampering. In every case where we have a bona fide complaint, Mr. D. would like: All particulars concerning the incident; what kind of mail; to whom it was addressed; who was sender; what hap pened to it. The name of the communications person attached to local office — so Mr. D. can rig up an investigative system. The following are offenses investigated by federal postal inspectors: 1) Theft of mail. 2) Breaking seal of first-class mail. 3) Writing defamatory things on the outside of mail. k) Obscenity on the outside or inside. *********** As you and I discussed, our own anaxixxx "mail room" here has to be cleaned up before we can file complaints. I am sure that many of the irregularities complained of originate here, because of our lax mail and package system. ^4- /K&-U4J I/) \n^c ~ XJ^^Sf^^ September 9, 1964 Miss Eleanor Holm c/o Judge Leon Higgenblottem United States District Court Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Dear Miss Holm: The Council of Federated Organizations is presently confronted with a significant number of major legal decisions. Several hundred COFO wor kers or local Mississippi citizens cooperating with or participating in COFO projects are presently defendants in criminal proceedings pending in the State of Mississippi. Additionally, we have gathered a significant amount of information from our experience here which may support far reaching affirmative actions against the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions. A legal advisory committee has been established to assist and advise COFO on legal policy with respect to the many legal decisions we are and will be making. On behalf of COFO I am pleased to extend an invitation to you to become a member of the COFO Legal Advisory Committee, The Committee hopefully will serve two purposes: guidance to COFO with respect to major legal decisions and a nucleus of attorneys who are willing to contribute time, beyond Committee meetings, toward the preparation, briefing and trial of lawsuits when such assistance is needed ft and does not conflict with other responsibilities of the Committee mem bers. There can be no question but that the Committee is envisaged as a "working*' committee. The following persons in addition to yourself have been invited to become members of the Committee: Melvin L. wulf, William M, Kunstler, Arthur Kinoy, Morton Stavis, Gene Cotton, Howard Moore, Marian Wright, professor Louis Lusky* Benjamin E. Smith, and Henry K. Aronstn. Henry Hi Aronson has recently joined the staff of COFO in the capacity of Staff Counsel. One of Mr, Aronson*s duties will be to serve as primary laison between the Committee and COFO and he will be available at any and all Rl times to assist the Committee in any and all ways it wishes, I will be out of the country until October 1, and therefore, will be unable to answer questions t-ihieh you may have with regard to your participation on the Committee. Please feel free to contact Mr. Aronson at 507i North Farish Street, Jackson, Mississippi, (Area Code 601; 9^8-4100), if he can provide any further information or be of any assistance. Moses to Holm-2 Your participation on the Committee would contribute greatly to its effectiveness. An organization meeting will be held In New York City on Friday, October 2, 196>. I will inform you shortly of the exact time and place of the meeting. I sincerely hope you will accept our invitation to join. Sincerely, Robert Moses RM/ph September 9, 196k Benjamin Smith, Esquire Suite 1006 Baronne 305 Baronne Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 Dear Mr, Smith: The Council of Federated Organizations is presently confronted with a significant number of major legal decisions. Several hundred COFO wor kers or local Mississippi citizens cooperating with or participating In COFO projects are presently defendants in criminal proceedings pending in the State of Mississippi, Additionally, we have gathered a significant amount of Information from our experience here which may support far reaching affirmative actions against the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions, A legal advisory committee has been established to assist and advise COFO on legal policy with respect to the many legal decisions we are and will be making. On behalf of COFO I am pleased to extend an invitatiann to you to become a member of the COFO Legal Advisory Committee, The Committee hopefully will serve two purposes; guidance to COFO with respect to major legal decisions and a nucleus of attorneys who f(~^\ are willing to contribute time, beyond Committee meetings, toward the preparation, briefing and trial of lawsuits when such assistance is needed and does not conflict with other responsibilities of the Coiaalttee members. There can be no question but that the Committee is envisaged as a "working" committee. The following persons in addition to yourself have been Invited to (C*\ become members of the Committee: Melvin I* Wulf, William M. Kunstler, Arthur Kinoy, Morton Stavis, Gene Cotton, Howard Moore, Marian Wright, Eleanor Holm, Professor Louis Lusky, and Herny M. Aronson, Henry Aronson h§s recently joined the staff of COFO in the capacity of Staff Counsel, 0 e of Mr. Aronson*s duties will be to serve as primary laison between -the Committee and COFO and he will be available at any and all times to assist the Coradtte© in any and aH ways it wishes. I will be out of the country until October 1, and therefore, will be unable to answer questions which you may have with regard to your participation on the Committee, please feel free to contact Mr. Aronson at 507f North Farish Street, Jackson, Mississippi, (Area Code 601; 9^8-^100), if he can provide any further information or be of any assistance. Moses to 3ndth-2 Your participation on the Committee would contribute greatly to its effectiveness. An organization meeting will be held in New York City on Friday, October 2, 196k. I will inform you shortly of the exact time and place of the meeting. I sincerely hope you will accept our invitation to jiin. Sincerely, Robert Moses RM/ph D q September 9, 196> Professor Louis Lusky Columbia University Law School Mornlngside Heights New York 27, Now York Dear Professor Lusky: The Council of Federated Organizations is presently confronted with a significant number of major legal decisions. Several hundred COFO wor kers or local Mississippi citizens cooperating with or participating in COFO projects are presently defendants in criminal proceedings pending in the State of Mississippi. Additionally, we have gathered a significant amount of information from our experience here which may support far reaching affirmative actions against the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions. A legal advisory committee has been established to assist and advise COFO on legal policy with respect to the many legal decisions we are and will be making, On behalf of COFO I am pleased to extend an Invitation to you to become a member of the COFO legal Advisory Committee, The Committee hopefully win serve two purposes; guidance to COFO ^. with respect to is&jor legal decisions and a nucleus of attorneys who are willing to contribute time, beyond Committee meetings, toward the prep aration, briefing and trial of lawsuits when such assistance is needed and does not conflict with other responsibilities of the Committee mem bers. There can be no question but that the Committee is envisaged as a "working" committee. The following persons in addition to yourself have been invited to become members of the Comralttee: Melvin L. Half, William M. Kunstler, q Arthur Klnoy, Morton Stavis, Gene Cotton, Howard Moore, Marian Wright, Eleanor Holm, Benjamin S. Smith, and Henry M. Aranaon. Henry Aronson has recently joined the staff of COFO in the capacity of Staff Counsel. One of Mr, Aronson's duties will be to serve as primary laison between the Committee and COFO and he will be available at any and all times to assist tho Cosaslttee In any and aH ways it wishes. I will be out of the country until October 1, and therefore, will be unable to answer ques tions which you may have with regard to your participation on the Com mittee. Please feel free to contact Mr. Aronson at 507| Horth Farish Street, Jackson, Mississippi, (Area Code 601; 9^8-4100), if he can pro vide any further lnforraation. Moses to Lusky-2 Your participation on the Committee would contribute greatly to its effectiveness. An organization meeting will be held in New York City on Friday, October 2, 19ok, I will Inform you shortly of the exact time and place of the meeting. I sincerely hope you will accept our Invitation to join. Sincerely, Robert Moses RM/ph A ia (nil q . September 9, 196k «llllam M. Kunstler 5U Fifth Avenue New York, New York Dear Mr. Kunstler: The Council of Federated Organizations is presently confronted with a significant number of major legal decisions. Several hundred COFO wor kers or local Mississippi citizens cooperating with or participating in COFO projects are presently defendants in criminal proceedings pending in the State of Mississippi, Additionally, we have gathered a significant amount of information from our experience here which may support far reaching affirmative actions against the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions, A legal advisory committee has been estaklished to assist and advise COFO on legal policy with respect to the many legal decisions we are and will be making. On behalf of COFO I am pleased to extend an invitation to you to become s msraber of the COFO Legal Advisory Committee. The Committee hopefully will serve two purposes; guidance to COFO with respect to major legal decisions and a nucleus of attorneys who are willing to contribute time, beyond CoOT&ttee meetings, toward the preparation, briefing and trial of lawsuits when such assistance Is needed and does not conflict with other responsibilities of the Committee mem bers. There can be no question but that the Committee is envisaged as a "working" committee. The following