Evening star., 1962-10-10
Law and Disorder


Reading the letters which
appeared in the Oct. 8. edi-
ton Of The Star, it seemed
to me that the writer's on the
subject of the recent events
in Ole Miss did not put the
situation in it's proper per-
Spective Much emphasis
was put on the theory that
the university was forced by
the Federal Government to
admit Meredith and conse-
quently there arose the riots
and violence. Furthermore
there were some hints that
President. Kennedy did the
forcing. Nothing Of the kind
happened.
The Federal Courts, both
In Washington and New Or
leans ordered the admission
of Meredith to the university,
which order the Governor
treated as a scrap Of paper;
and he snubbed the court in
New Orleans incidentally
made up in its entirety of
Southerners, who made their
decision in accordance with
the law of the land, and were
not influenced by their per-
sonal feelings or emotions).
These are the same men
whose motives along with
those Of our President were
impugned and their integrity
questioned by Senator Byrd
of Virginia, who charged COL
lusion between the court and
the President to force the ad-
mission Of Meredith. This is
a gratuitous insult to the
court and to the President,
who performed his duty and
responsibility as the Chief
Executive, imposed upon him
by his oath of office and the
Constitution of this country,
to see to 1t that the law of
the land is to be obeyed. The
Governor on the other hand
thought that he could be a
law unto himself, disregard
ing entirely the basic princi-
pie of freedom and democra-
cy, that the law is no re-
specter of person or rank -
equal justice under the law.
This act of placing himself
above the law could lead
only to chaos and violence.
as was proved by the events
on the Mississippi campus.
Abe Shefferman
Because James Meredith
sought to enter the Univer-
sity of Mississippi, State in
stitution, and such entry was
denied him by the State of
Mississippi, even to the extent
of direct action by the Gov
ernor, everyone must admit
that the controversy, regard
less Of the, merits Of either
side, involved a State. Section
2, Article III of the ConSti-
tuition of the United States
states THE judicial power
shall extend to all cases, in
law and equity. arising under
this Constitution :" and
I'm all cases in which a
State shall be party, the
Supreme Court shall have
original Jurisdiction"
The case was not tried
before the Supreme Court.
No other court of the United
States could, under the Con-
stitution, have jurisdiction.
nor has the President such
Jurisdiction. The method pre-
scribed in the Constitution is
clear, but was not followed.
Messrs. John and Robert
Kennedy have extended their
powers far beyond ConSti-
tutional limits.
Also, Section 8, Article ! Of
the Constitution gives Con-
gress power ITO provide for
calling forth the militia to
execute the laws of the Union,
suppress instructions j"
Certainly, Congress has
passed no law covering the
situation at hand Meredith
VS.. Mississippi and. If it had,
there would be a serious ques-
ton as to its Constitution
ality, in view OF what are
supposed to be States rights
under the Tenth Amendment.
In addition, interpretations
and verdicts of Federal courts
inferior to the Supreme Court
in this matter are Of no
status since the controversy
involves a State (see above).
Further, opposition by the
State Of Mississippi to these
unconstitutional Federal
court decisions and orders
does not constitute insur-
reetion. Perhaps the activities
Sof Gen. Walker may yet be
interpreted as insurrection.
but that will have to be
decided by a due process Of
law. II the matter is pursued.
It. therefore, appears that
with respect to Meredith VS..