Mass Arrests in Mobile Nullified by Federal Court in Suit Brought by LDF - City Ordinances Hampering Civil Rights Demonstrators Declared Unconstitutional

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ressRelease P Ae Lame se 

November 19, 1970 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

MASS ARRESTS IN MOBILE NULLIFIED BY 

FEDERAL COURT IN SUIT BROUGHT BY LDF 

City Ordinances Hampering Civil Rights 

Demonstrators Declared Unconstitutional 

NEW ORLEANS, LA.---In a decision which in effect dismisses 300 

pending criminal prosecutions, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals 

ruled late last week that the right to engage in peaceful protest 

demonstrations, guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, cannot be 

abridged by municipal ordinances. 

Attorneys of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. 

(LDF) brought the suit after 350 community people in Mobile, Alabama, 

were arrested in peaceful protests against unequal employment 

opportunities and a general climate of racism in that city. 

The demonstrators were charged with violating certain city 

ordinances which the LDF claimed infringed upon First Amendment 

freedoms of speech and assembly and were therefore unconstitutional. 

The attorneys further charged that the ordinances were 

discriminatorily applied to discourage civil rights activity. 

Picketing and boycotts of downtown stores was begun in Mobile 

in the fall of 1968 by Neighborhood Organized Workers (NOW), a 

community organization. All protests, then and since, have been 

orderly, peaceful, and have not interfered with the flow of 

pedestrian and vehicular traffic, the LDF asserted. 

The mass arrests which brought this legal action were made 

during a protest on May 1, 1969 against the Mobile Municipal 

Auditorium where a Junior Miss Pageant, controlled by a racially 

exclusive selection policy, became a symbol of Mobile's racism. 

Earlier that day, a meeting between members of NOW, city 

officials, and representatives of downtown merchants ended 

abruptly with a flat rejection of the black community's demands. 

That evening, six persons picketed the auditorium. Ina park 

across the street, a biracial group of about 35 people gathered 

peacefully in support of the protest against both the pageant and 

the sharp rebuff which black spokesmen received at the meeting. 

Despite the orderly behavior of all those present, the Mobile 

police arrested everyone in the park and the surrounding streets, 

even as they were dispersing in accordance with police directions. 

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NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. | 10 Columbus Circle | New York, N.Y. 10019 | (212) 586-8397 

Hon. Francis E. Rivers - President ; Jack Greenberg - Director-Counsel 



On the evenings of May 2 and 3, demonstrations were held to 

protest the arrests; on both nights the groups were peaceful and 

did not obstruct sidewalks or streets. Over 300 persons were 

arrested and charged with violations of city ordinances. 

The Court of Appeals ruled three of the ordinances 

unconstitutional on their face: 

1. yrequiring permits for certain uses of public places, 

2. limiting to six the number of persons who can 

demonstrate in front of any public facility, 

3. making unlawful the failure to disperse from an 

unlawful assembly. 

Thus the Court in effect threw out 300 of the pending 

prosecutions. 

The fourth ordinance challenged by the LDF -- making unlawful 

the obstruction of free passage of streets and sidewalks -- was 

declared constitutional. However, the Court of Appeals ordered 

the district court to schedule a hearing to determine whether this 

ordinance was properly applied in 50 additional arrests. 

LDF attorneys in the case were Director-Counsel Jack Greenberg, 

Assistant Counsel Jonathan Shapiro and Charles Becton, and LDF 

Cooperating Attorney Vernon Z. Crawford of Mobile. 

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