persons in addition to yourself have been invited to become members of the Committee; Melvin L. Wulf, Arthur Kinoy, Morton Stavis, Gene Cotton, Howard Moore, Marian Wright, Eleanor Holm, Professor n Louis Lusky, Benjamin E. Smtbah and Henry M. Aronson, Henry Aronson has recently joined the staff of COFO in the capacity of Staff Counsel. One of Mr. Aronson*s duties will be to serve as primary laison between the Rl Committee and COFO and he will be available at any and all times to as sist the Committee in any and all ways it wishes. I will be out of the country until October 1, and therefore, will be unable to answer questions which you may have with regard to your participation on the committee. Please feel free to contact Mr. Aronson at 50 7f North Farish Street, Jackson, Mississippi, (Area Code 601; 9k8-kl00), if he can provide any further information or be of any assistance. fleece %a RunsUWBg You Your participation on the Committee would contribute greatly to its effectiveness. An organization meeting will be held in New York City on -l&lday, October 2, 196k. I will Inform you shortly of the exact time and place of the meeting, I sincerely hope you will accept our invitation to join. Sincerely, Robert Moses RM/ph q Septermber 9, 196k Arthur Klnoy 511 Fifth Avenue New York, New York Dear Mr, Klnoy: The Council of Federated Organizations is presently confronted with a significant number of major legal decisions. Several hundred COFO wor kers or local Msslssippi citizens cooperating with or participating in COFO projects are presently defendants in criminal proceedings pending in the State of Mississippi. Additionally, we have gathered a significant amount of informatien from our experience here which may support far reaching affirmative actions against the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions, A legal advisory committee has been established to assist and advise COFO on legal policy with respect to the many legal decisions we are and will be making. On behalf of COFO I am pleased to extend an invitation to you to become a member of the COFO Legal Advisory Committee. The Committee hopefully will serve two purposes: guidance to COFO with respect to major legal decisions and a nucleus of attorneys who are willing to contribute time, beyond Committee meetings, toward the preparation, briefing and trial of lawsuits when such assistance is needed and does not conflict with other responsibilities of the Committee mem bers. There can be no question but that the Committee is envisaged as a "working" committee. The following persons in addition to yourself have been invited to become members of the Committee: Melvin L, Wulf, William M, Runstier, Morton Stavis, Gene Cotton, Howard Maore, Marian Wright, Eleanor Holm, q Professor Louis Lusky, Benjamin E, Smith, and Henry M, Aronson. Henry Aronson has recently joined the staff of COFO in the capacity of Staff Counsel, One of Mr, Aenson*s duties will be to serve as primary lalson between the Committee and COFO and he will be available at any and all times to assist the Comlttee in any and all ways it wishes, I will be out of the country until October 1, and therefore, will be unable to answer questions which you may have with regard to your participation on the Committee, Please feel free to contact Mr. Aronson at 50?|- North Farish Street, Jackson, Mississippi, (Area Code 601; 9k8-kl00), if he can provide any further information or be of any assistance. Moses to Kinoy-2 Your participation on the Committee would contribute greatly to its effectiveness. An organization meeting will be held in New York City on Friday, October 2, 196k. I will inform you shortly of the exact time and place of the meeting. I sincerely hope you will accept our invitation to join. Sincerely, Robert Moses RM/ph a frti q September 9, 196k Howard Moore, Esquire 859-| Hunter Street Atlanta, Georgia Dear Mr. Moore: The Council of Federated Organisations is presently confronted with a significant number of major legal decisions. Several hundred COFO wor kers or local Mississippi citizens cooperating with or participating in COFO projects are presently defendants in criminal proceedings pending in the State of Mississippi. Additionally, we have gathered a significant amount of information from our experience here which may support far reaching affirmative actions against the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions, A legal advisory committee has been established to assist and advise COFO on legal poliey with respect to the many legal decisions we are and will be making. On behalf of COFO I am pleased to extend an invitation to you "to booms a member of the COFO legal Advisory Committee. The Committee hopefully will serve two purposes; guidance to COFO with respect to major legal decisions and a nucleus of attorneys who are willing to contribute time, beyond Committee meetings, toward the preparation, briefing and trial of lawsuits when such assistance Is needed and does not conflict with other ^responsibilities of the Committee mem bers. There can be no question but that the Committee Is envisaged as a "working" committee. ,vi The following persons in addition to yourself have been invited to become members of the Committee: Melvin L, Wulf, William M, Kunstler, /—-. Arthur Klnoy, Morton Stavis, Gene Cotton, Marian Wright, Eleanor Holm, y| Professor Louis Lusky, Benjamin E. Smith, and Henry M, Aronson. Henry Aronson has recently joined the staff of COFO in the capacity of Staff Counsel. One of Mr. Aronson*s duties will be to serve as primary laison n between the Committee and COFO, and he will be available at any and all V^ times to assist the Committee In any and all ways it wishes. I will be out of the country until October 1, and therefore, will be unable to answer questions which you may have with regard to your participation on the Committee, Please feel free to contact Mr. Aronson at 507§ North Farish Street, Jackson, Mississippi, (Area Code 601; 9k8-kl00), If he can pro vide any further information or be of any assistance. Moses to Moore-2 Your participation on the Committee would contribute greatly to its effectiveness. An organization meeting will be held in New York City on Friday, October 2, 196k, I will inform you shortly of the exact time and place of the meeting, I sincerely hope you will accept our invitation to join. Sincerely, Robert Moses RM/ph a September 9, 196k Melvin L. Hulf, Esquire ACLU 156 Fifth Avenue New York, New York Dear Mr, Wulf: The Council of Federated Organizations is presently confronted with a significant number of major legal decisions. Several hundred COFO wor kers or local Mississippi citizens cooperating with or participating in COFO projects are presently defendants in criminal proceedings pending in the State of Mississippi. Additionally, we have gathered a significant amount of information from our experience here which may support far reaching affirmative actions against the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions. A legal advisory committee has been established to assist and advise COFO on legal policy with respect to the many legal decisions we are and will be making. On behalf of COFO I am pleased to estend an invitation to you to become a member of the COFO Legal Advisory Committee. The Committee hopefully will serve two purposes: guidance to COFO with respect to major legal decisions and a nucleus of attorneys who a are willing to contribute time, beyond Committee meetings, toward the preparation, briefing and trial of lawsuits when such assistance is needed and does not conflict with other responsibilities of the Committee mem- ft"^ bars. There can be no question but that the Committee is envisaged as a "working" coum&ttee. The following persons in addition to yourself have been invited to become members of the Committee: William M. Runstier, Gene Cotton, Howard Moore, Marian Wright, Morton Stavis, Eleanor Holm, Professor Louis Lusky, -^ Benjamin E. Smith, and Henry M. Aronson, Henry Aronson has recently u~\ joined the staff of COFO in the capacity of Staff Counsel. One of Mr. Aronson*s duties will be to serve as primary laison between the Committee and COFO and he will be available it any and all times to assist the Committee in any and all ways it wishes. I will be out of the country \LJ, until October 1, and therefore, will be unable to answer questions which you nay have with regard to your participation on the Committee. Please feel free to contact Mr. Aronson at 507! North Farish Street, Jackson, Mississippi, (Area Cod© 601; 9k8-kl00), if he can provide airy further information or be of any assistance. Moses to \&Of-2 Your participation on the Committee would contribute greatly to Its effectiveness. An organization meeting will be held In New York City on Friday, October 2, 196k. I will Inform you shortly of the exact time and place of the meeting. I sincerely hope you will accept our invitation to join. Sincerely, Robert Moses RM/ph Y\\ q September 9, 196k Morton Stavis, Esquire 7kk Broad Street Newark 2, New Jersey Dear Mr. Stavis; The Council of Federated Organizations is presently confronted with a significant number of major legal decisions. Several hundred COFO wor kers or local Mississippi citizens cooperating with or participating in COFO projects are presently defendants in criminal proceedings pending in the State of Mississippi, Additionally, we have gathered a significant amount of information from our experience here which may support far reaching affirmative actions against the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions. A legal advisory committee has been established to assist and advise COFO on legal policy with respect to the many legal decisions we are and will be making. On behalf of COFO I am pleased to extend an invitation to you to become a member of the COFO Legal Advisory Committee. The Committee hopefully will serve two purposes: guidance to COFO with respect to major legal decisions and a nucleus of attorneys who are willing to contribute