Arizona sun., 1962-05-17
Mrs. .Dianne Nash Beve|
To Start 2-Yr. Sentence
BY Anne Braden


JACKSON. Miss.-Mrs. Dianne
Nash BeveI, former Nashville stu
dent leader, who is expecting a
baby in September. went into
Kinds County Court on April 80 to
surrender and start serving a two
year prison sentence.
She was charged with contribut-
ing to the delinquency of minors
last summer after she conducted
workshops on nonviolence among
Jackson young people, preparing
them to take part in freedom rides.
She said as she went into court
that she could no longer cooperate
with what she described as 'the
evil and unjust court system of
Mississippi" Therefore she would
not continue an appeal of her sent
ence and would start serving it.
County Judge Russell B. Moore
averted an immediate showdown
on this issue by citing her for
contempt because she refused to
move from a section of the court
room reserved for whites after
she arrived to surrender.
Judge Moore sentenced her to
10 days in Jail on the contempt
charge and said he would refuse
to consider the delinquency mat
ter until a hearing on that case
scheduled for May A.
Each time Mrs. Bevel tried to
state her position on delinquency
charge the judge cut her off. How
ever, she had given a statement
to the press explaining her stand.
A copy of this was handed to the
Judge by a friend of hers while she
was locked up awaiting trial on the
contempt charge.
In her statement Mrs. Bevel de-
clared: 1.-The only condition under
which l will leave Jail is that the
unjust and untrue charge of con-
tributing to delinquency is drop
ped"
Mrs. Bevel was sentenced to
serve 2 years and fined $4,000
in City Court last November. The
case was appealed to the County
Court and she was free on bond
pending a retrial.
She stated April 30 that she had
decided to abandon the appeal be-
cause it would mean sitting through
another court trial in Mississippi.
She said she believes in and prac
tices the philosophy of nonviolence,
this philosophy teaches that one
must not cooperate with evil
and she considers the court system
in Mississippi evil and unjust.
She said further in her state
ment: Some people have asked
me how | can do this when | am
my first child in Sep
tember. | have searched my soul
about this and considered it in
prayer. l have reached the conclu-
sion that in the long run this will
be the best thing | can do for my
child.
This will be black baby born
in Mississippi, and thus wherever
he is born he will be in prison.
| believe that ifI go to jail now it
may help hasten that day when my
child and all children will be free
not only on the day of their birth
but for all of their lives. "
Mrs. Bevel is %. She was stu
dent leader at Fisk University when
the sit-ins started in Nashville. She
was jailed twice there and later
served a 3O-day term for demons
trating in support of jailed students
in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Last summer she led the revival
OF the Freedom Rides Wnen Cney
had all but stopped in the South.
She went to Jackson and encour-
aged local people to take part in
this activity.
She is now married to the Rev
James Bevel, who was arrested
with her on the same charge butt
whose case is pending. She is on
leave as a staff member
of the Student Nonviolent Coordi-
mating Committee, Atlanta. Her
husband is a member of the staff of
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, also headquartered
in Atlanta.