Ask Fed. Dist. Ct. to Take Jurisdiction in Cases of 17 Rights Workers Arrested in McComb, Miss. for Criminal Syndicalism (Telegram)

Press Release
September 1, 1964

Ask Fed. Dist. Ct. to Take Jurisdiction in Cases of 17 Rights Workers Arrested in McComb, Miss. for Criminal Syndicalism (Telegram) preview

Date is approximate (undated).

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  • Press Releases, Volume 1. Ask Fed. Dist. Ct. to Take Jurisdiction in Cases of 17 Rights Workers Arrested in McComb, Miss. for Criminal Syndicalism (Telegram), 1964. dfd5634e-b592-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/ae6f13dc-9714-472b-8a94-abf2180ed8b3/ask-fed-dist-ct-to-take-jurisdiction-in-cases-of-17-rights-workers-arrested-in-mccomb-miss-for-criminal-syndicalism-telegram. Accessed May 18, 2025.

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    DOMESTIC SERVICE 

semcee|; WESTERN UNION 
Se E TELE GRAM 
NIGHT LETTER 

as fasi 

W. P. MARSHALL 
[[Nonwoszou on sve: | Po.on cou | __casw NO mer 
| | | [NAACP CAGAL DEFENSE & ED. FUND 

[10 COLUMBUS CIRCLE N.Y.C. 
Send the following message, subject to the terns on back hereof, which ¢ 

(See attached list) 

The U.S. District Court in Jackson was today asked to take jurisdiction 
in the cases of 17 civil rights workers and local Negroes arrested in 
McComb last week under a 1964 Mississippi statute outlawing “criminal 
syndicalism." NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyers, Carsie Hall and Jack 
Young filed the petitions for removal of these cases from County 
Court, where they claim it will be impossible for the defendants, 
including white COFO worker Dennis Sweeney of Stanford U. and 
Jesse Harris, director of the COFO project in McComb, 
to receive a fair trial. On Friday, the Defense Fund attorneys asked 
the same court to impanel a three-judge tribunal to hear the Fund's 
motion that the court enjoin prosecution of all arrests under the new 
law on grounds that it violates freedom of speech, is vague and 
indefinite, and is being used for the sole purpose of harassing civil 
Tights efforts. For fjrther information contact attorney Carsie Hall 
“in Jackson, Code 601, FL 2-7484. 

~~ 

Jesse DeVore 
Public iafeceniare Director. 
212 JU 6-8397 
Night: 212 RI 928487

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