Civil Rights Trial In Mississippi example essay topic

The Mississippi Burning Trial" was not for the cold-blooded murders of three young civil rights workers, but rather for the violation of their civil rights. The federal government wanted to break Mississippi's "white supremacy" stronghold on the South. "The Mississippi Burning Trial" proved to be the opportunity to do so. The three branches of the federal government and their various departments were actively involved in bringing about this civil rights trial in Mississippi and these activities and personal views are well documented in court records, department records, and the press. The federal government's Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman were working to register black voters in rural areas and small towns of Mississippi. Their deaths were brutal at the hands of local Klu Klux Klan members.

Brutality, however, was the norm for dealing with "outsiders, niggers, and nigger lovers" who dared to try to force Mississippi to change. The violence and racist language that make our skin crawl today was not only accepted by the majority of white Mississippians, but was openly practiced. Being of like minds, the powers of Mississippi knew they could count on one another for support from the local to the national levels. The federal government had the manpower, communications network, and finances to break apart Mississippi's white racist unity.

If racial equality were to succeed in the South, it would have to come by way of the powerful federal government. In 1964 The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organized a 600 volunteer campaign to go into Mississippi and register black voters. It would be highly dangerous for there was little to no protection offered by local and county officials against violence. J. Res Brown, one of only four black lawyers in Mississippi warned, "You " re going to be classified into two groups in Mississippi: niggers and nigger-lovers, and they " re tougher on nigger lovers". Michael Schwerner, a Jewish New Yorker, had already spent six months in Mississippi working for the Congress of Racial Equality. He knew how bad it was in Mississippi. He described Mississippi, "Is the decisive battleground for America.

Nowhere in the world is the idea of white supremacy more firmly entrenched, or more cancerous, than in Mississippi". Mississippi had a very large active organization. By day members were respected members of Mississippi society: store owners, law enforcement, lawyers, doctors, teachers, and ministers. Violence was their preferred method of dealing with enemies.

The number of violent attacks on black citizens as well as "outsiders" fills volumes of record books. Michael Schwerner joined forces with SNCC along with his chief aid, James Chaney, a black Mississippi native. They both had hopes that the federal government would be pushed by their numbers to increase FBI and federal protection for the students. The third man on their team was Andrew Goodman. He was a reasonably wealthy, white, 20 year old from Manhattan. Idealistic and eager to work, Andrew had no clue that his first day in Mississippi would also be his last.

On the night of June 21st in Neshoba County the three young men disappeared after being stopped on a bogus traffic violation. After discovering their burned out car on the second day of the search, most everyone knew the three had been murdered. The press followed the search and brought the case to the nation's attention. Many bodies of murdered civil rights workers and black citizens were recovered from the backwaters and swamps as federal agents and Navy seamen scoured Neshoba County. The killers in Neshoba County had made a very grave mistake. They hadn't just murdered three local "colored boys" this time.

The parents of Schwerner and Goodman had money; they had ties. So much so, that they were given an audience with President Johnson. J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, made the young men's disappearance a priority case. Former CIA Director, Allan Dulles, was sent to Mississippi to investigate the three civil rights workers disappearance. Accompanying Dulles was John Doar, Deputy Chief of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Having already tried several civil rights violation cases in Mississippi Doar knew Mississippi well, and would prove invaluable in the prosecution during "The Mississippi Burning Trial". The first priority of Dulles was to meet with Governor Paul Johnson.

Johnson elected to the highest office in Mississippi was known for his standard joke of the NAACP. It stands for, "niggers, apes, alligators, coons, and possums". Governor Johnson said that he looked forward to the Federal Government's visit. He saw it as an opportunity to promote his state's "complete tranquility between the races". Johnson agreed to assist in the search for the missing young civil rights workers. His promise like his "tranquility" proved to be superficial.

The next day Johnson would meet publicly with his good friend and kindred spirit, Governor George Wallace of Alabama. Johnson claimed in a joking manner that, 'only he and George knew where the missing young men were, and they weren't telling'. Like the rest of the nation, Dulles was appalled and insulted by Governor Johnson's half-hearted approach to such a serious matter. John Doar was not surprised, for this was the mentality of white society in Mississippi. As the federal investigation into the civil rights workers disappearance continued it became apparent that none of the local citizens were talking.

Some, due to involvement and some due to the fear of violent reprisals by the local. FBI Major Case Inspector Joseph Sullivan knew that his normal investigation procedures were totally ineffective in this land called Mississippi. Normally the FBI carried much weight as an authority figure. All that was usually required was to convince witnesses and informants that it was in their own best interest to cooperate.

Mississippi was embedded in white supremacy, and the ruled with a violent iron fist. It was obvious that cooperating with the FBI was not in the average citizen's best interest. It was clear to Sullivan that the would have to be infiltrated and large amounts of reward money would have to be made available. The FBI offered a $30,000.00 reward and complete anonymity to anyone who could lead them to the bodies of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman. It worked.

Forty-four days into the investigation the young men's decaying bodies were found buried deep within an earthen dam on a private property called Old Jolly Farm. They had been shot to death. To infiltrate the the FBI had to use paid informants. Four months later FBI agents arrested nineteen men in eastern Mississippi for taking part in the murders of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman. The FBI charged them with conspiring to violate the civil rights of the three young men under a Reconstruction Ear federal law.