time, beyond Committee meetings, toward the preparation, briefing and trial of lawsuits when such assistance is needed and does not conflict with other responsibilities of the Committee mem bers. There can be no question but that the Committee is envisaged as a "working" committee. ft~^ The following persons In addition to yourself have been invited to become members of the Committee; Melvin L. Wuef, William M, Kuustler, Gene Cotton, Howard Moore, Marian Wright, Eleanor Holm, Professor Louis Lusky, Benjamin E. Smith, and Henry M. Aronson. Henry Aronson has recent ly joined the staff of COFO in the capacity of Staff Counsel. One of Mr, Aronson *s duties will be to serve as primary lalson between the Com- /j^ mlttee and COFO and he will be available at any and all times to assist the Committee in any and all ways it wishes. I will be out of the coun try until October 1, and therefore, will be unable to answer questions which you may have with regard to your participation on the Committee. vL^ Please feel free to contact Mr, Aronson at 507i North Farish Street, Jackson, Mlssippippi, (Area Code 601 j 9**8-kl00), If he can provide any further information or be of any assistance. Moses to Stavls-2 Your participation on the Committee would contribute greatly to its effectiveness. An organization meeting will be held in New York City on Friday, October 2, 196k, I will Inform you shortly of the exact time and place of the meeting. I sincerely hope you will accept our invitation to join. Sincerely, Robert Moses RM/ph uf (rt\ q September 9, 196k Miss Marian Wright 538? North Farish Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear Miss Wrights The Council of Federated Organizations is presently confronted with a significant number of major legal decisions. Several hundred COFO wor kers or local Mississippi citizens cooperating with or participating in COFO projects are presently defendants in criminal proceedings pending in the State of Mississippi, Additionally, we have gathered a significant amount of Information from our experience here which may support far reaching affirmative actions against the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions. A legal advisory committee has been established to assist and advise COFO on legal policy with respect to the many legal decisions we are and will be making. On behalf of COFO I am pleased to extend an invitation to you to become a member of the COFO Legal Advisory Committee, The Comraitte© hopefully will serve two purposes: guidance to COFO with respect to major legal decisions and a nucleus of attorneys who are willing to contribute time, beyond Committee meetings, toward the prep aration, briefing and trial of lawsuits when such assistance Is needed and does not conflict with other responsibilities of the Committee mem bers. There can be no question but that the Committee is envisaged as a "working* committee. The following persons in addition to yourself have been invited to become members of the Committees Halvin L, Wulf, William M. Kunstler, Arthur Klnoy, Morton Stavis, Gsaa Cotton, Howard Moore, Eleanor Holm, Professor Louis Lusky, Benjamin E, Smith, and Henry M, Aronson. Henry Aronson has recently joined the staff of COFO in the capacity of Staff counsel. One of Mr, Aronson*s duties will be to serve as primary lalson between the Committee and COFO, and he will be available at any and all times to assist the Committee in any and all ways it wishes, I will be out of the country until October 1, and therefore, will be undable to answer questions which you might have with regard to your participation on the Committee. Please feel free to contact Mr, Aronson at 507| North Farish Street, Jackson, Mississippi, (Area Code 601; 9kS-kl00), if he can provide any further information or be of any assistance. Hoses to Wright-2 Your participation on the Committee would contribute greatly to Its effectiveness. An organization meeting will be held in New York City on Friday, October 2, 196k. I will inform you shortly of the exact time and place of the meeting. I sincerely hope you will accept our invitation to join. Sincerely, Robert Moses RM/ph 0 (r!\ q NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD COMMITTEE FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE IN THE SOUTH 3220 CADILLAC TOWER DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48226 WOodward 5-0050 Co-Chairman o-^amKer. 1 n: i a&A COMMITTEE FIELD OFFICE GEO. W. CROCKETT, JR. September 15, 19b4 507* N. Farish Street 3220 Cadillac Tower . * Jackson, Mississippi Detroit, Mich. BENJAMIN SMITH 305 Baronne St. New Orleans 12, La. Secretary GEO. DOWNING 2800 Cadillac Tower Detroit, Mich. Mr. Robert P. Moses Council of Federated Organizations 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi • Dear Mr. Moses: We appreciate very much your kind letter of the 8th. The enclosed copy of our letter of this date to Mr. Hunter Morey and our memorandum "Mississippi Follow- Up" are sent for your information. We share your apprehension that "This fall and winter will not bring any let-up on the part of the State of Mississippi, but on the contrary, increased brutality and harassment ..." Because of this, the Guild — and particularly our Committee — is ready at all times to meet with you and the COFO representatives to plan for and to commit ourselves to a program of legal assistance to meet COFO's expected needs. Cordially, L GEORGE W.'CROCKETT, JR. GWC:gl Encs: 100 NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD COMMITTEE FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE IN THE SOUTH 3220 CADILLAC TOWER DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48226 WOodward 5-0050 Co-Chairmen September 28, 1964 COMMITTEE FIELD OFFICE 507* N. Farish Street GEO. W. CROCKETT, JR. Jackson, Mississippi 3220 Cadillac Tower Detroit, Mich. BENJAMIN SMITH 305 Baronne St. New Orleans 12, La. Secretary GEO. DOWNING 2800 Cadillac Tower Detroit, Mich. Mr. Hunter Morey Legal Co-ordinator, COFO 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear Hunter: We have your letter of September 22nd and we note COFO's continuing need for legal assistance. You will recall that, when I was in Jackson a few days ago, I informed you of the Guild's intention to open a Southern Regional Office and the likelihood that such an office would be located in Jackson. I enclose for your information a copy of our communication on "Mississippi Follow-Up" which gives a little more detailed discussion concerning our future plans. Understandably, our ultimate decision will depend in large measure upon COFO's needs for legal assistance and the kind of co-operation we can expect in our efforts to assist in satisfying those needs. I understand from Attorney Smith that a meeting of COFO's legal committee is scheduled for this coming week-end at which time it is anticipated that some definite decisions affecting COFO's legal problem will be made. We have, there fore, decided to delay until after this meeting our final decision on where our Southern Regional Office will be located. 100 Page Two September 28, 1964 With sincere personal regards and commendation to you upon the excellent job you have done and are doing under rather adverse circumstances, I am cordially, (A Geo. W. Crockett, Jr GWC:mz encl. LAW OFFICES S2MO FLOOH, CADILLAC ICWtl! DETROIT, MICHIGAN 40226 01 o, « : )U rciitidl! OtiB-OOOO rOM ' • UKAN *. BOB)! Ml. PMtLQ 8«pt«oI>ax 309 if64 ."•. «», HAKI rilGHAtm M. S 1 N ;•". 1 i_. WIl.LtSD • ... CM CI o. j. BCOROSIAM |a**ii« •': 35S ' itev '• *ana 12 # liana • tm • e a £«rf i MI pao ?« i^33 8ra$nat« I 7 51 •cutter,* .1 shool. ftstreit % EhOOlf lisroit iitty Cel&aga of I4&aral flirt• VIM M lyita 8tat« Ikivwrsit^ I • ool. 1 to •' I of HI - Iferia* TaVant ai I Ibata f i»«h£p • BMtiSl Holler" i rtie i ;>',M'er-.'s . Haprasta Court •cal District C fSih Q It) Sej i Cavort of ths itate ©ff Michigan Bar Associatl© ivitic I tats Bm Association 3ar Ass&aioti . I i . 9ar Aesoolatlon, past aa* l iry A Bar tiatioa, peat assistant s* atica of Oa myers in C ,1 Lawyers Ooild J Trial Lawyers Association CSosraksr 2 . • in ©f Legal Saeratarjf eemtinoin itico Series and speaker* aareati of tha Lai ittaa * De«roit« m Spaaker** Bnrsan of itate Bar Psiilly lam C&saltt chigan State bar Coasaittae on Sthie Affiliat i Alpha Sorority snai Association ©f Bousing and Radavaloi ficiala ami fcsnarly oa tha Ste££ of t of Datroit Mousing Ccimidaiois im 4 y«issr». taker for ths American Cameer Social . I Binee bi aooiats swe^r ©f tha firm of ;?%^%%e E4%i %, tiilo in i960, ray practica baa ba mai*.-' '.of cximiBal law and nefiifsas I have . a ia tha area ©f dmas tic relations, i a both tha O.S, District Court ®a Vary trwly yours. Claudia B« Sh lira stow wiui pur nmu, pull thi lever down. \ {^©iinei! (ji federated Organizations 50?i Mortis Farish ttreat Jacksoa, Mississippi October 1, 196JH Ernest Oooeaaa, Esq.* Pr®sii«at national lawyers Suild 2801 Cadillac Tswer Detroit, Michigan Dear Mr. Soodmaas I an writing to you oa behalf of C0F3 with respect to the present status and proposed plana for COFO's continued legal pro- gran,, The Satioaal Lawyers •ails' nade a treneadous contribution thia sunmer, a contribution which COFO la deeply appreciative of. Hopefully your organisation will find it possible to continue to aid and support COFO duriag the coning year. k docket of all of the eases arieiag this suwser with the exception of those handled by the Chtild has least completed, These eases are aow belag reviewed aad necessary aaeadnents, corrections and plea4iftg« »re being prepared, I aa pleased to sea that these files are ia reasonably good condition. 