Jackson v. Marvell School District Petition for Rehearing
Public Court Documents
October 16, 1969

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Press Releases, Volume 5. National Highway Construction Law Ignored in Tennessee, LDF Advises U.S. Court of Appeals, 1967. f10cdc51-b892-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/f08c96a1-32ac-4b36-b6b9-4ef021a7fdbc/national-highway-construction-law-ignored-in-tennessee-ldf-advises-us-court-of-appeals. Accessed August 19, 2025.
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President Hon. Francis E. Rivers PRESS RELEASE pecs egal efense lund Jack Greenberg NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. Bien Fete Baars Jesse DeVore, Jr. NIGHT NUMBER 212-749-8487 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 * JUdson 6-8397 FOR RELEASE FRIDAY DECEMBER 8, 1967 NATIONAL HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION LAW IGNORED IN TENNESSEE, LDF ADVISES U.S. COURT OF APPEALS Fisk, Meharry, Vanderbilt and others in Jeopardy CINCINNATI---NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., (LDF) at- torneys will appear here today in the U.S. Court of Appeals in an at- tempt to permanently halt construction of an interstate highway through the Negro district of Nashville, Tenn. LDF Director-Counsel, Jack Greenberg, will argue that the proposed path of Interstate-40 would bring "destruction and irreparable damage to Negro-owned businesses, colleges, universities, schools, churches and residential areas." LDF attorneys won a temporary restraining order three weeks ago against construction of the highway. Their complaint names Governor Buford Ellington, Highways Commissioner Charles W. Spright, and Nashville Mayor Beverly Briley. LDF attorneys will today tell the Appeals Court that: * the Federal Highway Act requires that state highway departments consider adverse economic effects, on local communities, as a determining factor in plotting highway routes. Tennessee, they maintain, did not a no public hearing was held to discuss construction plans prior to their approval and implementation * the highway was arbitrarily routed through the Negro district * the routing was not coordinated with any comprehensive plan of land use * the Negro community was denied due process and equal protection of the law as required under the 14th Amendment. LDF attorneys are representing the Nashville I-40 Steering Committee, an unincorporated group of Negro and white citizens formed to protect the North Nashville section of the city. Among the institutions represented on the Committee are Fisk and Van- derbilt Universities, Scarritt, George Peabody, and Meharry Medical Colleges, and St. Vincent dePaul Parish and School. Others include the Metropolitan Human Relations Committee, Nashville Christian Leadership Conference, the Baptist Sunday School Publishing Board, and numerous local church groups. LDF attorney Avon Williams is the local counsel. He is joined by LDF Director-Counsel Greenberg, James M. Nabrit III, Charles H. Jones, Ties and Michael Davidson, all of New York City. =302 NOTE: The NAACP Legal Defense and Educztional Fund, Inc. (LDF) is a separate and distinct organization from the NAACP. Its correct desig- nation is NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., which is shortened to L.D.F.