NAACP v. Thompson

• Decision Date: 20 April 1966
• Docket Number: No. 21741.,21741.
• Citation: 357 F.2d 831
• Parties: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR the ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE et al., Appellants, v. Allen THOMPSON, Mayor of the City of Jackson, Mississippi, et al., Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

357 F.2d 831 (1966)

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR the ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE et al., Appellants, v. Allen THOMPSON, Mayor of the City of Jackson, Mississippi, et al., Appellees.

No. 21741.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

March 8, 1966.

Rehearing Denied April 20, 1966.

Barbara A. Morris, Derrick A. Bell, Jr., New York City, R. Jess Brown, Jack H. Young, Carsie A. Hall, Jackson, Miss., Robert Carter, Jack Greenberg, Leroy D. Clark, New York City, William R. Ming, Jr., Chicago, Ill., Frank D. Reeves, Washington, D. C., for appellants.

Martin R. McLendon, Asst. Atty. Gen., Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., E. W. Stennett, City Atty., Thomas H. Watkins, J. A. Travis, Jr., Robert G. Nichols, Jr., Jackson, Miss., for appellees.

Before WHITAKER, Senior Judge,^* and WISDOM and THORNBERRY, Circuit Judges.

Rehearing Denied in Court II April 20, 1966.

WHITAKER, Senior Judge:

This is an action brought in two counts by the corporate plaintiff, a New York corporation, and several individuals, some residing without and some within the State of Mississippi, against various State, county and city officials of the State of Mississippi. In the first count, brought on behalf of the named plaintiffs and those similarly situated, they seek to enjoin the Mayor of the city of Jackson, Mississippi, the City Commissioners, the Chief of Police, the City Prosecuting Attorney, the Commissioner of the State Highway Patrol, the Sheriff of the County in which the city of Jackson is located, and others, from interfering with the free exercise of their civil rights under the Constitution of the United States and certain laws enacted in pursuance thereof. In the second count, they seek a mandatory injunction against the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State of Mississippi to require them to permit the corporate plaintiff to domesticate in order to do business in the State of Mississippi.

A court of the United States, quite properly, is loathe to interfere in the internal affairs of a State. The sovereignty of the States, within the boundaries reserved to them by the Constitution, is one of the keystones upon which our government was founded and is of vital importance to its preservation. But in Clause 2 of Article VI of the Constitution of the United States it is provided:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

Hence, any State law, which is in conflict with the United States Constitution or a law enacted by Congress in pursuance thereof, cannot be enforced. Nor can a valid State law be applied in a way to thwart the exercise of a right guaranteed by the Constitution and laws enacted by Congress in pursuance thereof.

So, where it is alleged that certain State laws do so conflict or are being utilized, not for legitimate State purposes, but as an expedient to deprive plaintiffs of the rights guaranteed them by the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Congress enacted under the authority thereof, a court of the United States must entertain the suit and, if the allegations are proven, and injunctive relief appears to be required, it must issue the injunction.

We are of opinion, from a study of the District Court's findings and opinion and of the entire record, that some of the defendants, on a number of occasions, did pervert laws of the State and ordinances of the city from their rightful usage and did use them to deny to plaintiffs rights to which they were entitled under the Constitution and laws of the United States. On the other hand, we are also of the opinion that on many occasions valid State laws and municipal ordinances, enacted for the public safety and convenience, were violated by plaintiffs and that their violation was unnecessary for the full enjoyment of their rights under the Constitution and laws of the United States. The enforcement of these State laws and municipal ordinances on these occasions was a legitimate exercise of the police power of the State. Plaintiffs could not transgress valid State laws or municipal ordinances, enacted and enforced in the exercise of legitimate purposes of the State, in the assertion of rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States, if they could assert these rights and still respect the State law. On many occasions they did not have to disregard State law or municipal ordinance to assert their Constitutional rights. See Cox v. State of Louisiana, 379 U.S. 536, at 554, 85 S.Ct. 453, 13 L.Ed.2d 471, and Cox v. State of Louisiana, 379 U.S. 559, at 562 and 563, 85 S.Ct. 476, 13 L.Ed. 2d 487 (1965), and numerous cases there cited.