1 would appreciate an Indication froa you as to where the files handled by the ©slid on behalf of COFO and its workers are presently located and who Is aad will be handling thes la the future. W@ have no doubts that they are belag properly attended to - we only wish to know where we can turn when we have questions regarding these files. We have the doe'eet sheets you prepared; we would appreciate being provided with suppleaeatary information regarding further action oa these ease* so that these docket ^heete ca® be kept curreat. The overall plan for the future handling of COFO legal affairs Is presently envisioned as follows: COFO will have a permanent Staff Counsel (my preseat position) who will be responsi ble for overseeing COFO's legal prograa. All defensive legal matters involving COFO persoasel sadder local citizens arrested because of their involvement with COFO will be assigned by the office of the COPO Staff Counsel for handling (unless, of teerse, the defendant specifically requests or retains another attorney). The aa^ority of cases of this type will be assigned to cooperating attorneys, including, hopefully, the Guild. Brneat @oedae»f Iaq la addition te the Staff Oeemael, &sm has astaslishcd a Lagal Adviaery SesB&fctea whleh will serve te advise mm on aejar legal decialaaa and eeliaies, aartiealarly eith resaest te major affirmative smite, tabors ef this aeendttee will wravida a aaeleaa of Civil Motets oriented attorneys aha earn he leaks* to fer assistance in hiadliaf- these eaeas. Sm behalf af W© I aa angioma te miasmas with yam ana year 0*114 aaaaalates tha feasibility sf eontinning tha Smild'a legal progrtffl ia ttlasisalsfi sarins tha eomlmg yaar. As yea knew, tha RUslseinal Fro jest will eantlama thromgbemt tha year ana tha ne#€ for lawyara la greater than ever, last mrgeatly needed are attorneys who aan work ia tha field and attend to tha "brash fire* day to day iaaidtats aa they eaamr. This ©©aid he aeeea$llshed hy the presamt rotating velmnteer attorneys, resident atteracya or, ideally, a eonhlmatlam of hath. The sxnerieaee of this past sun- mar aleerly indiaates that the utility ef a valmateer lawyers are- gran directly ral&ted to the smallty ef the help and sanervlsioa provided velnateers. 1 would graatly aamreelate year semveyimg this reeaeat for ©mild aartlalaatlen In nUsslsslpni ta year aseoeiates, Beemlcss t® say, I will fee it-lighted to amawar any ernestiona ye* nay have and to meet at a tine and algae of yaar eoaveaianae to iisemss aomtlnmatloa ef this program, Sim®er®ly, Baary W. Staff Comnsal IMsb ee'a taorge V. Cr@ek«tt, Jr., Esq. Istlanal Lawyer* Sal id fSel Oadillee Tmm%r Detroit, Riahigas BamJasln 1. Bnlth •mth, Baltaer, Janes ol Feeble* Smite l0*hf laranne Balldimc S&5 Baraams Street Mem Orlcana, Lomlsla&a Tilll Memo from: GEO. W. CROCKETT, JR. a/t V far <^^iAl&le October 7, 1964 Mr. Henry M. Aronson Council Of Federated Organizations 507^3 North Farish Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear Mr. Aronson: We have your letter of October 1st in which you request information concerning the cases handled by the Guild in Mississippi this past summer, and also inquire concerning the possibility of the Guild re-establishing its Mississippi Project of providing legal assistance to COFO. I am happy to inform that our Board has authorized such re-establishment and that Mr.Crockett of our Committee for Legal Assistance in the South will be in Jackson this weekend for this purpose. I understand that a copy of your letter was sent to Mr. Crockett and he will be prepared to discuss its contents with you. There is enclosed for your information a copy of a com munication entitled "Mississippi Follow-Up" which dis cusses generally the status of the Guild's Mississippi cases and our proposed Southern Program. Please feel free to call upon us whenever we can be of assistance. Sincerely, ERNEST GOODMAN, EG:gl President CC: George W. Crockett,Jr. Benjamin E. Smith PROPOSAL for a SNCC Legal Committee 9 October 1964 In Mississippi, COFO has a nevrly formed Legal Committee con sisting of attorneys: Ben Smith, Bill Kunstler, Arthur Kinoy, Melvin Wulf, Louis Lusky, Howard Mocre, Eleanor Holmes, Cene Cotton, Morton Stavis, and Marian Wright, This group provides COFO these services and jvvn/i.unui nviW) a. j j j. j L. J in n-viuillllg vuxdllLCCl ailUllICVS UDL11 LU the COFO office and in programs of various legal groups (LCDC, Guild, etc.); on the policy level, the Legal Committee advises on all suits as to whether we should bring them or not (this includes suits in con- with arrests), on overall legal developments and strategy such as in regard to the Justice Department. SNCC provides a Legal Coordinator who is responsible for making sure that the legal needs of the staff and program are met and who therefore controls the political decisions of case assignments. This development has given CO^O independence in an area particularly frought with organizational and political conflict No longer are ive totally dependant upon the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fudn, Inc., ivdth its ties to the Administration nor must we acquiesce to the American red-baiting tradition and "cleanse" our- ;ome under- r, so too, „lp from all who offer it under our policy. The COFO Legal Office provides one central location for all files on legal affairs so that we are consta ntly up to date, and offers facilities to supervise numerous volunteer lawyers. The main problems with this set-uo have been political. The NAACP Inc Fund has always strongly urged elimination of all Guild peo ple (such as Ben Smitb), has forbidden any staff lawyer or local co- any directives from the committee, she joined it last Sat. Oct. The Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee and CORE also have indi cated opposition to an independant CO^O legal set up. It is my suggestion that SNCC set up a similar committee. There will be less political fighting with SNCC since the NAACP and CORE will not have any say so. In addition, we have atty. Mike Standard. He has worked closely with us for some time now, demonstrating very clearly his affinity for our approach and values. He should be asked to help organize the SNCC Legal Committee, including such people as Howard Moore (paid by the NAACP Inc. Fund through Don Hollowell's office), Ben Smith, etc. One job would be to get offices set up for the various states and areas if the Black Belt project goes through, out of ivhich the volunteer attorneys would work and for which there would be coordinating attorneys. Naturally, the aim would be for ex isting groups such as the National Lawyers Guild, Inc. Fund, LCDC, President's Committee, etc., to provide as much financing and as many volunteers as possible. However, it is just as important to control and supervise our legal affairs as it is to control our financial and publicity work. SNCC needs aggressive legal work and political suits which other groups strictly on their own do not provide. In addition, day to day legal work needs competant supervision so that the short term volunteer lawyers will always get the SNCC orientation as to what is imnortant in the movement and that legal affairs must totally gear into our program. I suggest Mike Standard for the position of SNCC staff counsel. He might base himself in the Atlanta office to have access to the HATS line. In addition, SNCC should have a Legal Co ordinator to make sure that staff needs are constantly met, and to have a staff person who can be held responsible for keeping up on legal affairs. He owe it to all of our projects to bring in the best legal aid which is available. Our summer in Mississippi shows that much can be done with ones own set up. R. Hunter Morey HIGHLANDER CENTER 1625 RIVERSIDE DRIVE KNOXVILLE 15, TENNESSEE October 12, 1964 Mr. R. Hunter Morey 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear Mr. Morey: To set the record straight, Highlander Center's tax exemption speci fically states that no funds are to be accepted or used for the purpose of "carrying on propaganda or otherwise advocating or opposing pending or proposed legislation." Highlander cannot "participate or intervene in (including publishing or distributing statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office." Over and above the Internal Revenue Service limitations, some contributing foundations require, as a condition of receiving grants, that the school's activities exclude all direct and indirect action program expenditures. Students may leave Highlander workshops to participate in community activities or other activities, but Highlander funds may be used only for educational purposes as the Internal Revenue Service defines them or as stipulated by contributing foundations. It is necessary, therefore, that we require certain information in connection with scholarship grants and other educational programs paid for by funds which come from Highlander Center. The enclosed forms will have to be filed with us in advance of any release of funds. Sincerely, // 7 C. Conrad Browne Associate Director ccb/car Enclosures Highlander Center Office Form 104 1625 Riverside Drive Knoxville, Tennessee 37915 APPLICATION FOR SCHOLARSHIP GRANTS-IN-AID Name of Workshop Naffie of Director Place Workshop Held Dates of Workshop to_ Names of Persons Applying for Scholarships: I4 18. 2, 19. . 3* 20. _ 4. 21. . 5. 22. . 6. 23. . 7. 24. . 8. 25. . 9. 26. . 10. 27. . 11. 28. . 12. 29, . 13. 30. . 14. 31. . 15. 32. , 16. 33. . 17. 34. . NO MONEY WILL BE SENT UNTIL THIS FORM IS FILED! 1964-65 HIGHLANDER CENTER Board of Directors Chairman: Dr. Charles Gomillion, Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama Vice-Chairman: Dr. Scott Bates, The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee Sec.