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Factual Index to. Volui • V 0 ‘ffN 3H1V V 1 ObO 30 JO Ai I Sb 3 A I N fl 11VH b3iaNVD 3Nboeso *i •« 8 1101 LS 3N n r IJV11VVL i Page 13 Objective VOL. IV, NO. I NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE $2 PER YEAR JULY, 1957 School Issue Has Gone Before Court 22 Times T he U. S. Supreme Court has held, in effect, for the 22nd time in three years that segregation in the schools must go. Desegregation has been effected in six of the 20 cases which thus far have gone through state and federal judicial channels to the high court. They include school cases in Kansas, Delaware and the District of Columbia (all as a re sult of the 1954 School Segregation decisions), the University of North Carolina, and the schools in Ohio and Texas in subsequent cases. In the most recent case, the court refused to review the appeal of the Orleans Parish School board from fed eral district and circuit court decisions which previously had: (1) declared Louisiana’s pupil placement act and other segregation provisions invalid; (2) ordered the end of compulsory segre gation in the New Orleans public schools; and (3) declined to set a spe cific date by which desegregation must be accomplished or begun. LEFT TO LOCAL COURTS A Southern School News survey of actions by the Supreme Court since 1954 shows that the court has handled a majority of the school segregation cases which have come before it in similar manner. On 13 of the 22 occa sions in which cases have been appealed to the high court, it has refused to re view or otherwise declined to alter lower federal court handling of the cases. In the past three years, 20 cases d'rectly involving school segregation and two involving related issues have Bone to the Supreme Court. Six of the cases, four involving colleges, have gone up twice each. 11 REFUSALS TO REVIEW According to the SSN survey, the Jgh court has ruled directly on only nine occasions, refused to review deci sions by lower courts on 11 occasions and has denied petitions for different andling by district courts on two oc- casions. Thus, in the 20 cases dealing 1 " school segregation specifically, it °uld apnear that the court has ad- cred with considerable consistency to e policy it established in the 1955 r ° Wn decision when it remanded the ■ e . s to the federal district courts for “nplementation “consistent with this “Pinion.” Wie Supreme Court has handled the issue C p S T reIated to the segregation eati ’ ■ not directl V involving segre- nianne r ln sc7locds ’ * n the following review^T 27 ’ 1957 the court agreed to AlaiwJ. Case of NAACP v. State of “ourt * n state supreme Sose^! tWice u P held a $100,000 fine Monte agalnst ^e organization by the cont Pn ° r ? ery bounty Circuit Court for r “corH, P m . ^fasing to make certain an a )[ailable to the court during P r “me^ Ctl0n hearing ' Date of the Su- Uourt hearing has not been set. B( ^ d CASE certiora^- the court denied "Lerein^ 1 case °f Doby v. Brown, denied • 3 - ^ ederEd district court had the v a r!p? Sdicti ° n ' n a case involving “larle „ school bonds in Albe de . N. C. the ‘ ^ rom the original decisions ii iing „ 'f, n case and in the case of Bol ^“ndled ' iar i pe ’ the Supreme Court ha Win-, subsequent cases in the fol ? manner: case of Florid the §. ail 'kins v. the Board of Contro state su Preme Court remanded to th th e p r t me cour ti ’ for consideratioi ^'ided the Segregation Case ,< ^ l 'issin Iay 77 ’” t * le action seekin] Florii 1 ^ a Negro to the Universit’ OnT 13 W school. ”■ th e p Same date, the case of Tureaut "as r ° a j rd of Supervisors of LSI ll °n$ . ariC ed with the same instruc- c “se seefc 8 ^ edera ^ distTict court. Thi: adm ission of a Negro to th( Lpive rs ; t Uate level of Louisiana Staff Oct. 10, 1955—In the case of Lucy v. Adams, the Supreme Court reinstated an injunction against barring two Negro women from the University of Alabama, after the stay had been granted by the district court pending appeal. March 5, 1956—The Supreme Court affirmed a three-judge district court order to admit Negroes to the under graduate level of the University of North Carolina in the case of Board of Trustees of UNC v. Frasier. March 12, 1956—Again in the case of Florida ex rel. Hawkins v. the Board of Control, the Supreme Court refused to review the state supreme court find ings on questions of capacity, plant and other “conditions that now prevail,” but entered a new order specifying that factors of possible delay recognized for elementary and secondary schools do not apply in cases involving graduate professional schools. OHIO CITY INVOLVED April 2, 1956—The Supreme Court denied certiorari (refused to review) the case of Board of Education of Hills boro v. Clemons in which the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals had ordered a district court to direct admission of Negro pupils to public schools in Ohio without discrimination. May 7, 1956—The Supreme Court de nied certiorari in the case of Board of Supervisors of LSU v. Tureaud where in the Fifth Circuit Court had directed admission of a Negro to the LSU un dergraduate level. May 14, 1956—The Supreme Court refused to review the case of Adams v. Lucy in which the University of Ala bama appealed lower court decrees to admit qualified Negroes. May 28, 1956—The Supreme Court denied motion for leave to file petition for a three-judge court to hear the case of Booker v. Board of Educa tion after a single district judge had approved a gradual desegregation plan for Memphis State College and