In the first count of their petition plaintiffs say that since May 27, 1963, they have protested defendants' asserted policy of racial discrimination by (1) picketing places of public accommodation and entering them and demanding service, and when it was refused, by remaining on the premises; (2) by walking along the public streets carrying placards, but not blocking the streets or sidewalks; (3) by praying on the steps of public buildings, but not in a way to deny ingress or egress thereto, and that the defendants, in an effort to break up these demonstrations, have assaulted them, doing them serious bodily harm, and arrested hundreds of them on charges of breach of the peace, restraint of trade, trespass, obstructing traffic, and parading without a license, and requiring them to be tried separately and to post bonds ranging from $100 to $1,000 and sentencing them to pay maximum fines. They allege that they "desire, and intend, to continue to protest against the illegal use of state power by the defendants" and that "the defendants threaten to continue to harass, intimidate, threaten, and otherwise deny to the plaintiffs the right of peaceful assembly, the right of freedom of speech and of association * * *." Therefore, they pray that defendants be enjoined from preventing them from peacefully and publicly protesting racial segregation in conformity with lawful rules and regulations of the State and municipality.

In the second count plaintiffs allege that the corporate plaintiff has taken all steps, which are enumerated, requisite for domestication in the State of Mississippi, but that its application has not been granted because plaintiff's chief objective is to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination in Mississippi and elsewhere in the United States, and to assist its members and others of the Negro race to protest against such discrimination in various and sundry ways. Wherefore it prays that a mandatory injunction issue against the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State to require them to license plaintiff corporation to do business within the State, and for other relief.

In their answers defendants denied all material allegations of the petition.

Thereafter, the case was tried on oral testimony and the affidavits filed pro and con the motion for a restraining order. The District Judge made findings of fact and a conclusion of law, upon the basis of which he dismissed the complaint. He found that on a number of occasions plaintiffs had violated State law and city ordinances in registering their protests against racial discrimination and were arrested and prosecuted therefor; but that some of the plaintiffs had been wrongfully arrested. There is evidence to support these findings, but his findings are quite brief and fail to disclose the course of conduct followed by defendants and by plaintiffs. We think this necessitates a review of the whole record and a brief summary of the credible evidence, although this means extending the length of this opinion much beyond what we like.

For years prior to 1963, the Negro community in the city of Jackson, Mississippi, had grown more and more restive under the policy of racial segregation and discrimination prevailing in that city. Aided and abetted by civil rights organizations and other white and Negro people from within and without the State of Mississippi, they organized what became known as the "Jackson Movement." Its aim was to register the protest of the Negroes against discrimination and to secure for them the equal civil rights to which they thought they were entitled.

In the spring of 1963 Negro citizens, including representatives of several "civil rights" organizations, approached the Mayor of Jackson, Allen Thompson, concerning the formation of a bi-racial committee to negotiate a settlement of grievances of the Negroes in the city of Jackson. When it became apparent that efforts to obtain the formation of a bi-racial committee were doomed to failure, and since it was thought that plaintiffs could not adequately register their grievances through the conventional mediums of the newspapers, radio and television, they decided to, and did, encourage members of the Negro community to participate in boycotting merchants discriminating against them, in picketing, mass meetings, protest marches, and public prayer sessions. These protests and the response of city officials to them are described below.

Appellants urged Negroes in Jackson not to patronize businesses where they were not hired, where they could not be served at lunch counters, where they were not allowed to use restroom facilities, or where they were not addressed with the courtesy titles of Mr., Mrs., or Miss. They were urged to support the campaign by telephone calls, handbills, door-to-door canvassing, and speeches at mass meetings. In addition, efforts were made to picket business establishments on Capitol Street, Jackson's main shopping area, which appellants felt had policies of racial discrimination. The following are...