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Size | 111.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 14360 items) |
Abstract | The Southern Justice Institute, a public interest law firm, originally the southern division of the Christic Institute of Washington, D.C. It opened in 1985 as the Christic Institute South under director Lewis Pitts in Winston-Salem, N.C., relocating to Carrboro, N.C., a year later, and to Durham, N.C., in 1991. Formed to provide legal aid and organizing assistance to racial and other minorities in the South seeking political empowerment, the Institute incorporated as the independent Southern Justice Institute in 1992 and operated until 1994, handling, in its last two years of operation, mostly child advocacy cases. General abstract: Records are primarily court documents and case files with a small number of financial and administrative Records, relating to legal challenges to political corruption, racial discrimination, obstruction of voting rights, school segregation, exploitation of consumers and tenants, and efforts to gain legal status for children. Many items pertain to the defense of Eddie Hatcher, a Lumbee Indian, and Timothy Jacobs, a Tuscarora Indian, charged with kidnapping while trying to bring attention to corruption in Robeson County, N.C. Other cases include those on behalf of African-American elected officials in Winston-Salem; a black lung union activist in Charleston, W.Va.; and a postal worker in Chatattanooga, Tenn., all charged with fraud. There are many materials relating to a case on sexual abuse of patients and another on desecration of an African-American cemetery on Daufuskie Island, S.C. Other cases, fought with the National Child Rights Alliance and the National Committee for the Rights of the Child, pertain to custody and adoption battles, the rights of lesbian mothers, and abused children suing their abusers. These include the Gregory K. and the Kimberly Mays cases. Note that a description of organizations relating to the Southern Justice Institute is cataloged separately. |
Creator | Southern Justice Institute (Durham, N.C.) |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Jill Snider with assistance from Jacqueline Dean, April 1995
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
The Southern Justice Institute, a public interest law firm founded in 1992 in Durham, N.C., had its origins in the Christic Institute, a Washington, D.C., law firm and religious public policy center formed in 1979 by attorneys, educators, and organizers who had directed the well-publicized Karen Silkwood Case during the late 1970s. In 1985, the Institute opened its Southern division, the Christic Institute South, in Winston-Salem, N.C., with Institute lawyer Lewis Pitts as director. The southern division of the Institute one year later moved its headquarters to Carrboro, N.C., and then in 1991 to Durham, N.C. By 1992, it had separated from the Christic Institute to become an independent organization known as the Southern Justice Institute. The latter ceased operations in 1994 after being fined under Rule 11 sanctions for bringing what the court considered a frivolous lawsuit.
The Christic Institute South set as its specific goals to provide legal aid and organizing assistance to racial and other minorities in the South struggling to empower themselves politically. Suits brought and defense cases litigated prior to 1993 were for the most part of a civil rights nature, including efforts on behalf of activists working to gain political and civil rights for African-Americans, Native Americans, and various activists seeking to protect the rights of unions, tenants, patients, and consumers. Between 1985 and 1992, the organization also served as legal counsel for the National Child Rights Alliance. After 1992, the newly formed Southern Justice Institute maintained this function, and during 1993-1994 was involved in the development of the Legal Action Project of the National Committee for the Rights of the Child. Beginning in 1993, the Institute participated in several suits under the auspices of the Committee, focusing principally on child custody and adoption cases aimed at gaining recognition by the courts of children as legal persons with access to the legal process.
Lewis Pitts, director of the Christic Institute South, 1985-1992, and of the Southern Justice Institute, 1992-1994, also served on the board of trustees of the Southern Organizing Committee and as a consultant to the Citizens' Participation Project, an organization which grew out of the Institute's work in helping local African-American residents restore city government to Keysville, Ga. Pitts continues at present to work for the NCRC's Legal Action Project.
Back to TopRecords are mostly court documents and case files, 1985-1994, of the Christic Institute South and its successor Southern Justice Institute pertaining to public law suits litigated or proposed for litigation in West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and California, and to child advocacy cases litigated in Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Tennessee. The bulk of the records pertain to cases documented in Subseries 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 listed below. A few records also appear on cases litigated by the Christic Institute, parent organization of the Christic Institute South (see Series 2.8 and 2.11).
Administrative files (Series 1) document the finances of the Institute, especially funding it received from the Campaign for Human Development. Newsletters contained in the series offer a valuable starting point for work in the records on civil rights, often providing case synopses and background information.