-Treas.: Mr. Lewis Sinclair, 1721 Saxton Street, Knoxville, Tennessee •K- # • * #• •a- Dr. Robert Blakely, Chicago Daily News, Chicago, Illinois Dr. B. R. Brazeal, Dean, Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia Mrs. Evelyn Brown, 406 East 87th Flace, Chicago, Illinois Mrs. Septima Clark, Southern Christian Leadership Conference 334 Auburn Avenue, N. E., Atlanta 3, Georgia Mr. Howard Frazier, 1322 Central Avenue, San Carlos, California Mr. Myles Horton, Highlander Center, 1625 Riverside Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee Mr. Esau Jenkins, 244 Spring Street, Charleston, South Carolina Mrs. Walter Johnson, 4919 South Woodlawn, Chicago 15, Illinois Dr. Lewis Jones, c/o Race Relations Institute, Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee Miss May Justus, Route 1, Tracy City, Tennessee Dr. A. A. Liveright, Center for the Study of Liberal Education for Adults 138 Montfort Street, Brookline, Massachusetts (02146) Mrs. Inza McAdco, 511 Lynch Street, S. E., Knoxville, Tennessee Mr. Stewart Meacham, The American Friends Service Committee 160 N. 15th Street, Philadelphia 2, Pennsylvania Mrs. Kenneth Montgomery, 875 Bridlewood Road, Northbrook, Illinois Mr. Robert Moses, Council of Federated Organizations 1017 Lynch Street, Jackson, Mississippi The Rev. Robert C. Palmer, 1808 Woodmont Boulevard, Nashville, Tennessee Mrs. Paul Sheats, 10104 Angelo View, Beverly Hills, California Mrs. Leonard M. Sperry, 2090 Mandeville Canyon Road, Los Angeles, California Mr. Jordan Stokes, III, Attorney at Law, Sudekim Building, Nashville, Tennessee Dr. John B. Thompson, 2840 Parker Street, Berkeley 4, California Mrs. George Wolfe, 7901 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park 12, Maryland •K- *- * # * Organizations are listed for identification purposes only POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT OFFICE OF INSPECTOR Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35402 CASE NO. 30034-GD October 14, 1964 Mr. David Dennis c/o COFO Headquarters 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi 39200 Dear Mr. Dennis: Your name has been furnished by Mr. Nathan H. Schwerner of New York as a reliable person who might have knowledge or otherwise be able to assist us in an official investigation now being made. Would you please advise me whether or not you have experienced any kind of mistreatment of your mail in connection with the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi, or whether or not you know of any such in stances not already reported to our Service. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. An addressed penalty envelope, which requires no postage, is enclosed for your convenience in replying. Sincerely, A. B. Dugl^ Postal Jxii End: 1 Self-addressed penalty envelope POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT OFFICE OF INSPECTOR INSPECTOR Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35402 eA$l NO. 30034-GD October 14, 1964 Mr. Robert Moses c/o COFO Headquarters 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi 39200 Dear Mr. Moses: Your name has been furnished by Mr. Nathan H. Schwerner of New York as a reliable person who might have knowledge or otherwise be able to assist us in an official investigation now being made. Would you please advise me whether or not you have experienced any kind of mistreatment of your mail in connection with the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi, or whether or not you know of any such in stances not already reported to our Service. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. An addressed penalty envelope, which requires no postage, is enclosed for your convenience in replying. Sincerely, A. B. Dugle Postal Inspector End: 1 Self-addressed penalty envelope Tot SSCC Personnel Comndttoe and 00FO SStocutive Committee From* R, Hunter Morey, Octob«r 30. 19#* Ret Mississippi (COFO) Legal Coordinator Last January I hoard from Oscar Chat* that attorney hm Bolt offered to teach civil rights law to throe HUsissippi SNCCs, Baring boon tried without counsel, gone to lav school for # year, and seeing that thoro was an unfilled vacancy, I applied. Ion taught Don White, Lancer MeHelr, and my- sif in his home for six •weeks. It was keenly felt there that some type of coordination was needed in the field in regard to arrests, trials, getting legal aid, etc. At the end of our tutoring, we attended the National lawyers Guild convention ia Detroit, followed by a trip to *%w fork* There X set Howard Slater, talked with Mil Waif, Arthur Klnoy and Oscar Chase, SNCC sent no then to Philadelphia to meet with the "President's Committee" to requesting appointment as Legal Coordinators *§r prospectus was rather poapus, but soon I was at work. Things worked out surprisingly well, both politically and in amount of legal aid available to us. We had the HaACP legal Defense and ideational Fund, Inc. (who had started off tho summer with tho bluff that it would not take any aero oases from SHCC workers since they had accepted aid from tho Guild), the National Lawyers Guild, the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee, and the "Presidents*s Committee* all taking their equitable share of the legal work as distributed my myself* At the summer's end, we attempted to firm up our advances and volunteer programs and I had no more law student assistance. The COFO Legal Advisory Committee became the main source for help. It obtained a Staff Counsel on a trial basis and set up a COFO Legal Office, providing most of tho financing. Counsel can coordinate his work with the COFO leadership la regard to case assignment, focus, etc* Hew the Guild has opened up in Jackson its Southern Regional Office, The Inc. Fund also has several lawyers and LCDC Is about to resume a program* Our legal aid Is both more organised and substantial than I thought could develop in less than a year* We have a full-time lawyer coordinating all of the legal work needed by us in Mississippi, with an office out of which work law students, secretaries, and volunteer lawyers. Therefore, my mala purposes and aims In this field have been realised and I can leek to other areas for future work. Please accept my resignation effective Immediately. Tot SKCC Personnel Committee and COFO Personnel Committee Fremt R. Hunter Morey, October 30, 19& Ret As 1 have resigned as Legal Coordinator for Mississippi (the Job being obsolete), I would like an opportunity to fool out what work te do next* SKCC*s legal aid situation needs is dees our fund raising program. Our educations. also interests me slot. In addition, field work office Right now, I plan to take a vacation after the SNCC he 5-10, coming back for the COFO meeting the first 'Afe hy_ Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Suite 1035, Universal Building North 1875 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D. C. 20009 Telephone 462-6618 Officers Executive Director Co-Chairmen Berl I. Bernhard * Harrison Tweed * Bernard G. Segal Secretary * Lloyd N. Cutler Treasurer * Cecil E. Burney November 3, 1964 Board of Directors Morris B. Abram Eugene D. Bennett Henry Brandis, Jr. Henry M. Aronson, Esq. * Bruce Bromley John G. Buchanan Staff Counsel, COFO Kenneth J. Burns, Jr. 507-1/2 North Farish Street * William T. Coleman, Jr. * Walter E. Craig Jackson, Mississippi Arthur H. Dean * James C. Dezendorf Jefferson B. Fordham * Cody Fowler Dear Mr. Aronson: Harold J. Gallagher Nathan B. Goodnow William T. Gossett We are in receipt of your letter of October 28. William P. Gray Erwm N. Griswold Your request for assistance was conveyed to the Executive Robert E. Lillard Committee of the Lawyers' Committee at its meeting of Arthur Littleton Ross L. Malone October 27. At this meeting the Executive Committee resolved * William L. Marbury Orison S. Marden actively to explore the feasibility and possible scope of a David F. Maxwell renewed program of representation and legal assistance in Robert W. Meserve * William R. Ming Mississippi. We are presently facing the problems of financing James M. Nabrit, Jr. John Lord O'Brian and of coordinating our work with the activities of other groups. Samuel R. Pierce, Jr. Hopefully both problems can be resolved in the near future. John D. Randall Charles S. Rhyne * William P. Rogers * Samuel I. Rosenman Copies of your second letter are being forwarded Eugene V. Rostow to the full Committee, and we will be pleased to meet with you Barnabas F. Sears Whitney North Seymour as soon as our plans crystallize. In the meantime, we will, of Jerome J. Shestack Arthur D. Shores course, keep you informed of all developments. Sylvester C. Smith, Jr. Davidson Sommers * David Stahl Sincerely yours, * John W. Wade * Member of Executive Committee of the Board of Directors I. Bernhard Executive Director klw The Committee was formed at the request of the President of the United States. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE TWENTY WEST FORTIETH STREET • NEW YORK, N. Y. 10018 • BRyant 9-1400 November 16, 196*+ Henry M. Aronson, Esq. Staff Counsel COFO 507i North Farish Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear Henry: This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter of recent date. It was good to hear from yoti. I gather that you are presently heading the work in Jackson. An organizati on may secure tax exemption under present regulations for a fund which is to be separate and apart from its other activities, provided the fund is separately maint ained and it is for tax exempt pur- poses. You would h ave to establish the fund and set It up with whoever is to run it and make an application to the Director of Int ernal Revenue in the area that the organization is inc orporated or where its main office is located and the matter proceeds from there. My suggestion is that you get an attorney who has some knowledge of the federal tax laws and of COFO so that he can suggest to you the things that have to be done and assist you in securing tax deducation. Good luck! Sincerely yours, RoberSdt L.T Carte r General Counsel RLC:plh HOfJLRD UHI yBHSXTT Washington, D. C. YU 9-3522 LAW STUDENTS CIVIL RIGHTS RESEARCH COUNCIL 156 FEFTH AVENUE wsw YORK 10. N. T. HOWARD SLATER, DIRECTOR January 22, 1965 RICHARD GRANAT, ASSOCIATE DIBECTOB BOARD OF ADVISOHS MORRIS ABEAM CHESTER J. ANTIEAU HELEN L. BUTTENWIESEH Sr. Hunter Morey NORMAN DORSHN 1017 lynch Street CLARENCE C. FERGUSON Jackson, Mississippi MONROE FREEDMAN JACK GREENBEHG Dear Mr. Morey: WILLIAM HIGGS MARK DEW. HOWB The Law Students Civil Rights Research Council is CLARENCE JONES now planning its 1965 summer internship program. Since WILLIAM M. KUNSTLEH you had a studunt working in your office last summer ROBERT B. MCKAT you know how our program operates. WILL MASLOW CONSTANCE MOTLET I would appreciate it if you would let me know NEWTON PACHT whetner you woulc like a clerk for next summer. Could MONRAD G. PAULSEN you use more than one stuccnt? Would accepting a JOHN DE J. FEMBBSTON, JR. student cause any problems in your office? Do you know LOUIS POLLAK of any otiier attorneys who the Council might contact CAJJL RACHLIN regarding tlie placement of students for next summer? EUGENE V. ROSTOV, We had 25 students last summer in Mississippi and we NORMAN REDLICH would like to know if taere is need for a larger BERNARD G. SEGAL number. HARBISON TWEED JACK WKINSTEIN Any comments or suggestions that you have for MELVIN Wtar improving our program would be most helpful to us. We are trying to make next summer's program even more beneficiel to t .e students, the attorneys, and the civil rights movement. