#james orange

[todaysdocument]

Response of Martin Luther King, Jr., to allegations by the city of Memphis, TN, that he and others were engaged in a conspiracy to incite riots or breaches of the peace, April 4, 1968. 

“The defendants are not presently and have never been engaged in any conspiracies as alleged in the complaint.”

Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States

Series: Civil Cases

File Unit: City of Memphis vs Martin Luther King, Jr., et. al., Civil C-68-80

Transcription: 

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE WESTERN DIVISION

CITY OF MEMPHIS,

A Municipal Corporation,

Complainant

VS

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.,                              NO. C-68-80

HOSEA WILLIAMS, REVEREND

JAMES BEVEL, REVEREND JAMES

ORANGE, RALPH D. ABERNATHY and

BERNARD LEE, all non-residents

of the State of Tennessee

Defendants

ANSWER

  The defendants deny each and every allegation of the complainant except as follows:

  The defendant Martin Luther King, Jr. and members of his staff were invited by local ministers to participate in a march held on March 28, 1967. Said march was held under the supervision of local ministers and the responsibility for planning and supervision to maintain order did not rest with these defendants.

  The defendant King at the urgent request of local

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march leaders did leave the scene of disorder. At the same time, local leaders made immediate and successful efforts to turn the march back.

  The defendants have organized and conducted in many communities utilizing the principals of non-violence numerous marches, none of which have resulted in civil disturbance. The defendants are not presently and have never been engaged in any conspiracies as alleged in the complaint. Defendants have in no way in their private or public statements sponsored, fermented, encouraged and incited riots, mobs or breaches of the peace as alleged in the complaint.

  Defendants further state that they have never refused to furnish information concerning marches or plans as such information became available; that in fact said information has been furnished on a continuing basis to local law enforcement officers; that there is no statute or ordinance requiring the issuance of a parade or march permit by police authorities. However, to the extent that there is any custom or practice of submitting plans for parades or marches to police officials for discussion and review, the defendants have and will continue to do so as soon as practical after said plans have been made.

  The defendants utilizing their experience have undertaken the following general steps to insure that the march will be non-violent and under control at all times. Limitations will be placed on the number of marchers in each line; parade marshals will be carefully selected and given training in their duties; liaison will be maintained with local law enforcement officers

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and the necessary protection and assistance will be requested; all groups in the community have been contacted to insure the parties in the march will participate on a non-violent basis; a route has been tentatively selected, together with tentative starting and ending times for the march and other necessary organizational steps have been and are continuing to be taken to insure a peaceful march. Steps have further been taken to prohibit the use of signs affixed to sticks or any other object which might be utilized in an improper manner.

  Defendant, Martin Luther King, Jr., further states that he has on numerous other occasions received threats or been informed of threats received by others concerning his personal safety; that while all due precautions have been taken, there have been no difficulties encountered as a result of such threats.

  Defendants respectfully request that the application for injunction should be denied or in the alternative that the Court permit the march to be held under such reasonable restrictions as may be necessary giving due regard to the defendants and their First Amendment rights.

OF COUNSEL:

JACK GREENBERG

MEL ZAR

10 Columbus Circle

New York, New York

LUCIUS E. BURCH, JR.

LOUIS R. LUCAS

WALTER BAILEY

W. J. MICHAEL CODY

DAVID E. CAYWOOD

CHARLES F. NEWMAN

[corsairpsc-blog]

Celebrate Black History Month! Public Figure Profile: Jimmie Lee Jackson

Born: December 16, 1938

Died: February 26, 1965

Jimmie Lee was born in Marion, Alabama. Father of one daughter, he was a Vietnam Veteran and a deacon at his church. Jackson tried several times to register to vote, but he was repeatedly blocked the unfair obstacles many blacks faced when it came to registering.

On February 18th, 1965 Jackson ,along with his mother and grandfather, took part in a night march to protest the arrest of civil right’s leader, James Orange. The march was met with violent opposition from segregationists and police officers.

Jackson and his family ran to Mack’s Cafe, but the police caught up with them. An officer by the name of James  Fowler shot Jimmie Lee in the stomach, claiming he thought he was reaching for a gun. Fowler apologized for killing him but maintained that it was in self defense, until 2007 when he was finally charged with the murder. He pleaded to manslaughter and served 6 months. He was also investigated for the killing of another black man, by the name of Nathan Fowler in 1966.

Jackson’s death inspired the Selma to Montgomery march which led to the passing of the Voting Rights Bill. He’s known as a Martyr to the civil right’s movement.

[stephanbroadus]

Jimmie Lee Jackson inspired Selma march

Jimmie Lee Jackson inspired Selma march

GEORGE CURRY

(NNPA)—Although Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis captured the headlines, it was the death of 26-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson that inspired the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery March.

After fighting in the Vietnam War, Jackson had returned home to Marion, Ala., which also happens to be the birthplace of Coretta Scott King, about 30 miles northwest of Selma in the soil-rich Black Belt…

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[gregorygalloway]

On 18 Feb. 1965, about 500 protesters marched to the Perry County Jail in Selma, AL to show support for the civil-rights worker James Orange, who had been arrested.  The protesters were met by Alabama State Troopers, who attacked the crowd.  26-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot twice in the stomach and then beaten as he tried to protect his mother and 82-year-old grandfather from being attacked.  Jimmie Lee Jackson died in the hospital on 26 Feb. 1965, and was the inspiration for the organized march from Selma to Montgomery on 7 March 1965.  They never made it out of Selma.

As 600 marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams, they were also attacked and beaten by Alabama State Troopers. Protesters were chased back into their neighborhoods where the beatings continued. An elderly woman was clubbed on the steps of her church.  John Lewis had his skull fractured.

The march finally took place two weeks later.  After it was over, a white mother of five from Detroit, Viola Liuzzo, was driving one of the marchers home to Selma. A car of Klansmen pulled up beside her and shot her in the face.  Viola Liuzzo was the third person to die in the days surrounding “Bloody Sunday.”

At the heart of these protests and marches were voting rights.  Since the Civil War, Southern elections officials had created a maze of voting obstacles for people of color. Making blacks pay a fee to vote was one. And there were tests given only to black voters to assure they were smart enough to cast a ballot — a test often administered by illiterate white election officials. If the initial questions were answered correctly, there might be additional questions: How many bubbles on a bar of soap? How deep is depth? How many grains of sand on the Gulf Shores beaches?

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was introduced to Congress on 17 March 1965, which was designed to enforce the rights expressly given by 14th and 15th Amendments of the Constitution, and forbade practices like literacy tests (which was challenged and finally upheld by the Supreme Court in 1970). Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC) predicted that the Act would lead to "despotism and tyranny," while Senator Sam Ervin (D-NC) argued that the bill was unconstitutional.  It was signed into law on 2 July 1965.