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250 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT

tors and representatives by the direct primary. In United States v. State of Louisiana, E.D.La.1963, 225 F.Supp. 353, 359, aff'd. on other grounds, 1965, 380 U.S. 145, 85 S.Ct. 817, 13 L.Ed.2d 709 this Court said:

"Congressional authority [under Ar-
ticle I, § 4] extends to registration,
a phase of the electoral process un-
known to the Founding Fathers but
today a critical, inseparable part of
the electoral process which must nec-
essarily concern the United States,
since registration to vote covers vot-
ing in federal as well as in state
elections."

In United States v. Manning, W.D,La. 1963, 215 F.Supp. 272, one of the constitutional attacks on the Civil Rights Act of 1960 was directed at the provision for federal registrars. In the opinion upholding the act, the Court considered it important that

"For purposes of accomplishing the constitutional objective the electoral process is indivisible. The act of casting a ballot in a voting booth cannot be cut away from the rest of the process. It is the last step in a process that starts with registration. Similarly, registration is an indivisible part of elections. * ** There is no separate registration for federal elections. Any interference with the qualified voter's right to register is therefore interference with a federal election." 215 F. Supp. at 283.

[22] (c) Classic relied on three important cases that construe the nature and extent of the power of Congress to regulate federal elections: Ex parte Siebold, 1880, 100 U.S. 371, 25 L.Ed. 717; Ex parte Yarbrough, The Ku Klux Klan cases, 1884, 110 U.S. 651, 4 S.Ct. 152, 28 L.Ed. 274; and Burroughs v. United States, 1934, 290 U.S. 534, 54 S.Ct. 287, 78 L.Ed. 484, 485. These cases point to the principle that a congressional statute protecting against private interference before the voting stage is necessary and proper legislation under Article I, Sec

tion 4, whenever it is reasonably related to "protection of the integrity" of the federal electoral process. Classic, 313 U.S. at 316, 61 S.Ct. at 1038.

Ex parte Siebold involved a conviction of state election officers for ballot-stuffing in a federal election. The Court had before it the Enforcement Act from which Section 1971 was derived. The statute contained a number of extensive voting and registration regulations, including a provision for the appointment of federal election supervisors. These supervisors were authorized "to cause such names to be registered as they may think proper to be so marked". In sustaining the validity of the legislation under Article I, Section 4, the Court commented:..

The

"It is the duty of the States to elect
representatives to Congress.
due and fair election of these repre-
sentatives is of vital importance to
the United States. The government
of the United States is no less con-
cerned in the transaction than the
State government is. It certainly is
not bound to stand by as a passive
spectator, when duties are violated
and outrageous frauds are commit-
ted. It is directly interested in the
faithful performance, by the officers
of election, of their respective duties.
Those duties are owed as well to the
United States as to the State." 100
U.S. 388.

[23, 24] In Yarbrough the Court had before it the question whether Congress could protect civil rights against private interference, specifically klan aggression in the form of intimidation of voters. Yarbrough and eight other members of a Georgia klan were indicted for conspiring to intimidate a Negro in the exercise of his right to vote for a congressional representative. It was shown that they used physical violence and that they went in disguise upon the public highways. They were convicted under the section of the Enforcement Act of 1870, Revised Statutes Section 5508, that was the predecessor of 18 U.S.C. § 241; and also under Section 5520. These are the criminal law

UNITED STATES v. ORIGINAL KNIGHTS OF KU KLUX KLAN
Cite as 250 F.Supp. 330 (1965)

counterpart to 42 U.S.C. § 1971. The Act
forbade two or more persons to "conspire
to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate
any citizen in the free exercise or enjoy-
ment of any right or privilege secured to
him by the Constitution or laws of the
United States" or to "go in disguise on
the highway, or on the premises of an-
other, with intent to prevent or hinder
[such citizen in] his free exercise or en-
joyment" of any such right; or to "con-
spire to prevent by force, intimidation,
or threat, any citizen who is lawfully en-
titled to vote" from voting for presiden-
tial electors or members of Congress.
Justice Miller, in a powerful opinion for
the Court, sustained the conviction and
held the statute valid. The opinion made
it clear that the right to vote in federal
elections is a privilege of national citi-
zenship derived from the Constitution.
Congress therefore "can, by law, protect
the act of voting, the place where it is
done, and the man who votes from per-
sonal violence or intimidation, and the
election itself from corruption or fraud."
Nor does it matter that state and federal
offices are elected in the same election.
The congressional powers are not "an-
nulled because an election for state of-
ficers is held at the same time and place".
110 U.S. at 662, 4 S.Ct. at 157.