other Tennessee colleges and universities. DENIED 3-JUDGE PLEA On the same date, the court denied a similar petition in the case of Orleans Parish School Board v. Bush, after a three-judge court had determined it lacked jurisdiction in a school segre gation case. Oct. 15, 1956—The Supreme Court denied certiorari in the case of Hood v. Board of Trustees of Sumter County School District No. 2, wherein the Fourth Circuit Court had ruled that administrative remedies must be ex hausted before plaintiffs, known as “Turks” in South Carolina, could seek relief in federal courts. Oct. 22, 1956—The Supreme Court re fused to review the case of Hippy v. Brown in which a federal district court’s denial of an injunction in a Dallas, Texas, segregation case was re versed by the Fifth Circuit Court. Dec. 3, 1956—The Supreme Court de nied certiorari in the case of Rawdon v. Jackson wherein the Fifth Circuit Court had remanded to a district court the case involving segregation in the Mansfield, Texas schools with instruc tions that the lower court order a prompt start toward desegregation “un influenced by private or public opinion as to the desirability” of desegregation. March 25, 1957—The Supreme Court denied certiorari in the case of Carson v. Warlick, wherein Negro plaintiffs sought to mandamus a federal district judge to hear a school segregation case after he had ruled that administrative remedies under the state’s pupil place ment act must be exhausted before re lief could be sought in federal court. March 25, 1957—In the combined cases of School Board of Charlottesville v. Allen and School Board of Arlington County v. Thompson, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in the appeal from a Fourth Circuit Court decision upholding lower court orders requiring admission of Negroes to public schools in Virginia. April 22, 1957—The Supreme Court denied certiorari in the case of Avery v. Randel in which the Fifth Circuit Court had ruled that the district court must retain jurisdiction in a segrega- (Continued On Page 2) Eight Districts Plans for New Disclose Year T>lans for fall desegregation in school districts in two border states and one mid-South state were announced while predicted “general” desegregation in a third border state—Delaware—appeared to have been arrested by a State Board of Education ruling. Desegregating in 1957-58, according to announcement, are one district in West Virginia, three in Okla homa (two of which have “policy” desegregation) and four in Arkansas, in the mid-South. Kasper, 15 Others Face July Trial KNOXVILLE, Tenn. On July 8 the much discussed trial of 15 residents of Anderson County and John Kasper, the Washington, D.C. Citizens Council leader, will start in federal court in Knoxville. The defendants are charged with criminal contempt of court for alleged violations of an injunction issued Aug. 29, 1956 by Federal District Judge Robert L. Taylor prohibiting interfer ence with the peaceful desegregation of Anderson County’s Clinton High School. The trial will be before a jury of 12 members chosen from a panel of “65 to 70” veniremen. The panel was se lected by the two-member jury com mission at the beginning of the present term of court in May. The panel members are residents of the 14 counties that compose the northern division of the eastern fed eral district of Tennessee. By statute, each side in the case must be allowed at least three chal lenges in the selection of the jury, al though it is within the discretion of the judge to permit additional challenges if it is deemed necessary. JURY SELECTION FIRST The selection of the trial jury will be the first point of contention between the prosecution and the defense. A spokesman for the 15 defendants—ex cluding Kasper—said it is their belief that each of the defendants and the prosecution should be allowed 10 chal lenges in selecting the jury. The prose cution, however, contends that in federal court, since the defendants are being tried as one case, they are en titled to challenges as a “side” and not as individual defendants. Judge Taylor will preside over the trial and the case will be prosecuted by Federal District Attorney John C. Crawford. There are four defense counsel, all retained by the Tennessee Federation for Constitutional Government (TF- CG). They are: Thomas P. Gore of Nashville, a first cousin of Tennessee’s Sen. Albert Gore, Robert L. Dobbs and L. E. Gwinn of Memphis, and W. M. Shaw, assistant state’s attorney for Louisiana. Their defense is being fi nanced by the “Freedom Fund for Clinton,” a fund sponsored by the TFCG. The dimensions of the case have broadened considerably since last Oc tober when desegregation troubles plagued the Clinton High School (forc ing its temporary closure) and result ing in the arrest of the defendants. The reason: the controversy in Con gress over civil rights legislation and particularly over the right to trial by jury in contempt of court cases where civil rights are at issue; and the re cent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Jenks case relating to ac cess of defense counsel to records of the FBI in criminal prosecution. The trial, according to observers, is expected to last at least a week. It may last longer, depending on three factors: prolonged selection of the jury, examination of witnesses by all members of the counsel for the de fense, demands of counsel for defense for access to FBI records. # # # Meanwhile, pupil placement acts were under challenge in three states. In a decision upholding a desegrega tion order for Orleans Parish (New Orleans), Louisiana, the U.S. Supreme Court sustained a lower court ruling which invalidated Louisiana’s pupil placement law. Negroes petitioning for school entry by transfer assignment apparently were testing North Caro lina’s placement law. And a circuit court heard a test case involving Vir ginia’s placement legislation. Florida’s legislature had adjourned without passing a major pro-segrega tion bill and Alabama’s was still in session with 25 to 40 such measures before it. Recent legislation in Texas was cited in the delay of projected de segregation at Galveston. South Caro lina’s second longest legislative session ended with a sprinkling of new pro segregation laws. Meeting in annual convention in De troit June 25, members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People heard from Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins: “We are going to give special attention to achieving desegregation in the so-called hard core area of the South.” The “hard-core area,” said Wilkins, is Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia. In reference to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions of 1954 and 1955 in the Brown case, he said “we intend to work with all the techniques and weapons available so the people of those states will receive the benefits of the Supreme Court de cisions.” A state-by-state summary of major developments follows: Alabama With a backlog of an estimated 25 to 40 pro-segregation bills, the legislature, which convened May 7, had passed one local measure. The consensus of legisla tors was that the state’s pupil placement law was the principal defense against forcible integration. Arkansas Four school districts—Little Rock, North Little Rock, Fort Smith and Van Buren—plan desegregation this fall. More than 200 Arkansas districts will remain segregated. Delaware Local initiative should govern deseg regation, the State Board of Education ruled again, in a move interpreted as reducing the likelihood of general de segregation in the fall. District of Columbia Washington’s nine-member school board got a new chairman as the Dis trict also continued its quest for a su perintendent to succeed Hobart M. Coming. Florida The legislature adjourned without en acting any major new law on segrega tion-desegregation. It failed to override a gubernatorial veto of a “last resort” bill allowing local districts to abandon public schools faced with desegregation orders. Georgia The state’s request to dismiss an en try suit to Georgia State College was refused by a federal court. An assess ment of more than $17,000 in back in come taxes was clapped on the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Kentucky Two state institutions of higher edu cation—the predominantly white Uni versity of Kentucky and the formerly all-Negro Kentucky State College, joined to sponsor extension courses at Frankfort, the state capital. Louisiana Orleans Parish (New Orleans) School Board lost its appeal against a deseg regation order in the U. S. Supreme Court, which also upheld a lower court order ruling the state’s pupil placement law unconstitutional. Maryland A federal court approved “selective integration” in Harford County, a plan involving the screening of Negro ap plicants. Negro plaintiffs said they would appeal the ruling. Mississippi Gov. J. P. Coleman issued his strong est statement to date on school segrega tion, saying that “we have no intention of complying with the decision that we regard to be utterly unconstitutional.” Missouri A survey of desegregated John Pitman School in Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis, showed that desegregation was “easier on the whole, this year than last,” when difficulties were reported at the second-year mark. North Carolina Applications for school entry, gov erned by the state’s pupil placement act, have been filed in Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh and Winston-Sa lem, plus Mecklenburg (Charlotte) County. Oklahoma A state survey showed that a “Little Dixie” district planned complete de segregation this fall and that two other districts had “policy desegregation,” while all-Negro high schools would be maintained in 34 and possibly 40 dis tricts. South Carolina The next-to-longest session in the state’s legislative history ended with a sprinkling of new pro-segregation laws. Tennessee Knoxville asked a federal court to dismiss a school entry suit as John Kasper, pro-segregation organizer, ap peared in Nashville, which plans first- grade desegregation this fall (under court order). Kasper said he has organ ized a Citizens Council in opposition. Texas A federal court was asked to set a definite date for desegregation of Hous ton’s school system as Galveston an nounced it would postpone desegrega tion because of new state laws. Appeal was announced of a state court order restricting NAACP activities. Virginia Pupil placement, as provided by state law, was under challenge in both fed eral and state courts. In one instance, the Fourth Circuit Court heard (at Asheville, N.C.) a case involving Nor folk and Newport News. West Virginia Hardy County announced it would take its first desegregation steps this fall and Mason County said it would adopt complete desegregation, leaving two counties in the state with segregated school systems. Index State Page Alabama 10 Arkansas 10 Delaware 8 District of Columbia 9 Florida 12 Georgia 9 Kentucky 2 Louisiana 7 Maryland 5 Mississippi 5 Missouri 6 North Carolina 6 Oklahoma 12 South Carolina 4 Tennessee 2 Texas H Virginia 3 West Virginia 8