The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1934-05-03

kIoutluued 4Eu4n EdBe AJhcJ
his colOred associate counsel, Sci
Pic A. Jones.
On March %. 1921. the Associa-
ton defeated the efforts Of the
Arkansas authorities to extradite
Robert L. Eiill, head of the Pro-
gressive Farmers and Household
Union OF America. who had been
arrested in Topeka, Kans., whence
he had fled following the Phillips
county race war. The state Of Ar
kansas persisted in its efforts to
get Hill but at every turn IL, AS
sociation's legal defense locked
the way. Finally. after several I'M
successful maneuvers by Arkansas
in the federal courts, Attorney
Jones was able to wire the Nation
al Office: Both cases In the fed
eral court against Hill have been
dismissed by order of the attorney
general"
On April 20, 1921, Governor Nc
Rae OF Arlansas set June 10 as the
execution date for the second six
of the convicted sharecroppers.
When he refused appeals to stay
execution until the conclusion OF
the trials of the first six men. the
Associations lawyers won a re-
straining order which was set as
ide when Arkansas authorities APP
piled for and obtained writ of
prohibition dissolving it, from the
state supreme court. The N.A.A.
lC.P. attorneys then moved for a
writ of habeas corpus in the fed
eral court.
Win Change Of Venue
When the first six condemned
men again went to trial in May,
the Associations attorneys applied
for and got, after studied delay
of six weeks, q change Of venue
tc Lee county on June 81. Trials
were set for October in Marianne.
Every legal device was used by
the Arkansas authorities to wrealr
vengeance upon these unfortunate
victims Of exploitation and nob
frenzy At every turn they found
themselves thwarted by the Assoc
cations attorneys. Reversal fol-
lowed trial, legal points were ar
gued to the highest court of the
land, disappointment followed APP
parent victory, hopes rose only 70
be dashed again.
On January 9. 1923. Moorfield
Storey, the Associations president
argued the case of the six con-
demned men before the United
States Supreme Court alleging that
such organizations as local rotary
clubs, American legion posts, and
the courts had sought to railroad
the Negro farmers to death; thai
the rioting had been begun by the
whites; that the farm workers had
been falsely accused of organizing
to massacre whites" and on this
pretext hundreds of unoffending
Negro workers had been hunted
down like beasts by armed whites.
N.A.A.c.P. Wins Workers Release
AS a result of the Associations
brilliant plea, the United States
supreme court on February 10,
1928, reversed the convictions of
the six condemned workers and
directed the federal district court
to inquire into the cases and as
certain If the accused black farm
ers had had a fair trial. This de-
cision Moore VS.. Dempsey 261 U.
s. 86) was epoch-malxing in that
1t not only declared that a trial
dominated by mob sentiment was
not due process of law, but revers-
ed the U. S. supreme court itself
in its decision in the Leo Frank
case.
| Flabbergasted by this decision,
the Arkansas authorities. rather
than retry the men. offered COM
promise of plea Of guilty on a
lesser charge, which was accepted
by Attorney Jones. On November
IL, 1928, Governor McRae COM
muted the sentences of the men,
leaving them eligible for parole
within a short time.
Continued Nexf WaaIrl