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Brief Collection, LDF Court Filings. NAACP v. Thompson Brief for Appellants in Support of Motion for Injunction Pending Appeal, 1963. 0a34111c-bf9a-ee11-be36-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/0e99cbe3-50c7-4d52-b92d-88d93b410bb4/naacp-v-thompson-brief-for-appellants-in-support-of-motion-for-injunction-pending-appeal. Accessed August 19, 2025.
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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 20619 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE, ET AL., Appellants, - v . - ALLEN THOMPSON, ET AL., Appellees. BRIEF FOR APPELLANTS IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR INJUNCTION PENDING APPEAL JACK H. YOUNG CARSIE A. HALL 115^ North Farish Street Jackson, Mississippi ROBERT L. CARTER BARBARA A. MORRIS 20 West 40th Street New York 18, New York R. JESS BROWN 125^ North Farish Street Jackson, Mississippi JACK GREENBERG LEROY D. CLARK DERRICK A. BELL 10 Columbus Circle New York 19, New York FRANK D. REEVES 508 Fifth Street, N. W. Washington 1, D. C. WILLIAM R. MING, JR. 123 West Madison Street Chicago, Illinois Attorneys for Appellants Index Page Statement of the Case---------------------------------- 1 Argument I, This Court Has Jurisdiction to Both Hear This Motion and Grant the Injunctive Relief Sought by Appellants------------------ - 5 A. The Order of the Court Below is Appealable Under 28 U.S.C., Section I292(l)--------- 5 B. The Relief Urgently Sought By Appellants Is Well Within the Power of This Court--- 9 C. 28 U.S.C., Section 2283 Is No Bar to Appellants’ Requested Relief------------- 11 II. Appellees, By Enforcing Racial Segregation Required By State Law, Have Abridged Appellants’ Constitutionally Protected Freedoms of Expression and Assembly and Have Thereby, Created an Emergent Situation Necessitating Interim Injunctive Relief by This Court------ 15 A. Consistent with State Policy, Appellees Have Violated Appellants' Constitutional Rights By the Enforcement of Racial Segregation------------------------------ 16 B. Appellants’ Protest Activities Are Pro tected By Their Constitutional Right of Freedom of Expression and Assembly-------- 19 C. The Urgent Relief Sought By Appellants Is Justified By the Circumstances of this Case-------------------------------- 22 Conclusion-------------------------------------------- 24 Table of Cases American Optometric Ass'n. v. Ritholz, 101 F.2d 883, 887 (7th Cir. 1939)..... ................. 13 Bailey v. Patterson, 199 F. Supp. 595 (S.D. Miss. 1961) 368 U.S. 346, 369 U.S. 31 (1962)................... 5,11,14 Bates v. Little Rock, 361 U.S. 516.................. 15,19 Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497......................... . 16 Browder v. Gayle, 352 U.S. 903....... ................... 15 Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)...... 10,15,17 Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917).......... 7,10 Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296............ 19,21 Clark v. Thompson, 313 F.2d 637 (5th Cir., 1963)....... 5 Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1 (1958)............. 10,16,19 Cooper v. Hutchinson, 184 F.2d 119 (3rd Cir., 1950)......... 12 CORE v. C. H. Douglas,___F.2d___, (5th Cir., May 15, 1963). 10 Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, ___F.2d___(5th Cir., May 24, 1963)............. 10 DeJonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S. 353....... ............ . 21 Denton v. City of Carrollton, Ga., 235 F.2d 481 (5th Cir. 1956)................... ................... 12,13 Douglas v. City of Jeannette, 319 U.S. 157 235 F.2d at ...................................... . 13,14 Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229................... 6,20 Evers v. Jackson Municipal Separate School District No.____ (S.D. Miss. 1963)..................... 6 Feiner v. New York, 340 U.S. 315................. ......... 20 Fowler v. Rhode Island, 345 U.S. 67.................. . 20 Garner v. Louisiana, 368 U.S. 157 (1961).................. 5 Gayle v. Browder, 352 U.S. 903......... ..................15,16 Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigative Committee, 342 U.S. 539.................... ............ 15 Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U.S. 339............ .......... 15 Gremillion v. NAACP, 366 U.S. 293......................... 15 Grosjean v. American Press Co., 279 U.S. 233.............. 19 Herndon v. Lowry, 301 U.S. 296..... ......................19,21 Hughes v. Superior Court, 339 U.S. 460..................... 20 ii Page Table Of Cases (Continued) Page Hurd v. Hodge, 334 U.S. 24 (1948)...... .............. 10 Jamison v. Alliance Ins. Co. of Philadelphia, 87 F.2d 253, 256 (7th Cir. 1937)........ ................ 13 Kunz v. New York 340 U.S. 299........................ 20,21 Lombard v. State of Louisiana, 31 U.S.L. Week 4476 (1963)... 20 Martin v. Struthers, 319 U.S. 141................. . 19 Meredith v. Fair, 298 F.2d 696, 701 (5th Cir., 1962)....... 5 Milk Wagon Drivers v. Meadow Moor Dairies, 321 U.S. 287........................... ................ 20 Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167............. 16 Morrison v. Davis, 252 F.2d 102, 103 (5th Cir., 1958), cert, denied, 356 U.S. 968 (1958).................. . 13 NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U.S. 458......... .................. 15,19 NAACP v. St. Louis & San Francisco Ry„ Co., 297 I.C.C. 355........................ ................ 15 Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697......... ............... 21 Nelson v. Grooms, 307 F.2d 76 (5th Cir., 1962)..... . 10 New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co., 303 U.S. 552........ ................................... • 20 People v. Barkel, 36 N.Y.S. 2d 1011 (1942)........... 20 People v. Kiernan, 26 N.Y.S. 2d 291 (1940)................ 20 Peterson v. City of Greenville, 31 U.S.L. Week 4475(1963).. 6,20 Plumbers Union v, Graham, 345 U.S. 192............ . 20 Schenck v. U.S., 249 U.S. 47................... . 19 Schneider v. State, 308 U.S. 147........................ . 21 Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 91.......... .......... 16 Sellers v. Johnson, 163 F.2d 877 (8th Cir., 1947)......... 10,19 Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1......................... 16 Shepherd v. Florida, 341 U.S. 40........................... 15 Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649.................... 15 Smith v. Apple, 264 U.S. 274..,.......... 13 Stell v. Savannab-Chatham County Board of Education, ___F.2d___ (5th Cir., May 24, 1963).... ................. 10 Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359................ «...... 