LDF Suit Asks Freedom of Press
Press Release
September 7, 1968

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Press Releases, Volume 5. LDF Suit Asks Freedom of Press, 1968. 76ade3ea-b892-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/0a58091e-a6de-46d7-89dc-ade489d4667f/ldf-suit-asks-freedom-of-press. Accessed June 17, 2025.
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4X rai Hon. Francis E. Rivers PRESS RELEASE Hopper Jack Greenberg egal ‘efense und Director, Public R Jesse DeVore, NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. reVare, 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 * JUdson 6-8397 NIGHT NUMBER 21: 49-8487 FOR RELEASE SATURDAY September 7, 1968 LDF SUIT ASKS FREEDOM OF PRESS Migrant Farm Workers & Reporter Seek Dialogue UTICA, N.Y.---The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) filed a complaint in U.S. District Court here this week in behalf of a newspaper reporter and residents of King Ferry Migrant Labor Camp. It charged interference with freedom of the press, freedom of speech, assembly, petition and association. This complaint names as defendants the district attorney of Cayuga County, two officers of the New York State Police, as well as the cooperative manager and the cooperative which owns the camp where the migrants reside. The plaintiffs--Walter Rewald, a reporter with the CITIZEN- ADVERTISER, and Howard Douglas and Floyd shaw, migrant farm workers-- desire that Mr, Rewald "and other newsmen and other members of the public have free access to visit them at the King Ferry Migrant Labor Camp in order that the press can publish accounts of activities and living conditions at the camp." This will “assist them in improving their conditions and in petitioning public officials with jurisdiction and responsibility over the camp about their grievances." Reporter Rewald visited the camp and wrote stories of life there which in time displeased officials of the camp who subsequently barred his entry. Rewald wants to go back and continue his job as a reporter. LDF attorneys are asking for preliminary and permanent injunc- tions to halt the practice of prohibiting entry into the camp sice and to prevent “any retaliatory actions against plaintiffs Douglas and Shaw such as discharging the migrant-worker-plaintiffs or imposing any other punishment because they have brought this suit." -30- NOTE: The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is a separate and distinct organization from the NAACP. Its correct designation is NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., which is shortened to LDF.