KF 9223 Z95 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL A5 THE UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS THE PRESIDENT Washington, D.C., November 4, 1965. THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SIRS: The Commission on Civil Rights presents to you this report pursuant to Public Law 85-315 as amended. The report presents and analyzes information concerning discriminatory law enforcement practices in several southern communities. This information was obtained by the Commission from extensive investigations in 1964 and a public hearing held in Jackson, Mississippi, in February 1965. The Commission has found that too often those responsible for local law enforcement have failed to provide equal protection of the laws to persons attempting to exercise rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Because of the seriousness of the problem and the ineffectiveness of existing remedies, we urge your consideration of the facts presented and of the recommendations for corrective action. Respectfully yours, JOHN A. HANNAH, Chairman EUGENE PATTERSON, Vice Chairman FRANKIE M. FREEMAN ERWIN N. GRISWOLD REV. THEODORE M. HESBURGH, C.S.C. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report would not have been possible without the cooperation of many private citizens and government officials. The Commission acknowledges the generous assistance of many Federal officials who assisted the staff in ways too numerous to mention. Particular mention should be made of John Doar, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, and representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who assisted the staff in its investigation and preparation for the hearing; officials of the Veterans Administration, who permitted the Commission to use the Jackson Veterans Administration Center for its hearing; and the United States Marshal and his staff in Mississippi, who provided a variety of services. The Commission is grateful to the many private citizens and public officials who gave generously of their time and knowledge to Commission staff members who visited their communities. Beginning in 1961, the Mississippi State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, now under the leadership of Dr. A. B. Britton, Jr., sponsored public meetings throughout the State to provide Mississippi citizens of both races the opportunity to discuss the State's civil rights problems. In some communities, the meetings were a dangerous enterprise as well as a novel and difficult undertaking. Members of the Advisory Committee braved pressure and criticism in their own communities as they made a significant contribution to the improvement of race relations in Mississippi. Finally, the Commission is indebted to the staff of the General Counsel's office which carried these projects to successful completion under the able and vigorous leadership of William L. Taylor, now Staff Director of the Commission. The present General Counsel, Howard A. Glickstein, and the former Deputy General Counsel, Michael O. Finkelstein, directed the following members and former members of the Commission staff in the investigations, the conduct of the hearing, and the preparation of this report and the previously published report, Voting in Mississippi: Klaire V. Adkins, Jeffrey M. Albert, Robert H. Amidon, Mary V. Avant, Edward B. Beis, Richard F. Bellman, Gwendolyne T. Belva, John G. Birkle, Joyce M. Butler, Robert A. Cook, Jonathan W. Fleming, Sandra E. Ford, M. Carl Holman, Charles C. Humpstone, Clarence H. Hunter, Ivan E. Levin, Louise Lewisohn, Roy Littlejohn, JoNell M. Monti, Elisabeth I. F. Murphy, Brian M. Olmstead, Beryl A. Radin, Leda Rothman, Samuel J. Simmons, Betty K. Stradford, Naomi S. Tinsley, and Edwin D. Wolf. |