U.S. Court of Appeals to Hear Argument on Jacksonville Golf Case

Press Release
March 16, 1962

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U.S. Court of Appeals to Hear Argument on Jacksonville Golf Case preview

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  • Press Releases, Loose Pages. U.S. Court of Appeals to Hear Argument on Jacksonville Golf Case, 1962. e2323ff4-bc92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/ad0973b0-b8a7-4830-a499-e3df53bf5e5c/us-court-of-appeals-to-hear-argument-on-jacksonville-golf-case. Accessed August 19, 2025.

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    PRESS RELEASE 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 
1O COLUMBUS CIRCLE + NEW YORK19,N.Y. © JUdson 6-8397 

DR. ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS JACK GREENBERG CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY 
President Director-Counsel Associate Counsel 

S25 

U,. S,. COURT OF APPEALS TO HEAR 
ARGUMENT ON JACKSONVILLE GOLF CASZ March 164162 

NEW YORK « Jack Greenberg is scheduled to argue on March 27, an 

NAACP Legal Defense Fund appeal from a Florida District Court 

ruling which upholds racial segregation of two Jacksonville, Fla, 

golf courses. 

Argument will be heard by the U, 5S, Court of Appeals for the 

Fifth Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia. 

The golf courses, Brentwood and Hyde Park, had been owned and 

operated by the City of Jacksonville for over twenty years, The 

City was ordered to desegregate the courses by Federal Judge Brian 

Simpson on April 7, 1959, On April 6, the day before the injunction 

was to take effect, the City closed both courses. 

In February 1960, the courses were sold to Fred A, Ghioto and 

Ronald Hurley under condition they would use the land only for golf 

courses, These men, who paid only small down payments, had been the 

golf pros at the courses, and had been on municipal salaries, When 

the courses were sold to them, they reopened facilities for whites 

only. 

Legal Defense Fund attorneys then went back to court to make 

Ghioto and Hurley parties to the desegregation suit, The Negro 

attorneys charged that the sale "is an act of subterfuge on the part 

of the City of Jacksonville in an effort to abridge the rights of 

the petitionerseee," 

On June 22, 1961, Judge Simpson dismissed the petition of the 

Negro plaintiffs, Defense Fund attorneys immediately appealed to 

the U. S,. Court of Appeals, 

In its brief, Fund attorneys contend that "the City of 

Jacksonville has maintained sufficient ownership and control of the 

property to make operation subject to the Fourteenth Amendment." 

Besides Greenberg, other NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorneys are 

Ernest D, Jackson of Jacksonville, and Constance Baker Motley and 

Michael Meltsner of New York City,

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