The Southern
Legal
Resource
Center
U P D A T E
Volume VIII, Number 8 ●
September, 2005
Published
monthly by the Southern Legal Resource Center
P.O. Box 1235, Black Mountain, NC 28711/(828)
669-5189/slrc@slrc-csa.org
SLRC POSTS BACK-TO-BACK HERITAGE
VICTORIES IN SC, MS
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC –
Prompt interaction with local
officials has enabled the SLRC to resolve a pair of potential
Southern heritage issues successfully. In both cases municipally
sponsored events were taking place on municipal property.
In Florence, South Carolina, city officials
attempted to freeze a Sons of Confederate Veterans contingent out of
its Fourth Annual Pee Dee Patriotic Parade by refusing to allow the
unit to carry camp banners displaying the SCV logo. The Florence
SCV camp commander received word of the city’s decision the day
before on Thursday before the parade was to take place on Saturday,
September 9.
The SLRC was notified on
Friday, less than 24 hours before parade time. At that time
Executive Director Roger McCredie advised Cdr. Ron York to tell
parade organizers that the city in this case was a state actor and
that disallowing the SCV banners would constitute an actionable
First Amendment violation. York did so and reported that the city
was aware of that, but stuck by its decision anyway.
On Friday afternoon SLRC
Chief Trial Counsel Kirk Lyons phoned Tom Shearin, Special Services
Administrator for the City of Florence, and attempted to reason with
him. Shearin accused Lyons of attempting to intimidate him
and said the ban would stand, and that by extension the SCV
detachment would not be allowed to march. At that point, Lyons left
a message for City Attorney Jim Peterson outlining the situation and
its possible consequences. Meanwhile the SLRC contacted SCV
Lieutenant Commander-in-Chief Chris Sullivan, who began circulating
an appeal for members to contact the city. An SLRC news release was
published. And H. K. Edgerton left for Florence.
Please see VICTORIES, p.2
SLRC makes school hand over student’s
transcripts
PENSACOLA, FL --
This past spring, David Inglett paid dearly for expressing his
Southern heritage pride within the walls of
Wedgwood Middle School.
Among other things, while wearing a Confederate-themed t-shirt he
was seized in the cafeteria, made to leave his lunch and detained
for several hours in the school's offices, forbidden to use the
restroom or call home. A few days later, when his mother and little
sister came to school to pick up David's history project (which had
a Confederate theme) they were met, followed and intimidated by
school security and administrative personnel. David's mother,
Angela Bannister, decided that Wedgwood was no place for her son, so
when school started this year she enrolled him in nearby Jubilee
Christian Academy
Please see VICTORIES, p.2
VICTORIES (continued from p.1)
About 6:00 p.m. atty.
Peterson called Lyons to say that the city had reconsidered its
position. The SCV members would be welcome to march in the parade,
he said, banners and all. They did so, and H. K. took their salute,
standing by the reviewing stand.
In Mississippi the town
of Okolona attempted to bar the local SCV camp from selling
Confederate flags and other CSA-themed items at its booth at the
upcoming Indian Summer Festival. The camp contacted the SLRC, and
SLRC Executive Director Roger McCredie in turn contacted town
officials, explaining the state actor status and the possible
consequences of discriminating against the Confederate-themed
merchandise. Two days later H. K. Edgerton, who had served as
contact person, received the following e-mail from SCV member Jim
Strickland, who originally applied for the camp’s vendor permit:
Received letter from
Okolona with
details for Indian Summer Festival. We not only got a booth, they
gave us the best spot in town, right in middle of everything on
Main Street.
Thanks to you and Roger, this is a win for us, this will let people
know that some people still care and will step out to defend our
Heritage. Thank you and Roger for turning the crank that made
this happen.
The Oklona matter was
very similar to one the SLRC successfully concluded earlier this
summer in Greensboro, NC. “It’s very gratifying when
we’re able to go into situations like these and make the right thing
happen without having to resort to litigation, or the threat of it,”
McCredie said. “Most folks know about the big cases that we’re
prosecuting in federal courts, but for every big court case there
are any number of small but important victories that come our way.”
TRANSCRIPTS (cont’d from p.1)
But as the days went by, David's old school did not
forward copies of his report cards and other transcript material to
Jubilee. These documents were necessary to complete David's
application for a scholarship at the academy, and his family became
very anxious; David needed that scholarship. Officials at Wedgwood
told Mrs. Bannister the materials had been sent. The Jubilee
registrar's office said they had not seen them.
