St. Paul recorder., 1963-02-21
The COst-And The
Price-Of Justice
eXpertS.

AS we look at the money cost Of the vote regis
ration drive in the South, Of school integraton and
especially integraton at the University level and at
all Of the other facets of the drive Of the Negro
population to claim its civil rights, one rather ap-
palling fact stands out:
It costs a great deal of money to make good
your claim to civil rights and If you don't have that
money you don't have the rights. This applies to the
direct outlay of cash. rather than to the many other
economic costs to the Negro claiming his rights
such loss Of employment business, loss Of
credit, and violent physical impairment of person
and destruction Of property
1t applies to private costs, and not to outlays by
the government which entered the integration crisis
the vote registration crisis and other civil rights
only after privately financed efforts had
brought affairs to point where the federal govern
ment could scarcely afford not to act
Without the NAACP and its ability to organize
substantial amounts of finance, the school integra-
ton issue could not have been carried to its present
status Perhaps it could not have been taken to
court at all Without this kind of backing, people
like James Meredith could not aspire to the citizens
right to full to higher educational faci-
tiles because it takes lot Of finance to get the
necessary court orders.
1t costs money for lawyers, because lawyers
have to eat be clothed and have shelter while they
working such cases. There are court costs,
transcripts have to be made Briefs and other records
have to be printed.
And so, small or large fortunes depending on
the point Of Hew) have to be laid out before can
even get before judge to argue the merits Of the
sixteenth amendment to the constitution: mo state
shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection Of the laws" It costs more
fortunes to take this argument up to the court of
final Jurisdiction the United States Supreme Court
This is the situation at the highest level. Below
this, what happens? What happens to the sixth
amendment-"In all criminal prosecutions the ac-
cused shall enjoy the right to a speedy trial p"
when the accused does not know about this amend
ment and has not the funds to hire lawyer If he
did know? Even in enlightened and progressive Min
nesota, he sometimes sits in Jail for months end
waiting for lesurely judges and eisurely prosecutors
to get around to his In effect, he is serving
sentence for the crime of having NO money and no
moneyed friends.
This is not the state of affairs which the franz
Of Bill of Rights had in mind. The situation
which has grown up-the economics of Justice
is ITSELF in effect, violation of the Bill of Rights.
Moreover, except for occasional effort by oc-
casional attorney to buck the system and go to the
aid of an occasional victim, the system goes un-
challenged. There is organized effort to challenge
it. Yet it is perhaps the most egregious and wide
spread of all violations Of the civil rights of ci-
zens.
The fact that great many Of the victims may
be guilty of minor and major crimes against society
should be considered by all civil Hbertarians
ondary to the fact that all Of the victims are de-
fenseless against this violation Of their rights