19 iii Table Of Cases (Continued) Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629..... ..................... 15 Teamsters Union v. Vogt, 354 U.S. 284........ ......... 20 Thornhill v. Alabama, 310 U.S. 86. „... .................. 19,21 Toucey v. New York Life Insurance Co., 314 U.S. 118................................ ........ 12 United States v. City of Jackson, ___F.2d___, (5th Cir., May 13, 1963)........ .................... 5 United.States v. Lynd, 301 F.2d 818 (5th Cir., 1962)..... 7,9 United States v. Wood, 295 F.2d 772 (5th Cir., 1961).. 7,11,13 Watchtower and Bible Tract Society v. Dougherty, 337 Pa. 286, 11 A.2d 147............................. 20 Watson v. City of Memphis, ___U.S.____(May 27, 1963).... 10 Wells Fargo 8. Co. v. Taylor, 254 U.S. 175..... .......... 13 Woods v. Wright, ____F.2d____(May 22, 1963)............. 10 iv Page Statutes. Regulations. Rules and Other Authorities U.S.C. Sections 28 U.S.C. ,§1292(1)................................... 5,8 22 U.S.C.,§1651...................... 9,12 28 U.S.C.,§1335.............. 12 28 U.S.C.,§2283..... 11,12,13 42 U.S.C.,§1983................... 11 Mississippi Constitution Mississippi Constitution, §225...... ...... ........... 17 * ' ■ ' ' Mississippi Code, Sections Code of Mississippi, §2056.7........................... 17 Code of Mississippi, §2339................ 17 Code of Mississippi, §2351.5........................... 17 Code of Mississippi, §3499................... 17 Code of Mississippi, §4065.3............. 5,14,16,17 Code of Mississippi, §4259................ 17 Code of Mississippi, §6882..... 17 Code of Mississippi, §6883.................. 17 Code of Mississippi, §7913...... 17 Code of Mississippi, §7965,...... 17 Code of Mississippi, §7971...... 17 Code of Mississippi, §7786............. 17 Code of Mississippi, §7787.5....,........ 17 V Statutes. Regulations. Rules and Other Authorities (Continued) Page Rules F.R.C.P. 62 (9)............................... .......... 9 Other Authorities Moore, Commentary On Judicial Code..................... 12 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 20610 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE, ET AL., Appellants, v. ALLEN THOMPSON, ET AL., Appellees. BRIEF FOR APPELLANTS IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR INJUNCTION PENDING APPEAL Statement Of The Case Commencing on approximately May 28, 1963, appellants, members of their class, and supporters of equal rights for all citizens began a series of peaceful protest demonstrations protesting en forced segregation in the City of Jackson. All of their subsequent activities have been conducted in a peaceful manner. Any violations or threats have come from members of the public who disagree with their views. The officials named as defendants in Count One of the complaint, have used all the processes of law available to them, including arrests, convictions, requirement of cash bail bonds, and court actions to frustrate or prevent the registering of any expression by appellants and members of their class inconsistent with the segregation laws and policies in the State of Mississippi. Appellants have been constantly and violently threatened, intimidated, and arrested by appellees in their attempts to express their opposition to the action of Jackson police officials to maintain and enforce rigid racial segregation as provided by the laws of the State of Mississippi. On June 7, 1963, plaintiffs, Negro and white citizens of the United States, residents and non-residents of Mississippi, and a non-profit member corporation filed a verified complaint together with motion for temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction supported by affidavits in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Count One of that verified complaint is involved in this motion. The complaint reflects that city, county, and state officials of Jackson, Hinds County, and Mississippi have embarked on a program, under color of law, to enforce and maintain racial segregation in the State of Mississippi by means of unlawful arrests,, prosecutions, and convictions of appellants and the class they represent for peacefully protesting racial segregation and dis crimination in Jackson, Mississippi, in places of public accommodatiu and in the use of public facilities. The motion, originally returnable on June 7, was adjourned to June 8, on which date the appellees appeared and filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. Argument on the motion was heard on June 8, 1963, and on June 10th testimony was taken in support of appellants' motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. Immediately prior to the hearing on June 10, the appellants, named as defendants in Count One, served copies of affidavits upon counsel for appellees, which affidavits have been made a part of the record of this proceeding. In the course of the hearing, testimony was taken from Allen Thompson, Mayor of the City of Jackson, W. B. Rayfield, Chief of Police of Jackson, and J. R. Gilfoy, Sheriff of Hinds County. Chief of Police Rayfield testified that prior to May 25, 1963, arrangements had been made to hold large numbers of persons in custody. [Tr. 13], Mayor Thompson confirmed this fact • that the plans were made in anticipation of restricting rights of plaintiffs protesting racial segregation in the City of Jackson, and explained how exhibit - 2 - buildings on the county fair grounds had been accommodated for use as prison facilities as early as May 12, 1963. [Tr. 30 and 37]. Mayor Thompson testified that the "instant arrest" policy utilized by appellees to suppress and restrict appellants' rights to protest was in accordance with his instructions and his policy of "main taining law and order." [Tr. 59]. Mayor Thompson further testified that demands were made by members of the Negro community to discuss the segregation policies with him to the end of effecting their termination. [Tr. 72]. He admitted that segregation existed in Jackson in restaurants and other places of public accommodation, was vague on details of arrestsof adults and juveniles and of the disposition of the arrest but stated that all actions of the police were in accordance with his policies or instructions. [Tr. 93; 95; 61-62; 65; 96], Sheriff Gilfoy testified that part of his county personnel had been assigned to work with the Jackson police in their efforts to attenuate the peaceful protests of appellants and that county officers had assisted the Jackson police on three occasions. [Tr. 9 100]. Following the conclusion of testimony from the above three witnesses, Judge Cox reminded counsel of his intention to leave the following day for a long planned vacation, whereupon counsel for all parties agreed to submit the motion to the Court on the pleadin affidavits filed, testimony, and argument