United States v. Association of Citizens Councils of La.

• Decision Date: 21 August 1961
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 7881.
• Citation: 196 F. Supp. 908
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. ASSOCIATION OF CITIZENS COUNCILS OF LOUISIANA, Inc., the Citizens Council of Arcadia, Louisiana, Inc., the Citizens Council of Gibsland, Louisiana, Inc., Jerry Rougon Butler, John Alexander Bridges, Walter Leonard Dance, Forrest Riley McCallister, Joe A. Reeves, Robert Lamar Taylor, Jr., Joe Bryant Williams, R. C. Woodard, Paul Britton Phillips, J. Roy Caskey, and Henry Leon Walker, Individually and as Members of the Citizens Council of Arcadia, Louisiana, Inc., Leon Franklin Kettler, Archer Franklin Merritt, Charles E. Merritt, Melvin Ray Miller, and Hugh Pearson, Individually and as Members of the Citizens Council of Gibsland, Louisiana, Inc., and Pauline A. Culpepper, Registrar of Voters of Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana

196 F. Supp. 908

UNITED STATES of America v. ASSOCIATION OF CITIZENS COUNCILS OF LOUISIANA, Inc., the Citizens Council of Arcadia, Louisiana, Inc., the Citizens Council of Gibsland, Louisiana, Inc., Jerry Rougon Butler, John Alexander Bridges, Walter Leonard Dance, Forrest Riley McCallister, Joe A. Reeves, Robert Lamar Taylor, Jr., Joe Bryant Williams, R. C. Woodard, Paul Britton Phillips, J. Roy Caskey, and Henry Leon Walker, Individually and as Members of the Citizens Council of Arcadia, Louisiana, Inc., Leon Franklin Kettler, Archer Franklin Merritt, Charles E. Merritt, Melvin Ray Miller, and Hugh Pearson, Individually and as Members of the Citizens Council of Gibsland, Louisiana, Inc., and Pauline A. Culpepper, Registrar of Voters of Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

Civ. A. No. 7881.

United States District Court W. D. Louisiana, Shreveport Division.

August 21, 1961.

Joseph M. F. Ryan, Jr., Acting Asst. Atty. Gen., Harold H. Greene and D. Robert Owen, Attys., U. S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., T. Fitzhugh Wilson, U. S. Atty. for the Western Dist. of Louisiana, Shreveport, La., for the government.

Jack P. F. Gremillion, Atty. Gen., State of Louisiana, Thompson L. Clarke, Dist. Atty., Sixth Judicial Dist., St. Joseph, La., Albin P. Lassiter, Dist. Atty., Fourth Judicial Dist., Monroe, La., Fred L. Jackson, Dist. Atty., Second Judicial Dist., Homer, La., for Pauline A. Culpepper, Registrar of Voters of Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

Albert E. Bryson, Shreveport, La., for Association of Citizens Councils of Louisiana, Inc.

J. Roy Caskey, Arcadia, La., for all defendants except Culpepper and the Association of Citizens Councils of Louisiana, Inc.

Turner B. Morgan, Morgan, Baker, Skeels, Middleton & Coleman, Shreveport, La., for Arcadia and Gibsland Citizens Councils, and individual members thereof.

BEN C. DAWKINS, Jr., Chief Judge.

In clear, unmistakable terms, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides as follows:

"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

"Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

Pursuant to the express authority of Section 2, Congress enacted the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960, 42 U.S. C.A. § 1971 et seq., which empowers the Attorney General (§ 1971(c) to bring an action for injunctive relief in Federal District Courts (§ 1971(d) whenever any person or persons have engaged in any act or practice (§ 1971(c) which deprives any other person, "* * * otherwise qualified to vote" (§ 1971(a) of the right to vote secured by Section 1 of the 15th Amendment.

This action is brought by the Attorney General in the name of the United States against Mrs. Pauline A. Culpepper, Registrar of Voters for Bienville Parish, Louisiana (Registrar); the Association of Citizens Councils of Louisiana, Inc. (Association); the Citizens Council of Arcadia, Louisiana, Inc. (Arcadia Council); the Citizens Council of Gibsland, Louisiana, Inc. (Gibsland Council); and 17 individuals who are officers, directors or members of the Councils. It is alleged that, by their individual and concerted actions, the defendants have deprived and are depriving some 570 Negro citizens of Bienville Parish, who formerly were registered voters there, of the right to register and vote in any elections held in the Parish. The prayer for relief is that all defendants be temporarily and permanently enjoined from any further action in that respect, and that the Negroes whose registrations were cancelled in October, 1956, be ordered reinstated upon the voting rolls of the Parish. It is also prayed that a voting referee be appointed pursuant to § 1971 (e).

Inasmuch as all of the individual defendants, except the Registrar, claimed the protection of the 5th Amendment against self-incrimination, and refused to testify, and because the Government's case was so thoroughly documented by the Registrar's own records, there is very little dispute as to the facts; indeed, there is no dispute except as to whether the Registrar continues to discriminate against Negroes being permitted to register and vote, solely on account of their race or color.

Under the Constitution and laws of the State of Louisiana, registration for voting is a prerequisite to voting at any election by the people. Prior to January 1, 1957, registration for voting in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, was under the periodic registration system, whereby complete re-registration of all voters was required every four years.

Under Louisiana law (LSA-R.S. 18:132, 133, 244), any two registered voters may file affidavits with the Registrar challenging the registration status of any other voter; and the Registrar has the duty, if she has reason to believe that a voter is illegally registered, or has lost the right to remain on the rolls, to so notify the challenged voter by sending him a citation to appear at her office within 10 days and prove his right to remain on the rolls, by an affidavit executed by three other bona fide registered voters of the Parish. If the challenged voter fails satisfactorily to comply with the citation, his name is erased from the rolls.

Louisiana law further provides that an applicant for registration must be able to read, and give a reasonable interpretation of, any provision of the Constitution of Louisiana or of the United States (LSA-R.S. 18:35); and he must complete his registration form in his own handwriting, without assistance (LSA-R.S. 18:31). If the Registrar has reasonable grounds to believe that an applicant is not the person he represents himself to be, the Registrar may require him to produce two qualified registered voters of his precinct to identify him (LSA-R.S. 18:37).

In Bienville Parish there are approximately 6,120 white persons and 4,475 Negroes of voting age. Immediately prior to October,...