The suits in Series 2 document mostly issues of racial discrimination, including harassment of African-American elected officials and voter registration activists, the entrapment and harassment of African-American workers and union organizers, and segregation and unequal treatment of African-Americans in the public schools and on the job. Other areas covered are the rights of whistle-blowers, tenants, consumers, and patients, and the rights of activists to organize and protest publicly. A few items appear on environmental issues (Series 2.12). The case of John Edward Clark (a.k.a. Eddie Hatcher) is the most extensively documented, and includes information not only on the Federal government's suit against him for hostage-taking, but also on his organizing efforts among North Carolina Indians and his campaign to expose political corruption in Robeson County, N.C. Also of interest are materials in Subseries 2.12 about opposition to the Columbus Quincentennial Jubilee Commission.
Series 3 documents the child advocacy efforts of the Institute in its capacity as legal counsel for the National Child Rights Alliance and later for the Legal Action Project of the National Committee for the Rights of the Child. It includes both administrative files related to the Institute's relationship with both organizations, and case files, concerning mostly child custody cases, adoption cases, and a paternity suit challenging a lesbian mother's custody of her daughter. Topics include the access of children to the legal system, the rights of abused children, the rights of biological parents versus those of adoptive parents, and the legal definition of family.
A few records of the original Christic Institute appear in Subseries 2.8, which documents investigations into the Iran-Contra Affair and the lawsuit stemming from them, and in Subseries 2.11, where a few items pertain to the Karen Silkwood Case and to a case brought by former South Carolina senator Tom Turnipseed against the South Carolina Utilities Commission.
The collection also provides information on the activities of Lewis Pitts in his role as a consultant to the Citizens' Participation Project and as a member of the board of trustees of the Southern Organizing Committee (Subseries 2.13).
Photographs (Series 4) include mostly color snapshots of clients and organizers in Daufuskie Island, S.C., Keysville, Ga., Screven County, Ga., Robeson County, N.C., and Selma, Ala. A few portraits and snapshots (color and black and white) of Southern Justice Institute staff also appear.
Back to TopMostly financial materials relating to the operation of the Christic Institute South/Southern Justice Institute, including correspondence, grant proposals and applications, financial and bank statements, insurance Papers, and check stubs. There are also publicity items, including brochures, progress reports, newspaper clippings, and newsletters, including the Southern Justice Institute's People's Advocate, 1991-1992, and a few issues of the Christic Institute's Convergence. Many of the financial items are related to the Campaign for Human Development, a major funding source for the Institute's projects.
Box 1 |
Administrative files, 1985-1992 and undated |
Court documents and case files of the Christic Institute South/Southern Justice Institute pertaining to civil rights and social justice cases between 1985-1993. Includes mostly racial discrimination suits, as well as suits on behalf of tenants, consumers, patients, and political activists.
Files pertaining to the trial of John Edward Clark (a.k.a. Eddie Hatcher) and Timothy Jacobs, including material on Jacobs' extradition from New York (3 boxes) and files kept on the Rule 11 sanctions brought against the defense attorneys in the case (6 boxes). Files include court documents, including pleadings, discovery materials, exhibits, and affidavits, as well as witness files, hostage statements taken by the FBI, newspaper clippings and press releases, files of the FBI and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and audio tapes. Besides court proceedings, the records document political corruption in Robeson County; a recall effort against Sheriff Kevin Stone; the political and social activities of Lumbee, Tuscarora, and other Native American groups in Robeson County and New York State; and the activities of religious and political groups supporting the defense efforts.
Box 2-18c |
Robeson County, N.C., Hostage-Taking Case, circa 1988-1990 |
Court documents, including depositions, affidavits, pleadings, and exhibits, and case files, including correspondence, investigative reports, notes, diaries, and background research pertaining to Lenzer v. Flaherty et al., a suit protesting the punishment of an employee, Jeanne Lenzer, who exposed the sexual abuse of patients by another employee at the Butner, N.C., Alcohol Recovery Center. Scattered items appear on the National Child Rights Alliance (formerly People Allied for Child Advocacy) founded by Lenzer. An outline and chronology of the case appear at the beginning of Box 19.
Box 19-27
Box 19Box 20Box 21Box 22Box 23Box 24Box 25Box 26Box 27 |
Jeanne Lenzer Whistle Blower Suit, circa 1985-1990 |
Court documents, including pleadings and depositions, and case files, including correspondence, newspaper clippings, cemetery maps and land Records, and publicity materials produced by supporters of those bringing suit against John Scurry of the Melrose Corporation for constructing a building over an African-American cemetery. Items also document the activities of the Daufuskie Island Community Improvement Club and the Daufuskie Island Cooperative, as well as individual efforts to obtain services, especially transportation, for African-American residents of Daufuskie and Hilton Head Islands. Of interest is a videotape of JoAnn Dimond of Hilton Head Island, who was involved in organizing efforts. Additional materials appear for a suit brought by the Coastal Council against the Ethics Commission of South Carolina.