of counsel and upon con formed copies of certain proceedings in the Chancery Court of Hines County. [Tr. 108-109]. On June 6, 1963, the City of Jackson obtained a writ of injunction restraining, without hearing or notice, some of appellan and the class they represent from engaging in peaceful protests against racial discrimination and segregation, including parading, picketing, and seeking of nonsegregated service in public estab lishments, all of which were termed unlawful. No prior hearing was accorded appellants; a hearing on that temporary injunction will not be accorded before September 9, 1963. Appellants' motion to 3 dissolve or stay execution of the temporary injunction was denied by the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County on June 7, 1963, and by the Supreme Court of Mississippi on June 10, 1963. No hearing was accorded prior to determination of either motion. On June 13, 1963, appellantsfiled a petition and a motion to dissolve or to stay the execution of the temporary injunction of the Hinds County Court in the Supreme Court of the United States. The motion was denied on June 14, 1963. On June 11, 1963, Judge Harold Cox entered an order refusing the temporary injunction or a temporary restraining order and di recting appellants, at peril of their right to federal injunctive relief, to obey the ex parte temporary injunction of the Hinds County Chancery Court. The facts upon which appellants base their request for in terim relief from this Court are set forth in affidavits of the following persons filed heretofore with the Clerk of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit: appellants Willie B. Ludden; Rev. Ralph Edwin King; Doris Allison; Doris Erskine; Medgar Evers and Langston Mitchell, Jr.; Mary Lee Veal, John Clifton Young, Tommie Jean Levy, John Salter, Frankie Adams, Alphonso Lewis and those affidavits which will be presented to the Court prior to oral argu ment of this motion. On June 12, 1963, appellants filed a Notice of Appeal re questing entry of a temporary injunction pending appeal of this cnuse together with a Statement of Points and Designation of the Contents of the Record on Appeal. By order of this Court entered co. June 14, 1963, argument on the aforesaid motion was set down for June 26, 1963. 4 A R G U M E N T I THIS COURT HAS JURISDICTION TO BOTH HEAR THIS MOTION AND GRANT THE INJUNCTIVE RELIEF SOUGHT BY APPELLANTS A. The Order Of The Court Below Is Appealable Under 28 U.S.C., Section 1292(1). The failure of the court below to rule on appellants' motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, and its ruling that the state court injunction is "not void, and should be respected," constitutes an appealable order as defined in 28 U.S.C., Section 1292(1), which section gives this court jurisdiction of appeals from: "Interlocutory orders of the district courts of the United States...granting, continuing, modifying, refusing or dissolving injunctions, or refusing to dissolve or modify injunctions,..." Appellants have suffered serious violations of fundamental constitutional rights by reason of the appellees' determination to maintain segregation, and have detailed the history of incidents leading to this action in their complaint. Affidavits filed in response by appellees have not contravened these allegations, and from the record, it is clear that there is no basic dispute as to the facts. The urgency and necessity for immediate action is obvious. For a long period of time, appellants have been denied rights and privileges freely exercised by white citizens in the State of Mississippi because of the firmly fixed policy of racial segregation existing in that State. 17 Miss. Code Ann. § 4065.3; Meredith.v. Fair. 298 F.2d 696, 701 (5th Cir., 1962). Appellees have followed this policy and have defended it in the courts. See, Bailey v... Patterson. 199 F. Supp. 595 (S.D. Miss. 1961), 368 U.S. 346, 369 U.S. 31 (1962), segregated public travel facilities; Clark v. Thompson. 313 F.2d 637 (5th Cir. 1963), segregated public recre ational and library facilities; United States v. City of Jackson. ____F.2d____, (5th Cir., May 13, 1963), segregation signs in public - 5 - travel terminals; Evers v. Jackson Municipal Separate School District No._____ (S.D. Miss. 1963), segregated public schools. Now, appellants and members of their class seek by peaceful protests and demonstrations to convey publicly their strong desire that racial segregation be ended in Jackson. In response, appellees have adopted policies and practices aimed at suppressing these peaceful expressions, which policies and practices are both in 1/violation of appellants®constitutional rights, and are contributing to an increase in bitterness, racial tension and the probability of violence. Concluding that appellees intend to continue their policy of censoring all peaceful protests against racial dis crimination with arrests and harassment, and fearful that the brutal suppression of clearly constitutional rights would lead to further violence by whites and possible retaliation by Negroes, appellants sought to forestall such conflict, and turned to the federal court for relief against the policies of appellees and for vindication of their constitutional rights. In response, Judge Cox found in his order of June 11, 1963, from which appellants appeal, that there is "no crisis at hand; and no necessity or urgency for any immediate actionc" He further found that the case "is extremely complicated and involves many intricate legal facets which would entail further intensive examination and study." For these reasons, Judge Cox "ordered that this matter will be taken under advisement by the Court for study and later decision at the proper time." Since, as indicated in paragraph 7 of the appellants’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction Pending Appeal, Judge Cox will be absent 1/ earner v. Louisiana. 368 U.S. 157 (1961); Edwards v. .South Carolina. ___U.S.