Negro Police Denied Full Rights - LDF Attorneys Win Court Action

Press Release
October 2, 1968

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Negro Police Denied Full Rights - LDF Attorneys Win Court Action preview

14 Negro Policemen in St. Petersburg Fla. Denied Full Duties and Responsibilities of Their Position. LDF Attorneys William Robinson and Sanderlin Ask for Reversal.

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  • Press Releases, Volume 5. Negro Police Denied Full Rights - LDF Attorneys Win Court Action, 1968. 8289ff03-b992-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/535baeda-2681-4404-a360-562fcc1eda2c/negro-police-denied-full-rights-ldf-attorneys-win-court-action. Accessed October 30, 2025.

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    FOR PRESS RELEASE 
October 2, 1968 

NEGRO POLICE DENIED FULL RIGHTS 
LDF ATTORNEYS WIN COURT ACTION 

8T. PETERSBURG, FLA.--"Polite efficiency must yield to 

constitutional rights," was part of the ruling handed 

down by the U.S. District Court of Appeals when it said 

that the local police department here clearly violated 

the rights of 14 Negro policemen. 

In an appeal to the U.S. District Court for the 

Fifth Circuit, attorneys for the NAACP Legal Defense and 

Educational Fund, Inc, (LDF) said the Negro policemen were 

denied the full duties, responsibilities, and privileges 

of their positions. 

LDF staff attorney Leroy D, Clark of New York City, 

and cooperating attorney James B, Sanderlin of this city 

told the court that police sargeants were assigned 

responsibilities by the designations "Sl" and "S2". They 

said those having these designations were assigned administra- 

tive and supervisory duties. 

According to LDF findings, the one and only Negro 

sargeant was designated "S3", and limited to supervising 

Negro policemen. 

LDF attorneys charged that at one time Negro officers 

were assigned to a particular patrol car, colloquially 

referred to in the department as the “colored car." 

They said a lower court ruling that it was necessary 

for Negro policemen to patrol only Negro neighborhoods 

for reasons of efficiency maintained a system of 

segregating Negroes within the police department, 

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the lower 

court, and the police department has erred in holding 

that the racial classification of policemen was merely 

for purposes of efficiency and directed the lower court 

to reverse its ruling. 

The Court of Appeals ordered the city of St, Petersburg 

to cease assigning Negro policemen on the basis of color. 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 

efense lund 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 * JUdson 6-8397 



oOn 

October 2, 1968 cont'd. 

and grant the Negro sargeant equal authority to execute 
police responsibilities, : 

LDF Attorneys Sanderlin and William Robinson, will 
return to the lower court this week for the court to 
reverse its earlier decision, and enter an order in accord 
with the ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

7. | . | 

~- °30<. 

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc, (LDF) 
is a separate and distinct organization from the NAACP, 
Its correct designation is the N al Defence and Edu nal Fund, Inc. which is sasrte ae

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