Memorandum on Dokes v. Arkansas - Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Clarify Laws on Juveniles

Press Release
April 24, 1967

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Press Releases, Volume 4. Memorandum on Dokes v. Arkansas - Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Clarify Laws on Juveniles, 1967. 08095cc4-b792-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/890a301b-db81-43c0-8e4e-1c0454f7747f/memorandum-on-dokes-v-arkansas-asks-us-supreme-court-to-clarify-laws-on-juveniles. Accessed November 23, 2025.

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President
Hon. Francis E. Rivers

PRESS RELEASE Director Counsel
e gal efense und Jack Greenberg

Director, Public Relations NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. Jesse DeVore, Jr. 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 » JUdson 6-8397 FOR RELEASE © NIGHT NUMBER 212-749-8487
MONDAY . fF Fy
April 24, 1967 je

MEMORANDUM

TOs WASHINGTON AND LITTLE ROCK REPORTERS

FROM: Jesse DeVore, Director of Public Information

RE: ASK U.S. SUPREME COURT TO
CLARIFY LAWS ON JUVENILES

CASE TITLE: John Henry Dokes and Sylvia Dokes v. State of Arkansas

DATE OF FILING: April 24, 1967

QUESTIONS Are laws which broadly define a crime of contributing
PRESENTED: to the delinquency of minors unconstitutionally vague

and indefinite?
Did a Negro couple waive their constitutional right
of privacy when police entered, without a warrant,
their orderly interracial party and arrested them--
without telling them that they had a constitutional
right not to permit the police to enter?

NATIONAL NEWS This represents a new aspect in the current contro-
A eB versy over juvenile delinquency laws.

WASHINGTON---An Arkansas Negro couple today asked the U.S. Supreme Court
to dismiss charges of contributing to the delinquency of minors--a charge that. grew out of a peaceful interracial social gathering.

Attorneys of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDE) argue that such statutes, which are unconstitutional and vague, there-
fore invite arbitrary police interference in relationships between
adults and children,

LDF lawyers point out that there is a lack of clear definition in
this area of the law in all 50 states.

Mr. and Mrs. John Henry Dokes face this charge "solely because they permitted a peaceable interracial gathering in their home," the LDF
attorneys asserted,

They added that this is a case of shocking police misconduct in that the police entered a peaceful interracial party in a Little Rock public housing project because they saw whites and Negroes enter, and
arrested all participants.

Minors were charged with possession of alcohol and adults with con- tributing to the delinquency of minors,

: The evidence against Mr, and Mrs. Dokes was merely that one minor "smelled" of alcohol,

In summary, LDF attorneys argue that the Dokes's convictions by the courts of Arkansas are in violation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments in that:

1 There is no evidence in the record to support the convictions.

2) The contributing to delinquency statute under which the state proceeded is vague and uncertain,

3) The admission of testimony regarding observations by police officers inside a home entered without warrant or probable cause violates the Constitution,

(more)
S25

ASK U.S. SUPREME COURT TO
ARGEARIFY LAWS ON JUVENILES -2- April 24, 1967

1 ¢€ase is being handled by LDF Director-Counsel Jack Greenbe 3,
sel James M. Nabrit III, Assistant Counsel Michael

Sage

joined by Professor Anthony Amsterdam of the University
@ in Philadelphia and Little Rock attorneys John W,

= 730-

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Memorandum on Dokes v. Arkansas - Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Clarify Laws on Juveniles

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