___, 9 L.Ed. 2d 697 (1963); PetersoQ,_y;. City of Greenville. U.S. (May 20, 1963). - 6 - on vacation for a period of three weeks from June 11, 1963, it is unlikely that further orders in this case will be forthcoming from the court below for some time. Thus, the situation here is similar to that in U.S. v. Lynd, 301 F.2d 818 (5th Cir., 1962) where Judge Cox declined either to grant or refuse a temporary injunction requested by the government in a suit to enjoin discriminatory voting practices, and granted a recess of 30 days to permit the defendants to file an answer and to prepare for proving their defensive case. This action was taken in litigation brought to remedy obvious deprivations of voting rights. Under these circumstances, as this Court indicated in U.S. v. Lvnd. supra, appellants were clearly entitled to have a ruling from the trial judge, and since he did not grant the order, his action in declining to do so was in all respects a "refusal", so as to satisfy the requirements of §1292. Cf. U.S. v. Wood. 295 F.2d 772 (5th Cir., 1961). True, in the Lvnd case, the government's motion for injunctive relief had been pending for eight months and efforts to obtain voting records had been frustrated for eleven months before that, but the decision to grant relief pending appeal appears to pivot not on the amount of time the government's motion had been pending, but on Judge Cox's failure to act affirmatively on the motion for injunctive relief. Thus, the Court concluded: Where, however, as is here the case, the plaintiff made a clear showing that rights which it sought to vindicate were being violated, and that no response or counter proof would be available for some con siderable period after these rights should have been, but had not been, taken under consideration by the trial court, the plaintiff has satisfied every requirement for the granting of temporary relief pending a final adjudication of the appeal. (301 F.2d at 823.) Here, no less than in Lvnd. relief was requested of Judge Cox to protect constitutional rights of Negroes from violation by state officials intent on maintaining racial segregation. But in addition, there is here an urgency borne out of a fear of violence that has subsequently been realized with the murder of 7 one of the plaintiffs in this cause. Judge Cox failed to give that relief in circumstances where it is urgently needed, con cluded that no crisis exists, stated that further intensive examination and study is needed, and departed for a three week vacation. A further indication that the court below*s order of June 11th effectively denies the relief requested by appellants in their motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction is found in the final paragraph. Here, Judge Cox refers to an ex parte temporary injunction obtained by appellants on June 6, 1963 from the Chancery Court of Hinds County, which injunction, without notice or opportunity to be heard, enjoined some of the appellants and other persons from a whole series of acts and practices designated by the injunction as illegal and unlawful. Appellants alleged that the ex parte injunction was one more illustration of appellees’ willingness to utilize all the powers of government to maintain racial segregation, but sought no specific relief with reference to this injunction. Judge Cox ruled however, that: The injunction issued by the state court against the plaintiffs is not void, and should be respected by the parties and their attorneys until vacated or reversed, whether it be to the liking of such parties or not; and further inquiry will be made later by this Court on that question for a determination of the status of the parties in a federal court of equity before a decree is entered here. Thus, the court below, on its own motion, engrossed the state court injunction into its order, "granting" an injunction in the terms of §1292(1), that the state court injunction was "not void" and was in fact sufficiently valid to require that it "be respected by the parties and their attorneys until vacated or reversed." To obtain compliance of its order, the court in dicated that unless the state court injunction were obeyed, "whether it be to the liking of such parties or not," the appellants' stand ing to obtain equitable relief in a federal court would be jeopardized. - 8 - Appellants submit that this action by the court below was, in the circumstances of this case, a clear abuse of his discretion of so important a nature as to fully warrant protection of appellant! rights pending a decision on this issue by this Court, U. S. v. Lvnd. supra, B. The Relief Urgently Sought By Appellants Is Well Within The Power Of This Court, The injunctive relief sought by appellants pending appeal is necessary to protect their rights during the appeal of this case, and is necessary to preserve the effectiveness of any judg ment subsequently to be entered, for unless appellees are immediately enjoined from suppressing appellants’ efforts to end racial segre gation by peaceful debate and demonstration such peaceful programs will be stifled beyond resuscitation. This court has the power to grant the injunction requested. This power is conferred by the following provisions of Title 28, United States Code, Section 1651: (a) The Supreme Court and all courts established by Act of Congress may issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law. (b) An alternative writ or rule nisi may be issued by a justice or judge ofacourt which has jurisdiction. And this power remains expressly unfettered by Rule 62(g), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides as follows: (g) POWER OF APPELLATE COURT NOT LIMITED. The provisions in this rule do not limit any power of an appellate court or of a judge or justice thereof to stay proceedings during the pendency of an appeal or to suspend, modify, restore, ot grant an injunction during the pendency of an appeal or to make any order appropriate to preserve the status quo or the effectiveness of the judgment subsequently to be entered. When this case is heard on appeal, appellants will contend that the policy of instantly arresting all persons seeking to peacefully protest against racial discrimination is violative of fundamental constitutional rights. This Court has recently acted - 9 - >to protect similar rights, CORE v. C. H. Douglas. ____F.2d (5th Cir., May 15, 1963). However, unless an injunction pending appeal is granted, appellants will be denied such rights for a long, and during a critical period in their struggle for full citizenship in Mississippi. If, as they firmly believe, appellants1 contentions are correct, they will have suffered an irreparable injury to their rights. On the other hand, appellees can hardly contend that they will suffer injury if they are required to protect and not deprive appellants of their right to protest racial discrimination. The public peace may not be maintained by depriving Negroes of their constitutional rights. Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917); Cooper v. Aaron. 358 U.S. 1 (1958); CORE v, Douglas, supra; Sellers v. Johnson, 163 F.2d 877 (8th Cir., 1947). Clearly, the public interest is involved here due to the national interest in the elimination of state enforced racial segregation, Brown v. Board of Education. 347 U.S. 483 (1954), and the elimination of racial discrimination generally, Hurd v. Hodge, 334 U.S. 24 (1948). Lengthy delay in desegregation progress is viewed with increasing disfavor by the Supreme Court, Watson v. City of Memphis. ____U.S.