LDF Defends Mississippi Rights Worker in U.S. Supreme Court
Press Release
October 25, 1968

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Press Releases, Volume 5. LDF Defends Mississippi Rights Worker in U.S. Supreme Court, 1968. 0dc92816-b992-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/54c1d057-a1a9-4d45-bfcc-3870813388ad/ldf-defends-mississippi-rights-worker-in-us-supreme-court. Accessed April 27, 2025.
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17¢ 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. -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. | |