[25-27] The heart of the Yarbrough decision is the Court's emphasis on the transcendent interest of the federal government.27 The violence and intimidation to which the Negro was subjected were important because they alloyed the purity of the federal political process. The federal government "must have the

27. Our silence with respect to the 15th Amendment carries no implied comment as to the scope of that amendment. We found it unnecessary to consider the 15th Amendment because of the Nation's manifest interest in the integrity of federal elections and the Supreme Court's approval of a constitutional basis for that interest. On its face, however, Section 1 of the Fifteenth Amendment clearly establishes a constitutional basis for Congress to protect the unabridged right of

250 F.Supp.-23

353

power to protect the elections on which its existence depends from violence and corruption". 110 U.S. at 658, 4 S.Ct. at 155. This implied power arises out of governmental necessity. The Court said:

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"The power in either case arises out of the circumstance that the function in which the party is engaged or the right which he is about to exercise is dependent on the laws of the United States.

"In both cases it is the duty of that government to see that he may exercise this right freely, and to protect him from violence while so doing, or on account of so doing. This duty does not arise solely from the interest of the party concerned, but from the necessity of the government itself that its service shall be free from the adverse influence of force and fraud practiced on its agents, and that the votes by which its members of congress and its president are elected shall be the free votes of the electors, and the officers thus chosen the free and uncorrupted choice of those who have the right to take part in that choice." Since it is the purity of the federal political process that must be protected, the protection may be extended against interference with any activity having a rational relationship with the federal political process. Thus, the "rationale of Yarbrough indicates congressional power over voting, though limited to federal elections, extends to voter registration activities", including registration rallies, voter education classes, and other

all citizens to vote in state elections free from discrimination on account of race. Given that basis, a congressional statute protecting citizens from state or private interference with the right to participate in any part of the voting process (registration, primary, pre-primary, etc.) would seem to be as "appropriate" for protection of voters in state elections, under Section 2 of the 15th Amendment, as it is "necessary and proper" for protection of voters in federal elections.

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250 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT

activities intended to encourage registra-
tion.28

[28] Burroughs is one of a number of
cases dealing with corrupt election prac-
tices which go far beyond the act of vot-
ing in an election. The Federal corrupt
practice laws operate on the campaigning
stage rather than the voting stage and
apply to private persons having no part
in the election machinery. In Burroughs
the contention was made that under Ar-
ticle II, Section 1 the states control the
manner of appointing presidential elec-
tors; Congress is limited to prescribing
the time of choosing electors and the day
on which they cast their votes. In up-
holding the validity of the Federal Cor-
rupt Practices Act of 1925, the Court, re-
lying on Yarbrough, said:

"While presidential electors are not
officers or agents of the federal gov-
ernment * *, they exercise fed-
eral functions under, and discharge
duties in virtue of authority con-
ferred by, the Constitution of the
United States. The president is
vested with the executive power of
the nation. The importance of his
election and the vital character of its
relationship to and effect upon the
welfare and safety of the whole peo-
ple cannot be too strongly stated.
To say that Congress is without
power to pass appropriate legislation
to safeguard such an election from
the improper use of money to in-
fluence the result is to deny to the
nation in a vital particular the power
of self-protection. Congress un-
doubtedly, possesses that power, as
it possesses every other power es-
sential to preserve the departments
and institutions of the general gov-
ernment from impairment or de-
struction, whether threatened by
force or by corruption." 290 U.S.
at 545, 54 S.Ct. at 290.

[29,30] The states' power over the
manner of appointing presidential elec-

28. Comment, Federal Civil Action Against
Private Individuals for Crimes Involving
Civil Rights, 74 Yale L.Jour. 1462, 1470

tors is similar to the states' reserved pow-
er to establish voting qualifications.
Notwithstanding this unquestioned pow-
er in the states, "Burroughs holds that
'Congress' has the implied power to pro-
tect the integrity of the processes of
popular election of presidential electors
once that mode of selection has been
chosen by the state." There is an ob-
vious parallel between corruption of the
federal electoral process by the use of
money and corruption of the same proc-
ess by acts of violence and intimidation
that prevent voters from getting on the
registration rolls or, indeed, from ever
reaching the registration office.