____ (May 27, 1963). Indeed, this Court has recently admonished lower courts to more speedily cut through delaying tactics utilized in civil rights litigation, see Nelson v. Grooms. 307 F.2d 76 (5th Cir., 1962), concurring opinion, and Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County. ____F.2d____ (5th Cir., May 24, 1963). In St ell v._ Savannah-Chatham Countv Board of Education. __ F.2d___ (5th Cir., May 24, 1963), this Court granted an injunction pending appeal from the denial of a preliminary injunction to initiate school desegre gation, citing as authority, 28 U.S.C.A., §165l(a). Citing the same section, the Chief Judge of this Court granted an injunction pending appeal in Woods v» Wright. ___F.2d___(May 22, 1963), re quiring the Birmingham Board of Education to reinstate 1,000 Negro students expelled from school for protesting racial discrimination. The rationale of these decisions is entirely appropriate here, and the urgently sought relief by appellants pending appeal should be granted. 10 - C. 28 U.S.C., Section 2283 Is No Bar To Appellants’ Requested Relief. Appellees’ utilize not only legislative and executive powers, but judicial authority via state court prosecutions to deprive appellants of their constitutional right to protest against the state enforced policy of racial segregation. Therefore, appellants' motion for a preliminary injunction pending appeal seeks to enjoin prosecution of appellants who have been arrested but not tried or convicted for participating in peaceful demonstrations against racial segregation (paragraph (h)). This relief, in the circumstances of this case, is necessary to prevent the irreparable harm which will be suffered by appellant as a result of exposure to prosecution in the State of Mississippi for defiance of the policy of enforced racial segregation, see United States v. Wood, 295 F.2d 772 (1961); Bailey v. Patterson, 199 F. Supp. 595, 612, 616 (S.D. Miss. 1961)(dissenting opinion)? Such relief is not barred by reason of 28 U.S.C., Section 2283 which provides; A court of the United States may not grant an injunction to stay proceedings in a State court except as expressly authorized by Act of Congress, or where necessary in aid of its jurisdiction, or to protect or effectuate its judgments. Appellants submit that this case, which seeks relief under the civil rights statute, 42 U.S.C., Section 1983, constitutes an exception "expressly authorized by Act of Congress,..." Section 1983 provides: Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory, subjects, or^causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or 2/ The Supreme Court refused to enjoin prosecution of the "Freedom Riders" under Mississippi’s breach-of-peace statutes because the appellants did not allege that they had been prosecuted or threatened with prosecution, and therefore lacked standing to seek such relief. Bailey v. Patterson, 368 U.S. 34 ; 369 U.S. 31 (1962). No such standing problems exist here. Each of the individual appellants have been arrested, prosecuted or face prosecution. 11 immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress. This is the view of the Third Circuit which held in Cooper v. Hutchinson, 184 F.2d 119 (3rd Cir. 1950), that an injunction could issue against a state court murder prosecution unless the defendant 3/ were permitted counsel of his choice. This Court appears in accord with the Third Circuit, for in Denton v. City of Carrollton. Ga., 235 F.2d 481 (5th Cir. 1956), the Court reversed a district court’s refusal to enjoin a municipality from bringing criminal proceedings against a union under an ordi nance requiring labor organizers to pay a license tax of $1,000 plus $100 a day thereafter. The district court had based its 3/ The first exception to 28 U.S.C., §2283 permitting injunctions where "expressly authorized by act of Congress" is expressly applicable only to one statute, the Federal Interpleader Act, 28 U.S.C., §1335, which Act specifically authorizes injunctions against state court proceedings. However, the wording of other federal statutes has been said by the courts to imply an excep tion to §2283. These cases are gathered in Toucey v. New York Life Insurance Co., 314 U.S. 118. The Civil Rights statute is an implied exception. Cooper v. Hutchinson, supra. The second exception which permits federal court injunctions "where necessary in aid of its jurisdiction" was originally intended to enact into law the theory of the "res" cases (ena bling federal courts to protect property which is the subject of a federal suit from seizure by the state). But the Section, according to Moore, Commentary on Judicial Code, p. 412, indicate that the exception provides '• sufficient flexibTlity that a federal court, as a court of equity, may mould its processes to deal adequately with the situation at hand." The third exception permitting a federal court to enjoin state proceedings "to protect or effectuate its judgmentsis intended to permit the federal courts to prevent the relitigation in state courts of rights already adjudicated in an earlier federal court decision. Moore, supra, p. 410. Appellants suggest that exceptions two and three are also appli cable to the case at bar in that the arts of appellees_complained of here deprive appellants of constitutional rights which this Court has clearly*hold they possess, because the exceptions are intended to insure that federal courts will be able to maintain control over matters in its jurisdiction. Section 2283 takes on its true prospective when, as suggested by Moore, supra, p. 407, it is read in conjunction with the all writs statute, 22 U.S.C., §1651. 12 - refusal to grant relief on 28 U.S.C., Section 2283, and the doctrine of comity. As in the instant case, a high degree of harm was threatened to appellant, and it is the measure of this prospective harm which appears as the controlling factor for entitlement to this form of relief. Thus, the Court in the Denton case, supra, found that the rule of Douglas v. City of Jeannette, 319 U.S. 157, "envisages itself the necessity, under circumstances of genuine and irretriev able damage, for affording equitable relief even though the result is to forbid criminal prosecution or other legal proceedings." 