The conclusion is inescapable that the appearance bonds
in these cases were arbitrarily and capriciously fixed in
grossly excessive amounts by the Defendants Davis and
Mathis, either or both. . . . [T]he financial harassment
of Defendants, or perhaps of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, which sponsored the sit-ins, ap-
pears to be the purpose.'

103

JAIL CONDITIONS

A frequent charge by persons arrested in mass demonstrations was that they were subjected to primitive and, in some cases, inhuman jail conditions. The Commission did not investigate jail conditions at the time that demonstrators were incarcerated. However, judicial inquiries and other reliable reports indicate that in a number of cases the allegations were of substance.'

104

Americus, Georgia. Following the arrests in Americus, most of the demonstrators were jailed temporarily in an abandoned office building and later transferred to jail facilities in neighboring counties. The complaints about all facilities were similar. Since the jails were mostly abandoned buildings, they had little or no functional plumbing.105 One building had to be fumigated by the prisoners, 106 and in another there were not enough beds and no mattresses. Prisoners were not permitted outside; one group was confined in a barracks for 38 days during August and September.108 After a girl escaped from one jail, 26 girls were

103

107

Johnson v. Davis, supra at 816.

104 Mistreatment of Negro prisoners arrested in Selma, Ala., for example, was reported by the federal court:

"This harassment, intimidation and brutal treatment [by local law enforcement officials] has ranged from mass arrests without just cause to forced marches for several miles into the countryside, with the sheriff's deputies and members of his posse herding the Negro demonstrators at a rapid pace through the use of electrical shocking devices (designed for use on cattle) and night sticks to prod them along." Williams v. Wallace, 240 F. Supp. 100, 104 (M.D. Ala. 1965).

106

Americus City Interview; interviews with demonstrators; Aelony Record 329, 330. 106 Interviews with demonstrators.

107 Interviews with demonstrators; Aelony Record 329.

crowded into a dark punishment cell large enough for 12.109 At all of the jails the prisoners were served four hamburgers once a day and no other food.110 City officials admitted that jail conditions were below standard due to the absence of facilities to handle the large number of persons arrested. They did not dispute the existence of unsanitary conditions but alleged that they were the fault of the prisoners.111

St. Augustine, Florida.-Federal Judge Simpson described Sheriff Davis' custodial procedures for demonstrators in St. Augustine:

[He forced the demonstrators] outside their cells to
remain exposed to the elements in an open unshaded
fenced compound through the midday hours, and
sometimes all day. This place contained makeshift,
exposed and inadequate toilet facilities, which were a
source of humiliation, degradation and shame to the
mixed group of males and females, juveniles and adults,
whites and Negroes forced to share their use. This
was used only for these plaintiffs, not for other jail
inmates.

The use of this compound, in Florida's 90-degree-plus
June temperature, and in one severe storm, was sought
to be justified by the Defendant Davis as compliance
with three successive Grand Jury reports that the jail
must be equipped with an exercise yard so that inmates
could get exercise outside their cells.

Further punishment devised by the Sheriff was the crowding of 9 or 10 male plaintiffs together overnight into concrete "sweatboxes," 7′ x 8'. The females, 21 in number, on the other hand, were

forced on one oc

casion for an hour and 18 minutes into a circular

padded cell 10' in diameter. This group included one
polio victim, Mrs. Georgia B. Reed, on crutches and
unable to stand without them.

Both the sweatboxes and the padded cell were so small
that the occupants had to sit or lie down in relays.
These latter practices were imposed as punishment for
singing religious songs or praying in the jail. As to the
use of the compound, the good Sheriff said further that
this was to make the Plaintiffs tired and ready for sleep
at nightfall, to discourage singing in advance.112

Judge Simpson concluded his findings of fact: "More than cruel and unusual punishment is shown. Here is exposed, in its raw ugliness, studied and cynical brutality, deliberately contrived to break men, physically and mentally."

,, 113

TRIAL AND SENTENCING

When trials of civil rights demonstrators were finally held, in some cities only after extended delays," they generally resulted in convictions and the imposition of harsh sentences.