Classic involved federal indictments
against state election commissioners for
falsely counting ballots in a Democratic
party primary. The Court held that un-
der Article I, Section 4 and the necessary
and proper clause, Congress had the im-
plied power to regulate party primaries.
The "interference [was] with the effec-
tive choice of the voters at the only stage
of the election procedure when their
choice is of significance * * *. The
primary in Louisiana is an integral part
of the procedure for the popular choice
of Congressmen". The right to choose
is a right "secured by the Constitution".
313 U.S. at 314, 61 S.Ct. at 1037. More-
over, "since the constitutional command
is without restriction or limitation, the
right unlike those guaranteed by the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments,
is secured against the action of individ-
uals as well as of states." Ib. at 315, 61
S.Ct. at 1038 Mr. Justice Stone, for the
Court, spelled out the rationale:

"The right to participate in the
choice of representatives for Con-
gress
is protected just as

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is the right to vote at the election,
where the primary is by law made an
integral part of the election ma-
chinery * * *. Unless the con-
stitutional protection of the inte-
grity of 'elections' extends to pri-

(1965). And see Maggs and Wallace,
Congress and Literacy Tests, 27 Duke
L. & Cont. Prob. 510, 517-521 (1962).

UNITED STATES v. ORIGINAL KNIGHTS OF KU KLUX KLAN
Cite as 250 F.Supp. 330 (1965)

mary elections, Congress is left
powerless to effect the constitutional
purpose
313 U.S. at 318,
319, 61 S.Ct. at 1039.

*

"

The innumerable cases in this Circuit involving civil rights speak eloquently against the use of economic coercion, intimidation, and violence to inhibit Negroes from applying for registration. This interference with nationally guaranteed rights, whether by public officials or private persons corrupts the purity of the political process on which the existence and health of the National Government depend. No one has expressed this better than Judge Rives in United States v. Wood, 5 Cir. 1961, 295 F.2d 772, cert. denied 369 U.S. 850, 82 S.Ct. 933, 8 L.Ed.2d 9 (1962).29 In Wood the interference was in the form of groundless prosecution of a Negro organizer who had set up a registration school in Walthall County, Mississippi, where no Negroes had ever registered. He was not even qualified to vote in the county where the intimidatory acts occurred; he was a resident of another county. In reversing the district judge's refusal to stay the state prosecution, the Fifth Circuit noted that the alleged coercion was of the kind the 1957 Act was intended to reach. Judge Rives, for the Court, said:

"The foundation of our form of government is the consent of the governed. Whenever any person interferes with the right of any other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, he acts like a political termite to destroy a part of that foundation. A single termite or many termites may pass unnoticed, but each damages the foundation, and if that process is allowed to continue

29. In that case Hardy, a Negro resident of Tennessee, a member of the "Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee", was in Walthall County, Mississippi for the purpose of organizing Negroes of that county to register and vote. Hardy engaged in an argument with the registrar. The registrar ordered him to leave the office. As he got to the door, the registrar struck him on the back of the head with a revolver. Hardy was arrested and charged with a breach of the

355

the whole structure may crumble and fall even before the occupants become aware of their peril. Eradication of political termites, or at least checking their activities, is necessary to prevent irreparable damage to our Government."

[31-33] We hold that the defendants' acts of economic coercion, intimidation, and violence directed at Negro citizens in Washington Parish for the purpose of deterring their registering to vote strike at the integrity of the federal political process. The right to vote in federal elections, a privilege of national citizenship secured by the United States Constitution, includes the right to register to vote. The right to register to vote includes the right to be free from public or private interference with activities rationally related to registering and to encouraging others to register.

(2) The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Public Accommodation. The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of Title II as it applies to motels and restaurants. Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, 1964, 379 U.S. 241, 85 S.Ct. 348, 13 L.Ed.2d 258; Katzenbach v. McClung, 1964, 379 U.S. 294, 85 S.Ct. 377, 13 L.Ed. 2d 290.

[34] The defendants are left, therefore, only with the contention that the Act, for reasons not articulated, should not reach private persons.