235 F.2d at 485. See also, American Optometric Ass’n. v. Ritholz, 101 F.2d 883, 887 (7th Cir. 1939); Jamison v. Alliance Ins. Co. of Philadelphia, 87 F.2d 253, 256 (7th Cir. 1937). This Court has subsequently indicated that the doctrine of comity, which is the basis for Section 2283, is not applicable in 4/ , , civil rights cases. In Morrison v. Davis, 252 F.2d 102, 103 (5th Cir. 1958), cert, denied, 356 U.S. 968 (1958), the Court said: This is not such a case as requires the withholding of federal court action for reasons of comity, since for the protection of civil rights of the kind asserted Congress has created a separate and distinct federal cause of action. * * * Whatever may be the rule as to other threatened prosecutions, the Supreme Court in a case presenting an identical factual issue affirmed the judgment of the trial court in the Browder esse [Browder v. Gayle, D.C.M.D.Ala., 142 F. Supp. 707, affirmed 1956, 352 U.S. 903, 77 S.Ct. 145, 1 L.ed. 2d 114] in which the same contention was advanced. To the extent that this is inconsistent with Douglas v. City of Jeannette, Pa., 319 U.S. 157, 63 S.Ct. 877, 87 L.ed. 1324 we must consider the earlier case modified. This language was repeated in U.S. v. Wood, 295 F.2d 772, 784 (1961) where this Court at the request of the United States, enjoined the prosecution of a Negro charged with breach of the peace as a result of voter registration activities. The Court there. finding that the prosecution would intimidate qualified Negroes from attempting to register and vote, held that Section 2283 did not bar injunction requests made by the government, and that under 4/ Section 2283 does not go to the jurisdiction of a federal court, but is an affirmation of the rules of comity, Smith v. Appfre, 264 U.S. 274; Wells Fargo & Co. v. Taylor, 254 U.S. 175. 13 the circumstances of the case, the comity rule of Douglas v. City of Jeannette, supra. was inapplicable. Judge Rives of this Court, dissenting in Bailey v. Patterson. 199 F. Supp. 595, 616 (S.D. Miss, 1961), observed that enjoining prosecutions similar to those involved here "is not so much an exception as a practical application of the Jeannette requirement of • adequacy.1" The alternative to this suit, as Judge Rives stated: ...is that a great number of individual Negroes would have to raise and protect constitutional rights through the myriad procedure of local police courts, county courts and state appellate courts, with little prospect of relief before they reach the United States Supreme Court. Appellees, moreover, are hardly on firm ground in throwing up the shield of comity as a defense against the relief sought by appellants. They have shown little respect for the decisions of federal courts invalidating racial segregation in public facilities, and indeed have been enjoined by state statute, 17 Miss. Code Ann. §4065.3: ...to prohibit by any lawful, peaceful and constitutional means, the implementation of or the compliance with the Integration Decisions of the United States Supreme Court... Appellees have assumed this obligation wholeheartedly, and without regard to either the constitutional rights of appellants and the class they represent, or the respect for the doctine of comity, which here they seek to invoke as a bar to relief made necessary by their illegal activity. In such a situation, it is appropriate, proper, and necessary that the relief sought by appellants be granted. 14 II APPELLEES, BY ENFORCING RACIAL SEGREGATION REQUIRED BY STATE LAW, HAVE ABRIDGED APPELLANTS’ CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY AND HAVE, THEREBY, CREATED AN EMERGENT SITUATION NECESSITATING INTERIM INJUNCTIVE RELIEF BY THIS COURT. Appellants seek here this Court’s aid in vindication of their constitutional right to peacefully protest the refusal of appellees and other officials of the State of Mississippi to abandon their policy of racial segregation. Each of the individual appellants have been arrested by appellees while attempting to peacefully exercise their right to protest, and some have been enjoined by a state court at the request of appellees from participating in protest demonstrations against racial segregation. The corporate appellant asserts the rights of its members, NAACP v. Alabama. 357 U.S. 458, to associate together and to advocate, in concert, their right to equal treatment under the law, their right to be free of segregation and racial discrimination and their right to espouse their convictions through litigation and all peaceful means. Bates v. Little Rock, 361 U.S. 516; Gremillion v. NAACP. 366 U.S. 293; NAACP v. Button. 371 U.S. 415; Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigative Committee. 342 U.S. 539. It represents its members, supporters and like-minded people, and seeks in this action to end racial intolerance and discrimination rampant in the State of Mississippi, and obtain judicial relief from the onerous sanctions of the State which restrict activity to secure 6/ rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. 5/ Appellant National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is a non-profit membership corporation of the State of New York that functions through chartered unincorporated affiliates designated as branches. Its aims and purposes are to eliminate racial discrimination and segregation from the pattern of American life through peaceful and lawful means. 6/ The corporate appellant has, through litigation, vindicated the rights of Negroes to vote, Smith v. Allwright. 321 U.S. 649, Gomillion v. Lightfoot. 364 U.S. 339; to equal educational oppor tunities, Brown v. Board of Education. 347 U.S. 483, Sweatt v. Painter. 339 U.S. 629; to serve on grand and petit juries, Shepherd v. Florida, 341 U.S. 40; and to unsegregated interstate travel, NAACP v. St. Louis & San Francisco Rv. Co.. 297 I.C.C. 335; and intrastate travel, Browder v. Gayle. 352 U.S. 903. 15 - A. Consistent With State Policy, Appellees Have Violated Appellants' Constitutional Rights By The Enforcement Of Racial Segregation. It is now settled that state action which enforces racial segregation offends the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment whether accomplished through the judiciary, Shelley v. Kraemer. 334 U.S. 1; the executive and administrative arm, Monroe v. Pape. 365 U.S. 167; Screws v. United States. 325 U.S. 91; or the legislature, Gayle v- Browder. 352 U.S. 903. Racial discrimination can bear no rational relationship to any permissable governmental functions, and its enforcement by governmental officials, therefore, violates the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Cooper v. Aaron. 358 U.S. 1, and the Fifth Amendment, Bolling v. Sharpe. 