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future, at least before February 22, 1965. Sincerely, Cl^Vtt dd^Gryt^ Clint Hobson President CH:ff . LCOC 538# fforth Farish Street Jackson, Mississippi January 29» 1965 Attorney Peter Marcuae 140 Greenwood Avenue Waterburys Connecticut Bear Peters Enclosed are the following retainersi (1) Miss Elayne Delott (Jackson OOFO) was arrested for "disturbing the peace "by refusing to obey an officer." On information and belief this arrest was pursuant to H. B. 777 (^). See Docket Bo* 15, page 3, Marian Wright's Docket of January 1, 1965« (2) Mr. William Ware (Belzoni GOPO) - S. B. 202? - Criminal Syndicalism. Docket Wo, 7. I hart not discussed this matter with him. (3) Mr. Charles Hoaley and Mr. Freddie Let Watson. Shis is the only arrest under S* B. 2545. ITnfortunately the charges were changed. Docket Wo. 59* (4) Mrs. Mennie Lewis, for her daughter. Dehors Lewis. Docket Ifo. They are affected hy S. B. 1501 and possibly E. B. "6. fhe following are almost certain to come In* (5) Leen Luckett (Canton) has reportedly signed. He was arrested for picketing in violation of H. B. 546. Docket So. 10. Since he is under 21t he is affected adversely by H. B. 960 (19) (6) Mr* Donald Bridgeforth. H. B. 15. Doek»% 65* I will send another retainer for QUQ who has been fingerprintede but Bridgeforth has the best bona fide (7) We should allege that a Greenwood city ordinances prohibiting "parading without a permitt" was enacted pursuant to H» B. 64. The ordinance was enacted after H# B» 64 on 6/21/64 and was recorded on page 6? of Minute Book 55 of the Ordinances of the State of Mississippi. A George H. Alberta (Greenwood) was arrested for violating this ordinancet but I have been unable to locate him* Attorney Peter Marcuae Page 2 Enclosed are some school (S.B. 150!) clippings,, I meant that this plan had failed, but evidently some private schools were attempted. 1*11 have the rest sent up and the Hot icing taken care of by Koppit or George Bradley. Best wishes, Harris David ED A encl? R. R. 1 Ava, Illinois February 10, 1965 Bill Copet 1017 Lynch St. Jackson, Mississippi Dear Bill, (I hope I spelled your last name correctly.) I uncerstand that someone in one of the lawyer's offices some research was being done on Mississippi cooperative laws. (I think it was Inc. Fund, but won't swear to it). If there is something done and written up, could you send me a copy of it? I*m doing research on Miss. Federated Coops, and the Miss, cooperative system in general, and need these laws for the pamphlet that (hopefully) will be written. I don't have much time, so would appceciate an answer as quickly as possible. How go the depositions? and the Challenge in general? We get no news up here whatsoever—a complete, total news blankout. Appearantly there was a fair amount of coverage in the East of the Challenge the day of the seating, but all we got here, even from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, were little bits of news stuck in between paragraphs on internal party politics. You might suggest to FDP that they get out a mass mailing on the challengej with all sorts of things in it. I kn ou that a lot has been printed up, press releases, etc., as a friend of mine got a whole big packet from a freind in Washington. (I'm agitating every source I know to get some info. out. Everyone I write to XH at all connected with FDP gets this plea. We're really in the dark here, on what is such a significant thing). So, anyway, just as soon as you can, let med know about the coop laws thing, thanks. Freedom Jane Adams Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee, Inc. Ninth Floor, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 (212) YU 9-7530 President February 1$, 19(£ LEO PFEFFER Special Counsel American Jewish Congress Mr. R. Hunter Morey COFO Legal Coordinator Vice-Presidents 1017 Lynch Street JOHN M. PRATT Jackson, Mississippi Counsel, Commission on Religion and Race National Council of the Dear Hunter: Churches of Christ CARL RACHLIN General Counsel The title looks familiar... Welcome back to the old stand. Congress of Racial Equality You enquire about LCDC's plans and program regarding legal Secretary representation in Mississippi in 1965, and I shall answer MELVIN L. WULF you as best I can. Legal Director American Civil Liberties Union To begin with, let me say that LCDC's sole purpose is to Treasurer provide the civil-rights movement with legal support. As EDWIN J. LUKAS you know, since the early summer of 196J|, we have sent over National Affairs Director American Jewish Committee 130 lawyers to Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and northern Florida, and while our main effort related to COFO's 196k ROBERT L. CARTER summer project, we have been active in the fall and winter General Counsel as well, both in point of sending volunteer lawyers South and National Association for in pursuing litigation begun during tha summer from here. We the Advancement of Colored People plan to continue, to the limits of our abilities, to furnish legal assistance to the movement whenever and wherever "the The Rev. ROBERT F. DRiNAN, S.J. Dean need is. Boston College Law School JACK GREENBERG Our criteria for accepting cases remain unchanged: They Director-Counsel should be civil-rights-connected (by some reasonable stan NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund dard). Period. I am not sure that it is useful to define the "reasonable standard" very closely here; suffice it to CLARENCE B. JONES Counsel to the say that in Mississippi onemi^it say that any case against a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Negro or a civil-rights worker has a civil-rights basis (even HOWARD MOORE, JR. if only in point of jury selection, discriminatory sentences, Counsel etc.). Obviously, we have no intention of displacing local Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee lawyers, especially in their handling of normal criminal and civil matters, and with limited resources some priorities will in practice have to be established. But we would look at civil- Executive Secretary rights clients in much the same way that the American Civil HENRY SCHWARZSCHILD Liberties Union looks at civil-liberties clients: a vigorous and militant defense of a person's constitutional rights is not necessarily related to his substantive interests nor does it require agreement with them. It goes without saying, I trust, that the substantive interests of the civil-rights movement are our own as well, but there may be differences of opinion about tactics and timing — these will not affect our commitment to provide legal representation for the movement where it needs representation. I hope this is clear enough. 33 Mr. R. Hunter Morey -2- February 1% 1965 Now, as to our practical plans. As you know, the President's Committee (Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) has announced a major project of legal defense in Mississippi. Inasmuch as the purpose of LCDC has been to provide legal service where necessary, we shall not compete with the President's Committee in Mississippi. To the extent that they will assume the burden of civil-rights law in that State, LCDC will gladly turn its attention to areas where the need remains great. Since the need is great in Mississippi right now and the President's Committee is not as yet functioning there, we have opened an LCDC office in Jackson, headed by Alvin J. Bronstein as staff counsel. I know that you have had several lengthy and useful conversations with him. We are prepared to maintain that office (again: within the limits of our finan cial resources) so long as we are convinced the need for it exists and that it does not duplicate efforts undertaken by the President's Committee. For the time being, as I understand it, Bill Kopit will be assigned to it by the Law Students Civil Rights Research Council. In addition, Alan Levine may join that office for a month or so in the near future (on assignment from the American Civil Liberties Union), and Bruce Rogow, an LCDC lawyer presently working with Charles Morgan's ACLU office in Atlanta, may spend a good deal of time there. Al Bronstein's office should be fully established and functioning by about March 1. As to further plans, let me say this: What we do depends upon the needs of the movement. We can therefore plan only when we know what the move ment plans to do — where and when its major drives and projects will be. It is very hard to come by reliable information in this. We hear con flicting reports about COFO and SNCC plans for Mississippi, CORE plans in Louisiana and South Carolina, Black Belt projects, etc. Under these con ditions, it's a little hard to plan. So far as your COFO responsibilities for Mississippi are concerned, let me summarize: Within the limits of our resources, we shall m^ce staff lawyers and volunteer lawyers available to the movement in Mississippi to meet its acute legal needs and we shall do so to the extent legal services are not provided by some other arganzation. (To put it bluntly: if the President's