Americus, Georgia.-In Americus, trials of many of the demonstrators were postponed by the city recorder, the man responsible for hearing cases involving violations of city ordinances. During the height of the demonstrations, the recorder suspended court in order to attend summer military camp. Recorder's Court, which normally meets once a week,115 did not

114 The Federal Constitution and the constitutions of forty-six States provide, in some manner, that a defendant is entitled to a speedy trial. In New York and Nevada prompt trials are assured by statute. In most States, statutes set forth the maximum period prior to trial. Paulsen & Kadish, Criminal Law and Its Processes 990 (1962). 115 Prior to suspending court, the Recorder refused to hear cases more often than once a week. He justified this position on the grounds that those arrested intended to violate the conditions of their probation and bail was available to all demonstrators as soon as they were booked by police. Interview with R. L. LeSueur, City Recorder, Aug. 12, 1964 [hereinafter cited as LeSueur Interview].

convene for four weeks.116 When the recorder returned, trials of demonstrators were held weekly and demonstrators were tried in order of arrest. As a consequence of this delay, and difficulty in obtaining bail,117 more than a hundred demonstrators were incarcerated for periods up to six weeks while awaiting trial for misdemeanors. s.118 Most of them were local teenagers.

All the Americus demonstrators were convicted and sentenced to the maximum penalty-$100 or 60 days labor on the streets. The recorder justified these sentences by stating that he had observed the violence that developed out of similar racial demonstrations in Albany, Georgia, and Birmingham, Alabama. When he sentenced demonstrators in Americus, he said, he "looked beyond what they had been doing" in order to discourage further demonstrations.119

Jackson, Mississippi.-Most demonstrators in Jackson were convicted of either a misdemeanor under State law or violation of city ordinances. In both instances, maximum penalties were imposed. The sentence for a misdemeanor was $500 and six months;120 for ordinance violation, $100 and 30 days.121 Jail sentences were suspended on pleas of nolo contendere.122 These sentences were substantially greater than the sentences imposed for comparable offenses which did not involve civil rights.123

118 The City Charter provides that the mayor is to act as recorder in the absence of the elected recorder. The mayor, however, refused to serve; nor would he appoint an acting recorder or lower the bail or release the demonstrators on their own recognizance. LeSueur Interview; Americus City Interview.

117 See discussion pp. 72-73, supra.

118 City of Americus v. Turner, et al. Nos. 848-65, Recorder's Ct., September 3, 1963.

119 LeSueur Interview. In non-civil rights cases in Americus, violators of city ordinances, in almost every instance, were given less than the maximum sentence. Memorandum in Commission files, summarizing study of Recorder's Docket.

120

Jackson Attorney Interview.

121 Miss. Code § 3374-137 (1956). Under a 1964 amendment to this section, the maximum punishment for violation of municipal ordinances was increased to 90 days and a $300 fine.

123 For example, the Jackson arrest docket from April 1, 1964, to June 1, 1964, shows 32 convictions for disturbing the peace or disorderly conduct. In 28 of the cases, the

Greenwood, Mississippi.-Demonstrators arrested in Greenwood in 1963 were usually sentenced to four months and $200, either for breach of the peace or disorderly conduct.124 These sentences were substantially greater than those imposed in non-civil rights cases. In Leflore County during the preceding year, there had been 19 convictions for disorderly conduct. In these cases, the average fine was $7.37 and only two defendants were jailed. The average fine during the same period in non-civil rights breach of the peace cases was $6.66.125

Civil rights workers, who were known to the Greenwood offcials, were subjected to repeated arrests for minor infractions of the law, followed by harsh and discriminatory fines and sentences. In February 1963, Samuel Block, the leader of the civil rights movement in Greenwood, was arrested for "uttering a public statement calculated to cause a breach of the peace." Block had stated to the press that a fire which had destroyed a Negro garage in Greenwood was the result of a mistaken attempt to burn the civil rights office. He was convicted, sentenced to six months in jail, and given a $500 fine. Neither the judge who sentenced him nor the city prosecuting attorney could recall another prosecution based on the utterance of a public statement.'

126

In November 1963, three whites and two Negroes were arrested while collecting ballots in a mock election conducted by civil rights groups. They were charged with blocking the sidewalk, convicted, and fined $100 each. The fines of the two Negroes, both 16 years old, were suspended on two years' good behavior."

In the seven years preceding these convictions four persons unconnected with civil rights activity were found guilty of blocking

sentences were $25 or less. In the remaining four cases, all of which involved civil rights demonstrators, the sentence was $500 and six months in jail. Jackson Police Arrest Docket 1964. A similar pattern appeared with respect to convictions for trespass. 124 Staff investigation report on fines and sentences imposed by local courts in Greenwood, Mississippi, 1963-64 [hereinafter cited as Greenwood Sentence Report] T. 485-90. 5 Id. at 487.

125

126 Interview with Judge O. L. Limbrough, Greenwood city judge, and Gray Evans, city prosecutor, May 20, 1964.

127 Ibid.