347 U.S. 497. This constitutional proscription extends to the use of trespass and breach of the peace laws to maintain segregation and to the enforcement of ordinances to render con stitutionally protected peaceful protests "crimes." But, despite the United States Constitution, decisions of the United States Supreme Court, and decisions of this Court, the laws of Mississippi requiring and compelling racial segregation are affirmatively and aggressively maintained. The Mis sissippi policy of defiance is accurately reflected in § 4065.3 of the Mississippi Code of 1942, Ann., which directs the entire executive branch of government of the State of Mississippi, and all of its sub-divisions, and all persons responsible thereto in state and local government, to prohibit compliance with the "Integration Decisions of the United States Supreme Court" of May 17, 1954 (347 U.S. 483) and of May 31, 1955 (349 U.S. 294) to prohibit integration of Negroes and whites in all public places of amusement, recreation or assembly according to the Resolution of Interposition, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 125, adopted by the Mississippi Legislature on February 29, 1956. This section further promises that the statute itself shall be a defense to any civil or criminal suit brought against state officers or agents by any person or by the Federal Government of the United States. The trespass statute employed to 16 - effect arrests, §2409.7, Mississippi Code of 1942 Ann., is one of the "segregation laws: adopted in 1956 as a part of a program of resistance to the desegregation decision in Brown v. Board of Education. 347 U.S. 483, and as reaffirmation of racial segregation as part of the law, customs and policies of Mississippi. Segregation is required by Mississippi Constitution, §225; and by the following sections of the Code of Mississippi: §7786 (segregation of races on streetcars and buses); §§ 4259, 7913, 7965, 7971 (segregation of races in prisons); §§ 6882, 6883 (separate mental wards); §2351.5 (separate rest rooms in railroad and bus station waiting rooms for interstate passengers); §2056(7) (punishes any conspiracy to violate the segregation laws of the state); §3499 (unlawful for taxicabs to transport whites and Negroes together); §7787.5 (requires construction of separate waiting rooms by all common carriers for intrastate passengers); §2339 (misdemeanor to publish or advocate the social equality of the races); §4065.3 (requires all state officers to utilize their office to maintain segregation of the races.) Although couched in innocuous terms, application of the ordinances and statutes to appellants and to the members of the class they represent under the circumstances of this case, effectuate segregation. The arresting officers are public officials of the State of Mississippi purporting to act within the scope of their authority. Although the Fourteenth Amendment erects no shield against private discrimination, by making the arrests complained of by appellants, officials of the State have interposed themselves between private prejudice and actual suppression of constitutional rights, and have thereby, become the agent whereby racial segregation is enforced. Thus is the proscription of the equal protection clause offended. In the course of his testimony, Mayor Thompson testified that the City of Jackson would "protect" the "right" of places of public accommodation to discriminate against Negro patrons [Tr. 67]. 17 Adherence to historical patterns of segregation established by the state cannot be dismissed as private discrimination or obedience to custom unrelated to the State. Although segregation laws may no longer be enforced, as such, the policies they dictate are compelled by arrests, by the statements of intention to perpetua segregation by the Governor of Mississippi and by prosecution and convictions for breach of the peace, parading without a permit and similar apparently innocuous laws achieved through a cooperative judiciary. Absent these factors, proprietors of places of public accommodation have no material private interest in the maintenance of segregation. It is the power of the State which supports these customs, enunciates policy and in fine, fosters and enforces segregation of the races. 18 c r B. Appellants’ Protest Activities Are Protected By Their Constitutional Right of Freedom Of Expression and Assembly Appellants seek to protect from interference by appellee authorities, those activities delineated in paragraph 6 a,b,c, and d of the verified complaint which include peaceful picketing, requests for service at lunch counters and restaurants, orderly protest processions and public prayer services, all of which may be characterized as public protests against the customs, practices, and laws compelling racial segregation in Jackson, Mississippi, All of these activities are embraced within constitutionally pro tected rights to freedom of speech, to freedom of assembly or to petition for redress of grievances. Appellants espouse a lawful cause. Their picketing was peaceful, their requests for service, orderly, their protest procession without violence or interference with municipal func tions, and their public prayer, tranquil. Neither violence nor interruption of the public peace can be attributed to appellants. The fundamental rights guaranteed by the First Amendment include peaceful picketing, Thornhill v, Alabama. 310 U.S. 86, dis seminate m of handbills, Martin v. Struthers. 319 U.S. 141, group rights to associate, NAACP v. A labama, supra. and to advocate dissident views Bates v. Little Rock, supra . solicitation of political allies, Herndon y, Lowry. 301 U.S. 242, freedom to proselytise, Cantwell v. Connecticut. 310 U.S. 296, unrestrained publication, Grosjean v. American Press Co.. 279 U.S. 233, and silent displays of personal convictions, Stromberq v, California. 283 U.S. 359. The stateb power to limit freedom of expression must be exercised within the "clear and present danger of substantive evil" doctrine, Schenck v. U.S.. 249 U.S. 47, Protest against municipal and state racial segregation policies is not within the "substan tive evil" which the state may suppress. Cooper v, Aaron, 358 u*s * 1; Sellers v. Johnson, 163 F„2d 877 (8th Cir. 1957). There 19 - is absent, in the circumstances before this Court, any clear and present danger of riot or disturbance which would invite preventive action on the part of the City of Jackson. Compare, Edwards v. South Carolina. 372 U.S. 229 and Feiner v. New York. 340 U.S. 315. Within the rational of these cases and of well-settled law, falls the right of appellants to peacefully picket places of public accommodation and to carry placards protesting the exclu sion of Negroes, People v. Kiernan. 26 N.Y.S. 2d 291 (1940); People v. Barkel. 36 N.Y.S. 2d 1011 (1942); Milk Wagon Drivers v. Meadow Moor Dairies. 321 U.S. 287; Plumbers Union v„ Graham. 345 U.S. 192; Hughes v. Superior Court. 339 U.S. 460; Teamsters Union v. Vogt. 354 U.S. 284; Watchtower and Bible Tract Society v. Dougherty. 337 Pa. 286, 11 A. 2d 147; New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co.. 303 U.S. 552; the right to participate in orderly protest marches and to carry signs advocating the end of racial segregation, Edwards v„ South Carolina, supra; the right to enter places of public accomodation to request food service on a racially integrated basis and to remain on the premises follow ing a refusal of service to silently protest segregation; Peterson v._City of Greenville, 31 U.S.L, Week 4475 (1963); Lombard v. State of Louisiana. 