Committee performs as it promises, we are quite prepared to move our Jackson office to another area or another State where the need is greater.) This is a pretty full answer. It cannot be more precise at the moment, because of two great unknowns: the amount of financial support LCDC can muster, and the plans of the movement. Please don't hesitate to be in touch with me about any matters that you think ought to have our attention. Meanwhile, I am sure that Al Bron stein will be in constant touch with you. Cordially, Henry Schwar5schild Executive Sec retary HS:c Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee, Inc. Ninth Floor, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 (212) YU 9-7530 President LEO PFEFFER Special Counsel February 19, 1965 American Jewish Congress MEMORANDUM Vice-Presidents JOHN M. PRATT To: Civil-rights organizations, projects, and attorneys Counsel, Commission on Religion and Race National Council of the Churches of Christ The Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee CARL RACHLIN General Counsel Congress of Racial Equality will open its Jackson, Mississippi, office on Monday, Secretary March 1, 1965. MELVIN L. WULF Legal Director American Civil Liberties Union LCEC Staff Counsel Alvin J. Bronstein will Treasurer be the full-time attorney in charge of the office. EDWIN J. LUKAS National Affairs Director American Jewish Committee The LCDC office will be located at: ROBERT I. CARTER 603 North Farish Street General Counsel Jackson, Mississippi 39202 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Telephone: Area code 601 The Rev. ROBERT F. DRINAN, S.J. Dean 948 - 4191 and 94S - 4192 Boston College Law School JACK GREENBERG Mr. Bronstein is a committed and experienced Director-Counsel NAACP Legal Defense and trial and civil-rights lawyer. He has handled significant Educational Fund CLARENCE B. JONES civil-rights litigation in New York, St. Augustine (Florida), Counsel to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. HOWARD MOORE, JR. and Mississippi. Counsel Student Non-violent He and LCDC volunteer lawyers who will be working Coordinating Committee out of the Jackson office will be available for any civil- Executive Secretary HENRY SCHWARZSCHILD rights connected legal problems at all times, subject to necessary priorities and the limitations of time and money. # COFO projects: PLEASE POST "slUi^* s8 Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee, Inc. Ninth Floor, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 (212) YU 9-7530 President LEO PFEFFER Special Counsel PRESS RELEASE For release: American Jewish Congress A.M. papers. Tuesday. February 23. 1965 Vice-Presidents JOHN M. PRATT Counsel, Commission on Religion and Race CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYERS ESTABLISH MISSISSIPPI OFFICE National Council of the Churches of Christ Alvin J. Bronstein Named Staff Counsel CARL RACHLIN General Counsel Congress of Racial Equality New York: The opening of a civil-rights law Secretary MELVIN L. WULF office in Jackson, Mississippi, was announced today by Legal Director American Civil Liberties Union the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee, a volunteer Treasurer EDWIN J. LUKAS lawyers group organized by several national civil rights National Affairs Director American Jewish Committee organizations last year. The Jackson office will be headed ROBERT L. CARTER General Counsel by a full-time staff counsel and will call upon assistance National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from long-term volunteer lawyers as needed. The Rev. ROBERT F. DRINAN, S.J. Dean Alvin J. Bronstein, of Elizabethtown, New York, Boston College Law School JACK GREENBERG has been appointed staff counsel of the Lawyers Constitu Director-Counsel NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund tional Defense Committee (LCDC), and will head the Miss CLARENCE B. JONES issippi office. He will take up his assignment on March 1. Counsel to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. HOWARD MOORE, JR. The Jackson, Mississippi, office of the LCDC will Counsel Student Non-violent be located at 603 North Farish Street. Coordinating Committee In a statement announcing the opening of the ExecufiVe Secretary HENRY SCHWARZSCHILD Mississippi office, Leo Pfeffer, LCDC President and Special Counsel to the American Jewish Congress, declared: "Physical terror, harassment, and deprivation of constitutional rights continue in Mississippi. The Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee will continue to provide —more— Page 2 - Press Release from the LAWYERS CONSTITUTIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEE legal representation for the civil-rights movement wherever and whenever pos sible. The Jackson office, with so committed and experienced a lawyer in charge as Mr. Bronstein, will enable us to render legal services to the civil- rights movement on an even more sustained and systematic basis. With only three or four Mississippi lawyers available for civil-rights cases in a state that has a Negro population of almost one million and with many active civil- rights projects, the need for legal defense and affirmative legal action to bring about compliance with the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act is urgent." Mr. Pfeffer indicated that his lawyers9 group considered the legal needs of the civil-rights movement its foremost obligation. "We do not have the approval of the Mississippi State Bar Association for our plans, nor do we expect to obtain it," he said. "But we do have the enthusiastic welcome of the civil-rights organizations, the local civil-rights lawyers, and of the Negro community of that state." The LCDC has sent over 130 volunteer lawyers to the Deep South since last spring. One of the suits filed by the LCDC seeks to have some 24 Mississippi statutes declared unconstitutional because of their alleged discriminatory and repressive purpose. The newly appointed LCDC staff counsel, Alvin J. Bronstein, 37, is an experienced trial lawyer. He received his law degree from New York Law School in 1951. He was in the private practice of law in Brooklyn, New York from 1951 until 1963, and he has been practicing in Elizabethtown, New York, since that time. Mr. Bronstein has represented units of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in housing and employment discrimination cases and in defending demon strators. He was a special counsel to the War Resistors League, a pacifist —more— Page 3 - Press Release from the LAWYERS CONSTITUTIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEE group. In 1961, he represented Negro defendants in Sunflower County, Mississippi, as a volunteer. In the summer of 1964, he was senior attorney for the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee in St. Augustine, Florida, where he tried and won the first contempt action against segregationists filed under the Civil Rights Act. During the past six months, he went to Mississippi on several occasions as an LCDC volunteer lawyer to try an injunction action against the harassment of civil-rights workers by law enforcement officials in McComb on behalf of the Council of Federated (civil rights) Organizations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. —30— Contacts Henry Schwarzschild YU 9-7530 or (914) WH 8-4787 3510 Hamilton St. Philadelphia, Pa. 19104 Feb. 23, 1965 Bill Cppit Council of Federated Organizations 507g N. Farrish St. Jackson, Miss. Dear Bill Copit, I would like to get some information about the status of my two caseso I was arrested in Drew Mississippi this summer on two days. On July 14 I was arrested for distributing literature without a permit at an open air mass meeting led by Charles MacLaurin. On July 15 I was arrest with about 24 others for blocking the road. tj?he bail for these two fi#p'tf/y(# arrests was |100 and $500 respectively, I would, like to get the money back if the cases have been thrown out because it doesn't belong to me. Do you have any records of what has happened? If not, who would you suggest I contact? In freedcm , Michael NJ Yarrow KUNSTLER KUNSTLER a KINOY ATTORNEYS AT LAW 511 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, N.Y. IOOI7 MURRAY HILL 2-8317 WILLIAM M. KUNSTLER CABLE ADDRESS MICHAEL J. KUNSTLER "KANDKLEX" ARTHUR KINOY February 24, 1965 R. Hunter Morey COFO Legal Coordinator 1017 Lynch Street Jackson, Miss. Dear Hunter: With summer fast approaching, I thought that it might be a good idea to schedule a meeting of the Legal Advistory Committee here in New York. If you feel the same way, please let me know. In addition, give me some idea as to what Saturday or Sunday would be most con venient to you. I would also appreciate a suggested agenda from your point of view. Cordially, —i / William M. Kunstler WMK/mj CC. All members of Lawyers Advisory Committee «^ Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Suite 1035, Universal Building North 1875 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D. C. 20009 Telephone 462-6618 Officers Executive Director Co-Chairmen Berl I. Bernhard * Harrison Tweed Assistant Executive Director * Bernard G. Segal John H. Doyle III Secretary * Lloyd N. Cutler Treasurer * Cecil E. Burney Board of Directors March 10, 1965 Morris B. Abram Eugene D. Bennett Henry Brandis, Jr. * Bruce Bromley John G. Buchanan Kenneth J. Burns, Jr. R. Hunter Morey, Esquire * William T. Coleman, Jr. * Walter E. Craig Legal Coordinator Arthur H. Dean * James C. Dezendorf Council of Federated Organizations Jefferson B. Fordham 1017 Lynch Street * Cody Fowler Harold J. Gallagher Jackson, Mississippi Nathan B. Goodnow William T. Gossett William P. Gray Erwin N. Griswold Dear Mr. Morey: Robert E. Lillard Arthur Littleton Ross L. Malone In response to your letter of February 12, 1965, I * William L. Marbury Orison S. Marden wish to advise that the Board of Directors of the Lawyers' David F. Maxwell Committee for Civil Rights Under Law approved on Janu Robert W. Meserve * William R. Ming