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JUNE 1, 1964
Ruby Hurley, NAACP youth secretary, 1943-1950. Credit: NAACP Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (113.00.00) Courtesy of the NAACP
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned Alabama‘s NAACP ban, allowing the NAACP to operate in the state for the first time in eight years.
NAACP leader Ruby Hurley established the Birmingham office in 1951, only to be forced to flee the state five years later after Alabama authorities aggressively investigated the NAACP and tried to seize membership records.
After the NAACP refused, an Alabama judge fined the organization and threatened further sanctions if it refused to comply. The NAACP sued, but the Alabama Supreme Court dismissed the litigation. NAACP attorneys argued that disclosure of such records could lead to retaliation and attacks against its members.
In 1958, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the right of association and assembly under the First Amendment is protected by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. Had the high court supported the state’s attempts to seize membership records, it would have dealt a severe blow to the organization, its members, and the movement itself.
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Investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell’s stories have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His stories also helped free two people from death row, exposed injustices and corruption, spurred investigations and reforms, and fired board members and officials. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and the winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur “genius” grant. After working for three decades for the state-run Clarion-Ledger, Mitchell left in 2019 and founded the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.
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