The defendants are really arguing against the judgment of Congress in selecting injunctive relief against private persons as one method of enforcing congressional policy. Once it is conceded that Congress has the power, under the commerce clause, to forbid discrimination

peace. The Court hurdled (1) the fact that Hardy was not eligible to register and therefore his right to vote was not interfered with; (2) the appeal was from a denial of a request for a temporary restraining order, generally an unappealable order under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291, 1292; (3) the prosecution was a state criminal court proceeding, protected by the doctrine of comity and Section 2283 severely restricting federal injunctions of state proceedings.

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in public places, there is little doubt that injunctive relief against any person seeking to frustrate the statutory objective is appropriate.

In this Circuit, relying on In re Debs, 1895, 158 U.S. 564, 15 S.Ct. 900, 39 L.Ed. 1092, the courts have held that when private persons burden commerce to the detriment of the national interest, the Nation may enjoin such persons even without enabling legislation. On two occasions courts have issued injunctions against klans and klansmen engaged in intimidation and violence burdening commerce. United States v. U. S. Klans, M.D.Ala.1961, 194 F.Supp. 897; Plummer v. Brock, M.D.Fla.1964, 9 R.Rel.L. Rep. 1399. See also United States v. City of Jackson, 5 Cir. 1963, 318 F.2d 1.

(3) The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Equal Employment Opportunities. Title VII, like Title II, is based upon the commerce clause. The term "industry affecting commerce" used in Title VII parallels the definition of "industry affecting commerce" in the LMRDA (29 U.S.C. § 402(c)). This in turn incorporates the definition of "affecting commerce" in the NLRA (29 U.S.C. § 152 (7)). The National Labor Relations Act represents an exercise of congressional regulatory power to "the fullest jurisdictional breadth constitutionally permissible under the Commerce Clause," NLRB v. Reliance Fuel Oil Corp., 1963, 371 U.S. 224, 226, 83 S.Ct. 312, 313, 9 L.Ed.2d 279; Polish National Alliance of United States v. NLRB, 1944, 322 U.S. 643, 647, 64 S.Ct. 1196, 88 L.Ed. 1509, a conclusion equally applicable to Title VII.

The sweeping regulations in the NLRA and LMRDA covering the terms, conditions, and policies of hiring and bargaining do not differ in any essential respect

30. The Court finds that on the admissions and on the evidence adduced at the hearing, a preliminary injunction should not issue against Charles Ray Williams, Louis Applewhite, and Willis Blackwell. The Court does not enter a judgment of dismissal as to these defendants, because the United States expressly reserved the right to introduce additional evidence at the hearing for permanent relief, as to these and other defendants. At the time

from this legislation prohibiting discrimination in hiring practices and on the job assignments. The employer-employee relationship has, of course, direct effect upon the production of industries which are in commerce and upon the practical utilization of the labor force and the power of Congress to regulate these activities cannot be doubted. NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 1936, 301 U.S. 1, 57 S.Ct. 615, 81 L.Ed. 893; NLRB v. Fainblatt, 1939, 306 U.S. 601, 606, 307 U.S. 609, 59 S.Ct. 668, 83 L.Ed. 1014; Mabee v. White Plains Publishing Co., 1946, 327 U.S. 178, 66 S.Ct. 511, 90 L.Ed. 607.

[35] Defendants admit that they beat and threatened Negro pickets to prevent them from enjoying the right of equal employment opportunity. The effect of course is to prevent Negroes from gaining free access to potential employers. Such acts not only deter Negroes but intimidate employers who might other. wise wish to comply with the law but fear retaliation and economic loss. This is precisely what the klan's Boycott Rules are designed to do.

The United States has alleged, the defendants have admitted, and the proof has shown that the defendants have intimidated, harassed, and in other ways interfered with the civil rights of Negroes secured by the Constitution. The admission and proof show a pattern and practice of interference.

Protection against the acts of terror and intimidation committed by the Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and the individual defendants can be halted only by a broad injunctive decree along the lines of the order suggested by the United States. The Court will promptly issue an appropriate order.30

of the hearing, Blackwell had not been correctly served. We find that James Ellis, Sidney August Warner, and Albert Applewhite are members of the klanACCA or were members until recently, and therefore should be enjoined. The defendants' request for dismissal of the action as to these named defendants and their request for attorneys fees are denied.

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