Box 28-34
Box 28Box 29Box 30Box 31Box 32Box 33Box 34 |
Daufuskie Island, S.C., Cemetery Desecration Suit, circa 1989-1993 |
Court documents, including pleadings and exhibits, and case files, including correspondence, newspaper clippings, FBI reports and witness interviews, notes, and other items, pertaining to the trial of four African-American elected officials in Winston-Salem, N.C., for alleged financial wrongdoing. Organizations documented are People Are Treated Human, Inc. (PATH) of Winston-Salem and the Guilford Community Action Program of Greensboro. Of note is an audio taped speech of Louis Farrakhan delivered in April 1992 entitled "The Winston-Salem Four." Files include information on the activities of the four officials--Rodney Sumler, Larry Womble, Patrick Hairston, and Rev. Lee Faye Mack. Box 35 contains a folder labelled "Background on the Case of the Winston-Salem Four."
Box 35-39
Box 35Box 36Box 37Box 38Box 39 |
Harassment of African-American Elected Officials Cases, circa 1985-1992 |
Mostly case files, including correspondence, newspaper clippings, school Records, and records of the Parents Action Committee in a suit brought against the Screven County School Board for racial discrimination in the county school system. Only scattered court documents appear.
Box 40-43
Box 40Box 41Box 42Box 43 |
Screven County, Ga., School Board Suit, circa 1991 |
Court documents, mostly pleadings, and case files, including correspondence, newspaper clippings, press releases, and newsletters, legal notes, case expense sheets, research materials, maps and deeds, and petitions relating to a suit brought by African-American citizens to reestablish city government in Keysville, Ga. Included is the narrative for a video production entitled "Justice for Keysville, Now!" and materials on "The Southern Tour for Power."
Box 44-46
Box 44Box 45Box 46 |
Keysville, Ga., Suit to Restore Local Government, circa 1985-1989 |
Mostly court documents, including pleadings, affidavits, and exhibits, with scattered correspondence and legal notes pertaining to the defense of Robert Ward against the U.S. Post Office in a suit charging theft of stamps.
Box 46-47
Box 46Box 47 |
Bobby Ward Discrimination Suit, circa 1986-1988 |
Investigative files on the role of George Bush, Oliver North, Richard Secord, and others in the Iran-Contra Affair. There are also court documents, including depositions, exhibits, and affidavits, from the case brought by journalists Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey against John Hull, Richard Secord, and others for personal injuries suffered when a bomb was exploded at a press conference in La Penca, Nicaragua, and for attempts to block their investigation into the bombing and into drug-smuggling activities of backers of the Nicaraguan Contras.
Box 48-50
Box 48Box 49Box 50 |
La Penca Iran-Contra Case, circa 1985-1992 |
Case files and court records for a suit brought against the Sweethome Water and Sewer Authority for overcharging of and theft from customers ( Frances Adams et al. v. Sweethome Water and Sewer Authority) and case files and court records for a suit brought by the State of Mississippi against four Holmes County residents for protesting in front of the Sweethome Water and Sewer Authority ( State of Mississippi v. Belinda Thompson, Wilma Powell, Loretta Beyer, and Mary Braun). Case files include mostly correspondence, newspaper clippings, project records of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and financial records of the Sweethome Water and Sewer Authority. Information also appears on the role of the Rural Organizing and Cultural Center in aiding those bringing suit against Sweethome.
Box 51 |
Holmes County, Miss., Sweethome Water and Sewer_Authority Suit, circa 1985-1988 |
Correspondence, personal statements, affidavits, press releases, newspaper clippings, and scattered court documents for a suit brought by parents against the Selma, Alabama, school system charging de facto segregation through "tracking" of African-American students into less challenging academic courses.
Box 52 |
Selma, Ala., School Segregation Suit, circa 1990 |
Arrangement: by case.
Court Records, including pleadings, depositions, and exhibits, and case files, including correspondence, newspaper clippings, case and trial notes, publicity posters, audiotapes, and other items pertaining to several suits litigated by the Southern Justice Institute and the Christic Institute. Allegations in the suits include racial discrimination, harassment of union officials, voter registration fraud, police brutality, and the denial of tenants' rights.
Correspondence, investigative materials, and miscellaneous items related to cases not taken by the Institute.
Papers relating to the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic Justice (about 95 items, 1985-1986) and the Citizens' Participation Committee (about 265 items, 1988-1993). Includes correspondence, reports, pamphlets and brochures, conference materials, notes and research materials, and newspaper clippings.