31 U.S.L. Week 4476 (1963); and the right to participate in orderly public prayer services as a means of ex pressing their dissatisfaction with a segregated social order. Fowler v. Rhode Island. 345 U.S. 67; Kunz v. New York, 340 U.S. 299, cf, Edwards v. South Carolina, supra. The record reflects that on May 13, 1963, approximately three weeks prior to and in anticipation of the commencement of protests by appellants and the class they represent, appellees converted exhibit buildings on the county fairgrounds into addi tional prison facilities. Immediately upon their appearance on public streets to exercise their right to freedom of expression, appellees and their agents abruptly quelled the attempts of appellants and members of their class to communicate and publicize 20 their discontent with enforced segregation in Jackson and in Mississippi by arrest and incarceration. After instituting this program whereby the right of free speech was effectively abolished, appellees proudly denominated it as "instant arrest." The "instant arrest" policy of the Jackson police belies any motivation other than to intimidate and extinguish attempts of Negro citizens to disagree openly with practices of segregation,, Although First Amendment rights may be balanced against legitimate interests of the State, these rights become absolute when weighed against the state’s attempts to maintain a segregated way of life. "A State may not unduly suppress free communication of views... under the guise of conserving desirable conditions." Cantwell y. Connecticut, supra. The arrests in the instant case cannot escape the condemnation meted out to legislation in Thornhill v..Alabama. supra; Schneider v» State f wsaim J1 Kunz v. New York, 340 U.S. 290. They constitute an invalid prior restraint upon the exercise of freedom of expression and assembly guaranteed by the constitution. Near v. Minnesota. 283 U.S. 697; Herndon v. Lowry, supra: DeJonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S. 353. 21 C. The Urgent Relief Sought By Appellants Is Justified By The Circumstances Of This Case. Events, since the desegregation decision of 1954, have shown that when the officials or executive officers of a state act in arrogant disregard of the law, there is evoked on the part of the populace, violently aggressive acts of hostility to any change in the social order to which they have become conditioned. Conversely, in those instances where the state has acted responsibly, in com pliance with the law, orderly changeovers have been effected and accepted by the public. Appellees and other officials of the State of Mississippi have failed to follow or to initiate compliance with the desegre gation decisions of the courts, have actively dexied tnese decisions and have formulated and effectuated policies purposed to stifle even peaceful expressions of opposition to racial segregation. The Negro in Mississippi has endured racial segregation and discriminate r although those practices have been declared to be unconstitutional. Appellees, through arrests, harassment and intimidation, have sought to and have succeeded in suppressing even the right of the Negro to object to his political and social servitude. Abdication of appellee authorities from enforcement of the law has created a climate of lawlessness which has already resulted in the murder of one of the plaintiffs and which will continue unless this Court acts to restrain and enjoin appellees abuse of criminal and civil process. It is incumbent upon this Court to weigh preservation of appellants’ constitutionally protected rights in an emergent situ ation against the interest of the state in preserving and protecting an unlawful social order by violent, threatening and intimidating harassment which creates that emergency. The daily attrition of appellants’ fundamental rights is coerced by the use of state power to quench peaceful pretests against racial segregation. Whereas appellants will be amenable to state process following determination of an appeal on the merits, appellants' rig’nt to protest, stifled today, cannot be recovered tomorrow. Whereas the state sustains no injury through cessation of the arrests and prosecution* Inflicted 22 - on appellants, the impairment of their rights and the burden cast upon them through use of the civil and criminal process of the state is irremediable. A temporary injunction is essential to the preser vation of clear, settled fundamental rights of appellants and to an end to the critical period of violence and suppression precipitated by state authorities. Appellees have summoned all available means to maintain rigid racial segregation in the City of Jackson, the State of Mississippi. They have adopted laws which convert attempts of Negroes to eliminate segregation into crimes and have prosecuted those "criminal" activities. They have instituted and pursued a policy of "instant arrest" to suppress appellants’ constitutionally protected right to protest segregation. They have utilized the criminal machinery of the State to penalize advocation of equal rights for Negroes. In short, they have perverted the orderly forces of law and order and converted them into weapons for the suppression of constitutional rights and the enforcement of an archaic and unlawful social order. They have abrogated the right to be free of racial segregation by the abridgement of the right to speak, to inform and to protest and have done severe violence and damage to the United States Constitution from which flows those inalienable rights guaranteed by the founders of this country to all peoples without regard to the color of their skin. They have, by oppression and tactics of terror, produced an atmosphere of suppression of human rights worthy of the dark ages. Appellants seek no more than that which has been promised and guaranteed to them for the last hundred years. They seek, from this Court, the only available remedy which will vindicate and preserve their fundamental rights. 23 - Conclusion For the reasons advanced herein, it is respectfully submitted that, pending appeal of this cause, appellees be temporarily enjoined from abrogating appellants' constitutional rights in order to enforce racial segregation in Jackson, Mississippi. Respectfully submitted, Jack H, Young Carsie A. Hail 115^ North Farish Street Jackson, Mississippi Robert L. Carter Barbara A. Morris 20 West 40th Street New York 18, New York R. Jess Brown 125^ North Farish Street Jackson, Mississippi Jack Greenberg Leroy D. Clark Derrick A. Bell 10 Columbus Circle New York 19, New York Frank D. Reeves 508 Fifth Street, N. W. Washington 1, D. C. William R. Ming, Jr. 123 West Madison Street Chicago, Illinois Attorneys for Appellants By: Dated: June 24, 1963. 24