Evening star., 1950-04-01
JudgeConsiders
Decision in Cafe
Segregation Suit
Thompson's Attorney
Says Early Assembly
Lacked Authority
By Wallace {. CIoyton

listening to two and a half hour
Of argument on whether /,
Thompson's Restaurant manage
violated District law by refusing
to serve three colored persons.
More than 200 persons, most o.
them colored, crowded into every
seat and lined the walls of the
courtroom during the hearing te
determine whether the restaurant
chain is liable to a fine of $10(
and forfeiture of it's license to dc
business for one year at the loca-
ton where the alleged offense
occurred.
Contends Laws Invalid.
Ringgold Hart, chief attorney
for the restaurant company, con.
tended the so-called lost" anti
segregation laws are invalid be-
cause:
/. The Legislative Assembly hac
no congressional authority to pass
such laws, which he contends were
Legislation" and not merely po-
lice regulations having to do with
public safety, health or morals.
2. The laws have been repealed
by subsequent legislation, or by
implication.
3. The statutes are obsolete by
reason of disuse.
Reading from a 32-page brief
Mr.. Hart charged the laws requir-
ing service to all respectable per-
sons, regardless of color or race
are an attempt to interfere with
property rights of restaurant pro-
prietors under the guise of civil
rights"
Prosecutor States Case.
Assistant Corporation Counsel
Clark F. King. chief District
prosecutor at Municipal Court
said the whole question is whether
the statutes are proper exercise
Of police power. If SO, he said
the laws still are in effect, since a
1901 revision of the District Code
repealed all measures passed by
the Legislative Assembly, except
police regulations. He cited cases
which, he said, upheld the theory
that laws do not lose their val
idity because they are not tested
In regard to Mr.. Hart's conten-
tion that the laws are "unreason.
able" Mr.. King said:
rs it unreasonable to serve
colored people? Or is it unrea.
sonable for persons in this court
room to have to walk to U street
or Union Station to eat?
Can any religious person say
these laws are unreasonable" Mr.
King continued. THE very concept
OF Christianity. the very concept
OF the Constitution, is based on
lack of discrimination.
These laws were passed after
the Civil War in furtherance OF
the aims of the war" he said. TT
seems to me we've been pretty
slow in carrying them out"
Says Bias Recognized.
Mr.. Hart protested that Con-
gress recognized segregation in
the District by taking no action
against SEGREGATED schools OF
Fairgrounds here.
Mr.. Hart further argued-ano
Mr.. King disagreed-that, ever
If the laws were still in effect
the provision calling for revoca-
tion of a restaurant owners H.
cense was imperative.
The defense attorney main
tanned the Municipal Court, as
set up by Congress, could only
levy fines or order Imprisonment
Quizzed Closely on Point.
Judge Myers questioned Mr.
King closely on this point.
The prosecutor maintained
however, that the forfeiture woulc
follow the same process as that ir
effect when a man is found guilty
of drunken driving. In that pro.
cedure, the Department of We
hicles and Traffic is notified of g
guilty verdict, and the license is
revoked by that agency.
Mr.. King said it would be in a
Municipal Court judges jurisdic-
ton to initiate this penalty, since
the disputed statute calls for po-
lice court action against violatorS
1872 Cases Cited.
In the stipulation, however, he
pointed out that both parties
agreed there had been four pre-
vious prosecutions of restaurant
proprietors under the law. All hao
been prosecuted in 1872, and al
had been convicted. He said these
convictions had been reversed by
a higher court or dismissed.
Mr.. Hart brought out that nc
official records had been kept o1
the prosecutions. but that the &C
tions had been verified in the files
of the 1872 editions of The Star
At the end of the hearing
attorneys representing severa,
groups opposed to segregation re.
ceived Judge Myers permission tc
file briefs as friends of the
court"
They included: The Washington
Chapter of Unitarian Fellowship
for Social Justice, the Washington
Bar Association. the Friends
Meetings of Washington, the Dis.
trict Chapter of the National Law.
yers' Guild, the Co-ordinatine
Committee for the Enforcement,
of District Anti-Segregation Law:
and the Federation of Civic AS.
sociationS.
The stage was set for the test
case when three colored person:
were refused service last February
,ocfo,,ro,,t at TOt