ary 27th, 1965 a long-range program of legal representa James M. Nabrit, Jr. John Lord O'Brian tion in Mississippi. Briefly, the program will call for the Samuel R. Pierce, Jr. establishment of an pffice in Jackson to be staffed by two John D. Randall Charles S. Rhyne or more full-time attorneys. The staff attorneys will be * William P. Rogers * Samuel I. Rosenman assisted by volunteer lawyers recruited from all sections Eugene V. Rostow of the country who will serve on a year-round basis for Barnabas F. Sears Whitney North Seymour periods of not less than one month. The target date for Jerome J. Shestack Arthur D. Shores the opening of our office is May 15, 1965. Sylvester C. Smith, Jr. Davidson Sommers * David Stahl The Committee's lawyers will engage in legal repre * John W. Wade sentation of persons unable to obtain adequate local counsel * Member of Executive in cases involving civil rights issues. This work will include Committee of the Board of Directors both defensive representation in criminal cases as well as affirmative civil suits to secure basic rights. While the Committee will, of course, retain full control over the selec tion and management of cases, it is committed to the principle that all persons in the State should obtain competent representa tion. The Committee was formed at the request of the President of the United States. An ultimate purpose of the Committee's program will be to bring about the assumption by members of the local bar of their professional responsibilities for repre sentation. This is a long-range effort which will not be attained easily. The program will be coordinated fully with the work of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The terms of this coordination include the holding of joint training sessions for volunteer lawyers as well as an agreement to allocate cases according to a coherent plan. On Saturday, February 15, I and my assistant, John Doyle, met with Dick Jewett of the COFO staff here in Washington. We had a full discussion of the expected needs for legal representation in Mississippi and I think that Dick would be able to tell you more details about the Committee and its work. We appreciate your inquiry and look forward to many opportunities for mutual assistance and coopera tion during the forthcoming months. B^l I. Bernhard LAW OFFICES OF McKISSICK & BURT 213V2 WEST MAIN STREET DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA 27701 OFFICE 682-8106 F. B. McKISSICK M. C. BURT, JR. March 15, 1965 Miss Gwen Robinson Project Director Laurel COFO Box 771 Laurel, Mississippi Dear Miss Robinson: Mrs. McLaurin showed me your very sad letter relating the destruction of your community center in Laurel. 1 enclose a set of materials describing programs under the War on Poverty. The possibility of a predominantly Negro group in the Deep South organizing such a program, where the power struc ture neglects to move, has been discussed extensively at CORE and elsewhere, and the general opinion is that it can be done. We hope that you will attempt it. One major obstacle which you will face is the require ment that a program be submitted to the Governor of the State for approval; if, after thirty days he has not disapproved, the program may be approved by Washington. The way to get around this require ment is by having the sponsoring organization be a college or university, such as Tougaloo in Jackson. For t»uch a program the governor's approval would not be necessary. I suggest that you write directly to Mr. Conway for his latest published materials on community action programs, and also request his aid in setting up such a program. I should be interested in his reply. I might further suggest that you contact Attorney William Kopit, of COFO's Jackson office. If you do decide to attempt to set up such a program, close consultation with your legal counsel must be taken at every stage of the proceeding. I wish you Itost luck in this endeavor. SineeufclyWF—, Carol Ruth Silver 1ml CC: Attorney William Kopit Mrs. Bessie McLaurin Mr. Norman Kurland May 2h, 1965 Dear Hunter: I am working on a support memo for our northern groups and will send it out to friends of SNCC. But first I need to get more information. I gather from the letter you sent to Claude Ramsey that youall had a good meeting May 2nd and tha t you were able to carry things off with the usual amount of cool. I am sorry that we didn't have time to discuss the history of the vounfr Dems during the meeting at Waveland. Time was short and after all—first things first. I mean we did discuss it but not in depth and I didn't take notes on everything you said—(Young Dons) Betty and I talked about the things you listed in your memo and I will be doing #1; she will be working on #5>; and the SNCC staff in general oan be working on helping set up the workshops, T suppose, although I don't know who will be taking the responsibility for getting them to do that. Did you get to speak to ^orman about that? But mainly I'm writing to ask you to send me more information on paper so that I can write something for the large FOS mailing list. Also I miss talking to you. Someday we'll have to finish tha conversation—T have a lot of hangups too. Take care of yourself and come see me when you get a chance. Write me. I have a private PO box—Box %6k—and mail comes directly to me. Your dear friend, Margaret Lauren IN REPLY REFER TO UNITED STATES POST OFFICE PMC/whm Jackson, Mississippi 39205 June 22, 1965 C. 0. F. 0., Box 1268, Jackson, MS 39205 Gentlemen: An attempt to contact you by telephone failed. The material your group presented for mailing under your third-class bulk permit is held at the main office because it is material for another group - YDCM - not entitled to mail under the permit issued to your group. In order that this mail may clear this office a bulk- mail ing fee of $30.00 must be paid in the name of the group for which the mail is prepared. Very truly yours, for P. MwCatchings, Postmaster ». p. «• 23 JURE 65 #»5 Mi P^*B RHFTJ3AX TO SAIL OOFO SOU HHtUI* «f 6/21/65 urn or TMI OBMOX. or r3Bfi»no o* ©r telk M^UHS iMMAt awMMr 177 f*lly ptid *p. on te* 21*t tf J*»*. t965 mm pemmfimA tad paid for a balk (tf 361 f*4<*» watching f» fMMd»9 ***wNfc«g te te* P«*t Offtc* **MMr). tf Jtote* 1965* te 1* teOMl&Mjr**» * ttTO a ••*» te* ill itf ^"tete**J^| »|HA %la*>aafe*aaa*te4fe^aattk wfr Mift It Mfcat i W^lbafc fia^iaiMtft M"TE M a*illn£ water |«w teiiNheiM** telfc MMtwit it &*l«i' «i tit* MM&M it 1. *»te*Ul ftp to fmst ,r*tp. f» Mfter that tei« mil my teU tffi** * telfe- » tf F39.O6 *•** te p*±a U te* MM tf te* rrw»p f*r tette te* *au $>*$ tf JfcMtft S$#f & I til ^fe P* M» CMteMxifM* Ite&*M*te*» JasiltM*i*§ .liMMtaiijapit » I nMtwi tedkr • tetter written f*r jwa %r *«** appaaw tete teto a* tftf il . » GM12«F, in i*i act tftf *tf%*ay*te«al te Mi«*Ul «H«aPr Mil*MU*« c.o.r.0.C.0.1 .0.». «H«wilt*^* iit* thte** enm patteai cal *£<* ym ar* timylm tea it^t te *** te* Mite* M te* In ?€**ta*if>j9i ter Mtell rigfete ftat*j«te*$ ty te* ,'.:..-* Oftotiteti**. ***t tf te* Mteii rights ******* MINI 3ncc and Q&H wasity organisation, «U m s*e**te Mite mm ter te* y*ar* la Isslarfppi, em* tt*a *« Jaeksoi eff&«• ^klliical WW* W*Fw Ero%*Iij$.. TsWit «W ^^aMPwl^'te^fcliiiflaWlp. %i«#|rl* ^^*W '• '4Mnpi:te "IP* M^Bs €0P8 MMM* ftMifJ A te IMMm flMP MHi iMMMM flMiXlrteME % ifcMtefPMP flil^l. 'finite mm* *«*h«p 1% b* co?0 te« « rt#i4 te I MM * 'h»» IMMMI jMMtnnT Mni ptli$ f«r in fall cwtfarrf.ty with 19»5, 2J MMP fMMt tfftMMfi4^te » Al*tfH«l»l (1 teitit his MJMM MM* "M*Mi1»Ji) mm WN te ft* out • ir^ioari tf te* tdte ClU«w» COMMII 4ESI mftjUitiMit -teirik,MMMK 4HMU& 4tHU^^tti4hft **fc ^ %,^^'Mtffete^*^fc,'4: ii)*, M^ teiMk^L <^IMHV< ^bh te. ntetfte Ate MM && te MMMad «• te*n toi* te p*y ter 1 atiitec in ttdM mtrU* U fnDy iadleMted te* I ww* $«*m or UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS WASHINGTON, D.C 20425 November 19, 1965 1510 Whitfield Mills Road Jackson, Mississippi 39203 OFFICIAL BULLETIN TO: Federal, State, County, and local officials; civil rights, human relations, and community leaders; representatives of political organi zations, labor unions, and religious groups; news media; and church officials. FROM: A. B. Britton, Jr., M.D., Chairman, Mississippi State Advisory Committee As a part of its responsibility to serve as a national clearing house the United States Commission on Civil Rights, in cooperation with its State Advisory Committees, has held a series of confer ences throughout the country to provide information on various civil rights laws. On December k, the Mississippi State Advisory Committee will hold a Statewide Conference on the 1965 Voting Rights Act. You are cordially invited to attend or send a representative to this meeting which will be held at the King Edward Hotel in Jackson. The conference will begin with a general session at 12:00 Noon, followed by workshop sessions. Participating as resource persons will be public officials who will discuss registration and voting procedures, administrative responsibilities of the United States Department of Justice, the United States Civil Service Commission, other Federal agencies, and State, County, and local officials. You will have an opportunity to discuss and to secure answers to those questions relating to voting in which you are most interested. Although there is no registration fee, would you please complete the enclosed reply card so that we can make adequate plans to accommodate everyone. We look forward to seeing you in Jackson on December k. Mississippi Advisory Committee: A. B. Britton, Jr., M.D., Chairman; Dr. A. D. Beittel, Secretary; Mrs. Martin L. Harvey, Rev. Charlemagne Payne, Sr.,—all of Jackson; Msgr. Charles C. Hunter, lazoo City; Rev. Blanton Doggett, Tupelo; Dr. Gilbert R. Mason, Biloxi; Dr. Matthew Page, Greenville; Mrs. J. H. Price, Magnolia; George E. Powers, D.M.D., Gulfport; and Mrs. Hazel B. Smith, Lexington. /AJ.Z).7 ^ / ^£ &S- - ^-^<^C^^c^^^^ J&^^O ^£^§f ^£^c>^^t/ ^?^V^_; ^u^ Q<0^? si**. ¥' > .--t-7T*->