December 10th Hearing in Mississippi "Chicken Feed" Case

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December 6, 1962

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Press Releases, Loose Pages. December 10th Hearing in Mississippi "Chicken Feed" Case, 1962. 6ec4fa17-bd92-ee11-be37-6045bddb811f. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/5ce2e655-213c-40e3-954a-b5ee79feb6ed/december-10th-hearing-in-mississippi-chicken-feed-case. Accessed November 23, 2025.

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    PRESS RELEASE 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 
O COLUMBUS CIRCLE + NEW YORK19,N.Y. © JUdson 6-8397 

oe KNIGHT CHALMERS JACK GREENBERG CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY 
resident Director-Counsel Associate Counsel 

Ss 

DECEMBER 10TH HEARING IN 
MISSISSIPPI "CHICKEN FEED" CASE 

December 6, 1962 

NEW YORK -- On Monday, December 10th, Mississippi District Judge 

Alan Cox is scheduled to begin hearings at Aberdeen, Miss. in the 

infamous Kennard "chicken feed" case. 

Clyde Kennard is the Hattiesburg, Miss. Negro student who two 

years ago was sentenced to a seven year jail term for allegedly 

helping to plan the burglary of five bags of chicken feed. Kennard's 

arrest followed his attempt to become the first Negro to enter all- 

white Mississippi Southern College in September 1959. 

Monday's hearing will be on a new Federal District Court suit 

filed last month by NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorneys which aims 

to secure a new jury trial for Kennard on the "chicken feed" charge. 

The suit maintains that Kennard was convicted by a jury from 

which Negroes were arbitrarily and systematically excluded. 

Since 1961, Legal Defense Fund attogyneys have attempted many 

legal actions to win Kennard's freedom, all to no avail. An appeal 

to the U. S. Supreme Court from Mississippi courts was turned down 

by the high Court in August 1961. Kennard is now sickly, and has 

never been able to receive bail from Parchman Penitentiary in 

Forrest County, where he is currently jailed. 

Defense Fund attorney Derrick Bell, who prepared the federal 

court complaint, pointed out that jury panels are selected from 

county voter registration rolls. The complaint cites evidence that 

Forrest County, where Kennard was convicted, has barred Negroes from 

registering to vote. 

Bell said that in 1959 the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights 

reported that only 16 Negroes were registered as of 1955, though 

Forrest County has 7,406 Negroes of voting age. He also pointed 

out that there is a contempt action pending in the Court of Appeals 

for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans against Therron C, Lynd, the 



EQS 

Circuit Clerk and Registrar of Forrest County, because of his 

continued refusal to register qualified Negroes. 

The Kennard case has received considerable publicity because 

of similar efforts of Mississippi officials to bring criminal charges 

against James Meredith last summer, The case was brought to national 

attention by a November 8th article of the Reporter Magazine entitled 

"One Negro Who Didn't Go To College.” 

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund attorneys for Kennard 

are George N. Leighton of Chicago, I1l., who has been retained as a 

special attorney in this case, R. Jess Brown of Vicksburg, Miss., 

and Derrick A. Bell, Jr. and Jack Greenberg of New York City.

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December 10th Hearing in Mississippi "Chicken Feed" Case

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