[The actual murders of the young men were cases for the State of Mississippi. Mississippi chose not to pursue murder charges even though the remains of the victims clearly indicated homicide. To this day Mississippi has never filed formal charges against anyone for the murders of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman.] Included in the group were Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price and Sheriff Lawrence Rainey of Neshoba County. Not surprisingly all nineteen men were also active members of their local chapters. However Mississippi's Federal Judges had no intention of making this case easy to bring to trial, not even for the FBI. The United States Commissioner for the Southern District of Mississippi Esther Carter threw out the charges against all nineteen men.

He maintained that all evidence gathered by the FBI was based on hearsay evidence. A month later John Doar and his group of Justice Department lawyers presented their case to a grand jury in Jackson, Mississippi. Again the Justice Department succeeded in getting the nineteen men indicted for civil rights violations. However, the judges of Mississippi were not ready to give up their efforts to block the federal government's efforts. Less than two months later Federal Judge William Harold Cox of Mississippi tossed out all but two of the indictments. Deputy Sheriff Price and Sheriff Rainey were the only two who remained.

Judge Cox was no stranger to John Doar. Doar had dealt with Cox on several occasions and even was present when Judge Cox made a comment that almost cost him his career. On a previous civil rights case Cox described black voter applicants as "a bunch of chimpanzees". Needless to say the New York Times ran Cox's statement in its next edition. The rest of the nation was shocked that such arrogance and ignorance could sit on a federal bench.

[It is well known that the late President John F. Kennedy, as a compromise with Senator James Eastland, who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, appointed Cox. Senator Eastland was quoted as saying, .".. if he will give me Harold Cox. I will give him the nigger (Thurgood Marshall)". ] Senator Jacob Javits of New York and Congressman Peter Rodin o of New Jersey led an attempt to impeach Judge Cox. It failed, but it shook the very comfortable Judge Cox and his white supremacist colleges. The United States Supreme Court eventually overruled Cox's decision.

Unanimously they ruled to reinstate the indictments against all nineteen defendants. With all Judge Cox's and his white supremacists buddies' avenues exhausted, they had no choice but to allow John Doar and the federal government a trial. A trial Judge Cox would have to preside over due to the jurisdiction. With the national spotlight on his courtroom, Judge Cox appeared to be much more sober and serious about upholding the Constitutional rights of all those involved during the trial.

John Doar's case consisted mainly of the testimony of three paid informants (snitches to fellow Neshoba County, Mississippi citizens). The three men were respected citizens and members of the : Wallace, Miller, Delmar Dennis, and James Jordan. Wallace Miller was a forty-three-year-old Meridian police officer. Delmar Dennis was a twenty-four-year-old Baptist and Methodist minister. He served as the chaplain for the local chapter. Working for the FBI earned Dennis $5,000.00 a year for three years.

It wasn't much for putting his life and family at risk. However, most of the folks of Neshoba County couldn't imagine the sum of $15,000 let alone getting it from the federal government. James Jordan proved to be John Doar's most powerful witness, for he was involved in the actual kidnapping and killing of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman. Jordan worked as a hotel clerk and ran a speakeasy in Meridian. He was also an eager thug for the, who had a hard time keeping his deeds a secret. He had become a target for the, because Jordan had already told several people he was involved in the murders.

Jordan traded his testimony for $3, 5000.00, the relocation of his family to Georgia, and protective custody. Both Dennis and Jordan testified to the involvement of Mississippi's leader, Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers, in the murders of the three civil rights workers. Jordan testified that Bowers ordered the killing of Michael Schwerner. Dennis testified that later Bowers would boast to him, "It was the first time that Christians had planned and carried out the execution of a Jew". The trial was of no concern to Bowers according to Delmar Dennis. ."..

Judge Cox would probably make them take (Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman) and put them back under the dam-that it was an illegal search". Needless to say, Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers must truly have been disappointed in his old friend Judge Sam Cox. Cox was very cautious to run a stern and reputable courtroom often dismissing the tasteless and racist remarks of the defense attorneys and their witnesses. The defense lawyer, W.D. Moore, in his closing argument named the outsiders President LBJ, Vice President Humphrey, and Senator Robert Kennedy as instigators of this unfounded trial. After everything was said and done a jury of mostly poor white Mississippians found themselves in a deadlock. Much to the surprise of the defense and the prosecution, Judge Cox gave the "Allan charge" (nicknamed the dynamite charge) a measure to prevent deadlocks.

The Mississippi defense lawyers were furious, because a hung jury could be construed as a victory. The jury returned with a verdict the following day. Seven men were found guilty including Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers and Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price. Eight others were acquitted including Sheriff Lawrence Rainey. Three defendants had no verdict.

Judge Cox sentenced Bowers to ten years and Cecil Price to six. In defending his sentences Judge Cox was quoted as saying, "They killed one nigger, one Jew, and a white man. I gave them what I thought they deserved". The South was shocked that even seven of the defendants were found guilty; the rest of the nation was relieved. The Imperial Wizard of Mississippi's Klu Klux Klan was sentenced to prison. The arrogant Judge Cox had been humbled.

'The Mississippi Burning Trial" was the first trial in Mississippi history where white jurors found white men guilty of crimes against "outsiders, niggers, and nigger lovers". The controlling white supremacist mentality of Mississippi had been cracked. From the President of the United States and the US Supreme Court to the FBI field workers and Navy Sailors, the federal government had invested a great deal of man-hours and money into this civil rights trial. The federal government viewed this partial victory as a giant step towards civil rights equality not only in the state of Mississippi, but the rest of the South.