Meredith v. Fair

• Citation: 202 F. Supp. 224
• Decision Date: 03 February 1962
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 3130.
• Parties: James Howard MEREDITH v. Charles Dickson FAIR et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi

202 F. Supp. 224

James Howard MEREDITH v. Charles Dickson FAIR et al.

Civ. A. No. 3130.

United States District Court S. D. Mississippi, Jackson Division.

February 3, 1962.

Constance Baker Motley, Derrick A. Bell, New York City, R. Jess Brown, Vicksburg, Miss., for plaintiff.

Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., Ed Cates, Asst. Atty. Gen., Charles Clark, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendants.

MIZE, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff, James Howard Meredith, is a member of the Negro race and a citizen of Mississippi. He filed this suit against the members of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions, the Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and the Registrar of the University. He alleged that he sought admission to the University of Mississippi as a resident, under-graduate, transfer student to that Institution and that he was denied admission solely because of his race. The complaint was answered by the Defendants, denying that he was refused admission solely because of his race. A motion for preliminary injunction was filed and a full and complete hearing upon the motion for the preliminary injunction to enjoin the Defendants from refusing to admit him was had by the Court and on December 12, 1961 his motion for preliminary injunction was denied and the Court set the case for final hearing on January 15, 1962. After fully hearing all the evidence and considering the record on the motion for a preliminary injunction the Court held that the Plaintiff was not denied admission because of his race. The Plaintiff filed his notice of appeal from that judgment on December 14, 1961 to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which appeal was heard on January 9, 1962 and the opinion rendered by the Court of Appeals on January 12, 1962, 298 F.2d 696, affirming the judgment of the District Court, and the Court of Appeals denied the motion of the Plaintiff to order the District Court to enter a preliminary injunction in time to secure the Plaintiff's admission to the February 6 term of the University.

The statement of the pleadings and the background of the facts leading up to the filing of the suit are contained in the opinion of the District Court which was filed on December 12, 1961 and which is reported in 199 F.Supp. 754.

The only question now posed for decision is whether or not the Plaintiff was denied admission to the University of Mississippi solely because of his race or color and only a question of fact appears for determination.

After the Mandate came down from the Court of Appeals a hearing of the controversy was begun in the District Court on the final merits on the 17th of January and was concluded on the 27th of January, and after oral argument was submitted to the Court for decision. During this hearing many additional witnesses testified, principally the parties to the suit, and in addition thereto all the testimony that was given on the hearing for the preliminary injunction was introduced into evidence along with all of the exhibits, and several questions of law relative to procedure were raised.

The Plaintiff obtained a subpoena duces tecum addressed to the Registrar of the University to bring with him certain records pertaining to the admission and denial of all the transfer students from the summer term to the date of the trial. The Defendants moved to quash the subpoena duces tecum, which was overruled, and the Plaintiff moved for an inspection of the documents to be produced under the subpoena duces tecum before placing the Registrar on the witness stand. The Defendants objected to this procedure on the ground that the only way Plaintiff could obtain inspection of the documents was by motion under Rule 34, showing good cause for the inspection and production. The Court overruled this objection and stated that in this particular instance it was permissible to look through the shell of the subpoena to bring with him the documents and go to the substance and that rather than delay the trial to permit a motion under Rule 34, the Court would require the Registrar to bring the applications and all correspondence pertaining thereto with reference to all students from the summer school up to the date of the trial, and would permit the Plaintiff to inspect those documents without making a motion under Rule 34, for the reason that it was apparent that there was sufficient good cause appearing that the Plaintiff would be entitled to inspect the documents with reference to transfer students situated as was the Plaintiff. Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A., of course, requires that when one is in possession of documents that are material to the issues in a lawsuit, he may be required to produce them on motion and on showing of good cause, but in this particular case it was proper and not error for the Court to rule as it did. Plaintiff alleges and contends that he was denied admission solely because of his race. Defendants categorically deny that he was denied admission because of his race and aver that his race had no bearing at all on the rejection of his application for admission.

As held on the hearing on motion for preliminary injunction, the evidence overwhelmingly showed that the Plaintiff was not denied admission because of his race. The Plaintiff, during this hearing on the merits, called as adverse witnesses nearly every member of the Board of Trustees, who testified unequivocally and definitely that at no time had the question of the race of a party ever been discussed at a meeting of the Board of Trustees or at any other place and that so far as the members of the Board of Trustees was concerned, all policies and regulations were adopted and followed without regard to race, creed or color, and that at no time was the application of James Meredith, the Plaintiff, ever discussed by any members of the Board of Trustees. The Registrar, who also had testified on the motion for preliminary injunction, again testified to the effect that the question of the race of the Plaintiff was not discussed or considered in any way whatsoever when his application for admission to the University was being considered. All of the other officials of the University testified to substantially the same thing. One member of the Board of Trustees was not used, in addition to a few members who were not called because of ill health.

The effect of this additional testimony heard during the trial on the final merits strengthens the former finding of the Court that the Plaintiff was not denied admission because of his race, rather than weakens it.

The proof shows on this trial, and I find as a fact, that there is no custom or policy now, nor was there any at the time Plaintiff's application was rejected, which excluded qualified Negroes from entering the University. The proof shows, and I find as a fact, that the University is not a racially segregated institution. Prior to the decision in the case of Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka et al., 347 U.S. 483, 74...