Civil Rights Act Gets First N. Carolina Test
Press Release
November 10, 1964

Cite this item
-
Press Releases, Volume 1. Civil Rights Act Gets First N. Carolina Test, 1964. 2e8f7d6c-b592-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/8f774c14-f12d-4cf3-bc11-7143a9c87445/civil-rights-act-gets-first-n-carolina-test. Accessed April 30, 2025.
Copied!
10 Columbus Circle New York, N.Y. 10019 JUdson 6-8397 NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund PRESS RELEASE President ir. Allan Knight Chalmers Director-Counsel Jack Greenberg FOR RELEASE Associate Counsel Tuesday Constance Baker Motley November 10, 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT GETS FIRST N. CAROLINA TEST Elizabeth City and New Bern Firms Sued NEW BERN---North Carolina received its first test of the 1964 Civil Rights Act today in U.S. District Court here. NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorneys asked for infseigetons to end discrimination at Moore's Barbecue in New Bern and at the Villa Vicki Hotel Court and Restaurant in Elizabeth City. eX The two suits ask the Court to enforce Title II of the new law, which is currently under review in the U.S. Supreme Court. Legal Defense Fund lawyers charged in their complaints that North Carolina supports the discriminatory policy of these establishments by state action and that operators of the restaurants affect Interstate Commerce. Negro plaintiffs represented by the Legal Defense Fund sought and were denied service at Moore's Barbecue on July 13, and at the Villa Vicki on August 12, October 2, and October 21. The owners of these establishments turned them away, saying that Negroes would not be served. The Legal Defense Fund complaints make clear that both places of public accommodation axe located on interstate highways and that the food served there moved in interstate commerce, Today's action in North Carolina brings to 14 the number of Legal Defense Fund suits under the Civil Rights Act. These cases involve over 35 places of public accommodation in five states of the Old Confederacy. Participating in the North Carolina cases are Fund Director- Counsel Jack Greenberg and Assistant Counsel Michael Meltsner of New York; and W,G. Pearson, II, C.C. Malone, Jr., Conrad 0, Pearson, J. LeVonne Chambers, and Reginald L. Frazier, all of North Carolina. =30= oN rth Carolina Reporters may secure further ‘information by contacting Attorney J. LeVonne Chambers in Charlotte at 375-1764 or 375-1765, AI Jesse DeVore, Jr., Director of Public Information—Night Number 212 Riverside 9-8487