Box 71-72
Box 71Box 72 |
Related Projects, 1985-1986, 1988-1993 |
Records, mostly court documents and case files, maintained by the Southern Justice Institute until its dissolution in 1994 on child advocacy work completed as legal counsel to the National Child Rights Alliance and as part of the legal arm (known as the Legal Action Project) of the National Committee for the Rights of the Child. Also includes administrative files.
Administrative files and court documents and case files pertaining to the Gregory K. case litigated in part by the Alliance.
Box 73-74
Box 73Box 74 |
National Child Rights Alliance, 1987-1994 |
Correspondence, clippings, background research materials, articles on child abuse, newsletters, and materials on child abuse and child advocacy distributed by related organizations.
Box 73 |
Administrative Files, 1987-1993 |
Correspondence, pleadings, briefs, case notes, clippings and press releases for a case involving a Florida boy's "divorce" from his abusive parents.
Box 74 |
Gregory K. Case, 1992-1994 |
Administrative files and court documents and case files pertaining to a number of cases litigated or assisted by the Legal Action Project. Includes mostly correspondence, clippings, and legal briefs.
Box 75-83
Box 75Box 76Box 77Box 78Box 79Box 80Box 81Box 82Box 83 |
National Committee for the Rights of the Child (Legal Action Project), circa 1991-1994 |
Correspondence, executive council minutes, membership lists, brochures, conference materials, funding proposals, scattered newsletters, clippings, and other items related to the formation of the Committee and its Legal Action Project, as well as early cases and finances. Includes biographical information on Board members.
Box 75-78
Box 75Box 76Box 77Box 78 |
Administrative files, 1991-1994 |
Court documents and case files for a Missouri suit in which the Legal Action Project represented three teenagers challenging a court order revoking their mother's custody because she refused to force them to visit their abusive father.
Box 79-80
Box 79Box 80 |
Grissom Custody Suit, 1993-1994 |
Court documents and case files for a Michigan suit in which the Legal Action Project filed an amicus curiae brief arguing for the rights of two-year-old Jessica DeBoer to have her best interests considered in the battle between her biological and adoptive parents.
Box 80 |
DeBoer Custody Suit, 1992-1994 |
Court documents and case files for a Kansas suit concerning a grandmother's attempt to retain custody of her grandson, who had been abused by his mother. The Legal Action Project filed a brief on behalf of the grandmother.
Box 81 |
Thomas Custody Suit, 1993-1994 |
Court documents and case files for a New Jersey case in which the Legal Action Project filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of a "psychological mother's" custody rights over those of the biological mother.
Martinez Custody Suit, 1993-1994 |
Court documents and case files for a Tennessee case in which the Legal Action Project filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of a child seeking to stay with his grandmother who had raised him instead of living with his biological father.
Box 82 |
Keene Custody Suit, 1989-1994 |
Court documents and case files for a New Mexico adoption suit in which the Legal Action Project filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of adoptive parents who were facing a challenge to their custody rights by the biological father.
Roth Adoption Suit, 1994 |
Court documents and case files for a New York suit in which the Legal Action Project filed an amicus curiae brief in support of a lesbian family's right to retain custody of their daughter over the challenge of the child's sperm donor. The National Child Rights Alliance also filed an amicus brief.
Paternity Suit Challenging Lesbian Mother's Custody, 1994 |
Court documents and case files for a Florida suit in which the Legal Action Project filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Kimberly Mays, a teenager suing to stay with the father who had raised her after it was learned she had been switched with another child accidentally at birth in the hospital.
Box 83 |
May's Adoption Suit, 1993-1994 |
Court documents and case files for a Michigan suit in which the Legal Action Project litigated on behalf of a mother seeking to regain custody of her teenage son from his abusive father.
Klug Custody Case, 1992-1994 |
Box 73-83
Box 73Box 74Box 75Box 76Box 77Box 78Box 79Box 80Box 81Box 82Box 83 |
Child Advocacy Cases, 1987-1994 |
Arrangement: by case.
Black-and-white and color snapshots, mostly of clients and organizers involved in the Daufuskie Island, S.C., Keysville, Ga., Screven County, Ga., Robeson County, N.C., and Selma, Ala., suits. Also included are portraits and snapshots of Christic Institute South/Southern Justice Institute staff members, including Lewis Pitts, Gayle Korotkin, and Czerny Brasuell. A number of photographs taken during the Racial Justice Workgroup Visit in 1990 and at the Southern Justice Institute open house held in 1991 also appear.