FLA. U. Case Hits Supreme Court 3D Time

    PRESS petease ® @ 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 
107 WEST 43 STREET *« NEW YORK 36, N. Y. © JUdson 6-8397 
ARTHUR B. SPINGARN oa THURGOOD MARSHALL President Director and Counsel 
ROY WILKINS ROBERT L. CARTER Secretary Assistant Counsel 
ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS ARNOLD de MILLE Treasurer Press Relations 

FLA. U. CASE HITS 
SUPREME COURT 3D TIME January 19, 1956 

WASH,, D.C.--The U. S. Supreme Court was asked last week to review 

the judgment of the Florida Supreme Court which refused to order the 

state University to admit a Negro student to its law school without 

further delay. This is the third time in almost 7 years of litigation 

that the judgment of the Florida state court, which denied immediate 

admission of the Negro student, was brought before the high Court for 

review, 

On May 24, 1954 the Supreme Court instructed the Florida court to 

reconsider, in the light of the decision in the school segregation 

cases, the ruling which denied the Negro student, Virgil D. Hawkins, 

immediate admittance to the state supported law school because of his 

race. 

The Florida court admitted that it was bound by the U. S. Supreme 

Court May 1954 decision but on October 19, 1955 ruled that to sdmit 

Negro students to the state University would "present grave and serious 

problems." It appointed a commissioner to determine when and under 

what circumstances Negro students should be admitted to the University. 

The commissioner was instructed by the court to report his find- 

ings within | months. Despite the fact that there were no known hear- 

ings or proceedings held by the commissioner, the Florida Board of 

Control on January 12, 1956 asked the court to extend until July 2, 

1956 as the date for the commissioner to make his report -- 2 years 

after the U. S. Supreme Court instructed the Florida State court to 

reconsider its decision to admit the Negro student, 

The request to have the Florida Supreme Court's October 19, 1955 

ruling reviewed was made in a petition filed here Friday in behalf of 

Hawkins by NAACP Legal Defense and iiducational Fund attorneys Thurgood 

Marshall, director-counsel of Legal Defense, Robert L. Carter, his 

assistant, both of New York and Horace Hill of Daytona Beach, Fla, 



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The judgment of the Florida state supreme court was based on the 

May 31, 1955 implementation order, which granted time for desegrega- 

tion in elementary and secondary schools, rather than the May 17, 195) 

decision as instructed by the high Court, the attorneys for Hawkins 

argue. 

Almost 7 years have elapsed since Hawkins first applied for admis- 

sion to the University and the action of the Florida court subjects 

Hawkins to "irreparable injury." Further delay in keeping him out of 

the University "could well effectively deprive him completely of his 

constitutional rights," the attorneys complain, 

Counsel assisting in the case are William Taylor and Elwood H, 

Chisolm, both of the Legal Defense staff in New York. 

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