Records collected by the Mississippi state Sovereignty Commission from two trials in June 1963 relating to the civil rights movement held in United States District Court. The first document is a letter from United States District Court Judge S. C. Mize to lawyers in a school integration case from Leake County, Mississippi. According to Judge Mize the case against the Leake County schools must be dismissed because the African Americans seeking school integration have not followed the proper administration channels first, such as applying to transfer to white schools in the area. The second document records the decision of United States District Judge Claude F. Clayton in a case brought by the federal government against the voting registrar in Panola County and the State of Mississippi. The plaintiffs in the case allege that Leonard C. Duke, circuit court clerk and registrar, Panola County, has applied different standards to African American applicants to vote than white ones. The decision notes that testimony in the case shows that the African Americans who have tried to register to vote have not completed the applications or have not paid required poll taxes.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.

from Federal Court Decisions, Sovereignty Commission records, Mississippi Department of Archives and History

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Forms part of Series 2515 : Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Records Online, 1994-2006