His attorneys claim he was framed by the FBI and New York police as part of a campaign to destroy the black liberation movement of the 1960s. Because the federal Freedom of Information Act wasn't law at that time, the FBI wasn't required to turn over information on its investigations when Mr. Ferguson appealed his conviction in the 1960s. But in federal court in Manhattan, Judge Patterson said the FBI records could show that Mr. Ferguson's arrest was the result of questionable legal practices.
Mr. Ferguson's arrest was the result of questionable legal practices