LDF Defends Mississippi Rights Worker in U.S. Supreme Court

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NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 

10 Columbus Circle New york, N.Y. 10019 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

LD? DEFENDS MISSISSIPPI RIGHTS 

WORKER IN U.S. SUPREME COURT 

WASHINGTON, D.C.--An attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and 

Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) today asked the U.S. Supreme Court 

to reverse the six-month jail sentence of a young Negro civil 

rights worker who stood outside a court house in Mississippi and 

told Negroes to register and vote. 

Charles McLaurin began making a strong plea to Negroes out- 

side the court house in Greenville, Mississippi, after a trial 

jad taken place inside that resulted in the sentencing of two 

Negro girls charged with disorderly conduct in a public park. 

LDF attorney Melvyn Zarr, who asked the court to hear 

McLaurin's case,said the girls had entered a municipal park in 

Greenville. However, he said, the park was "public" ta the 

extent that only whites were allowed. 

When the girls entered the park, a crowd of about 300 whites 

gathered and the police feared an outbreak of violence. 

“Therefore, the police arrested the two girls, Zarr said. 

McLaurin's entanglement began at the start of the trial. 

In the segregated court room where he found all seats on the 

Negro “gide filled, he attempted to take one of the vacant seats 

reserved for whites. 

He was, as a result, ordered out of the room. The complaint 

he made to Police Chief William C. Burnley, Jr. brought no re- 

sults, except he was denied readmission to the court room. 

That was when he took to the sidewalk outside the court house, 

Mr. Zarr said. 

According to young McLaurin's testimony, his work primarily 

involved getting Negroes in Mississippi to register and vote. 

He began telling the crowd coming out of the court room, 

and those already standing outside, "that things such as the 

sentence just handed out to the two girls would not happen if 

you registered and voted." 

The police led him away and arrested him for breach of the 

peace, which brought him the six-month jail sentence. 

Mr. Zarr's argument charges that McLaurin was denied his 

right of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the 

Constitution. 

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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. 

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