"We don't know whether Wedgwood acted out of spite or
was just careless," McCredie said, "and we didn't care. We just
wanted the school to do what it was supposed to do. I'm glad it
worked out."
David's family petitioned Wedgwood to remove the
disciplinary action from his permanent record. The school refused.
The family is now examining its legal options.
________________________________________________________________________
A MESSAGE FROM H. K. EDGERTON
This edition
demonstrates how much of the SLRC’s time is devoted to nipping
heritage cases in the bud before they even go to court. Too often
our constituency only sees our high profile slow moving court cases,
but day in and day out we work behind the scenes. The money to do
this, for mileage, travel expenses, phone, couriers and such comes
right out of our operating fund.
It is a
tragedy that we always find ourselves struggling just to stay alive
so that we may provide these services to our people. We are in no
uncertain terms in a war that rages everyday. For the life of me, I
do not understand how the doors of SLRC remain open; other than by
the generosity of our staff, a generosity that none of us can now
afford.
We
are the last out post in the defense of our homeland. With resources
the A team can make a difference. We cannot civil rights fight
adequately under these conditions, nor can we afford to lose any
ground. Please help us help you.
HK Edgerton
Chairman of the Board of Advisors
SLRC NEWS IN BRIEF
GROUNDWORK FOR DUTY CASE ENTERS ROUND TWO
ASHLAND, KY
-- Jacqueline Duty's lawsuit against the school officials who
turned her senior prom into a nightmare of humiliation because of
her Confederate-themed evening dress, entered a new phase in July
and August with depositions of key witnesses.
Lyons said he was both surprised and amused at the
direction the defendants' preliminary testimony took. “It appears
they're going to use the 'liar, liar, pants-on-fire' defense," he
said. They maintain absolutely none of it happened, that our side
is either lying or hallucinating and Jacqueline was just put up to
telling this huge story by a bunch of outside troublemakers. If
they maintain that position, things should get very interesting."
The case is scheduled to be heard next February.
SC SCV, private donors pitch in to fund Hardwick case
LATTA, SC -- The South Carolina Division of the SCV has agreed to
underwrite preliminary legal expenses connected with preparing a
suit against the Latta School Board in Dillon County, SC, on
behalf of our clients Daryl and Priscilla Hardwick and their
daughter, Candice, who was subjected to "disciplinary action" last
year for wearing a Confederate-themed t-shirt. Her parents twice
attempted to reason with the school board by letter but the board
replied essentially that there was nothing to discuss. At that
point Candice, a beautiful and determined honor student, told her
parents she would fight for her heritage. Her parents said they
would support her. The South Carolina Order of the Confederate
Rose have set up a legal defense fund for her and friends and
neighbors have been selling homemade crafts to raise additional
monies.
"This is truly a grassroots effort," said SLRC
Executive Director Roger McCredie. "Everybody is supporting
Candice." He added that thanks to these efforts the SLRC has been
able to retain local counsel (a former school board attorney) to
assist in administering the case. Additionally, though the South
Carolina Division's appropriation will be used to fund near-term
future work, about $1,700 in time and costs has been incurred
since December of 2004. Contributions to help offset that amount
may be made directly to the SLRC.
MARYVILLE MINISTER CURSES, THREATENS H.K
MARYVILLE,
TN – SLRC
Board of Advisors Chairman H. K. Edgerton was cursed and threatened
by a local minister while attempting to hold a flag vigil in
Maryville on August 30.
H.K., whose back problems have curtailed his marching activities and
forced him to postpone his march from Charlotte to Washington, had
set up a chair on the sidewalk in front of New providence
Presbyterian Church. The Church’s assistant pastor, the Rev. Steven
Musick, accosted H.K. and told him he would have to move. H. K.
replied that he was on a public easement – the sidewalk – and would
not leave. Musick then said, “If you don’t get off our property, I
will physically throw you’re a** off.”
Musick then made the mistake of calling local police,
who issued H.K. a special permit allowing him to conduct his vigil
on a traffic island nearby, to the delight of Maryville citizens.
The
SLRC demanded an apology from Musick but none has been received.
Want us to keep sending you the Update? So do we …
… but we need your help.
It costs about $1,200 per month to produce and mail our newsletter
each month to the approximately 2,300 folks on our mailing list.
Recently we analyzed our direct mail database and found that a
number of our Update recipients haven’t contributed to the SLRC
during the past year. In fact, some have not sent us a contribution
in two years or longer. We don’t want to lose any of our
“audience,” but as strapped as we stay for operating capital, and
with costs going nowhere but up, we’ve got to Do Something.
So next month’s
Update will be sent only to those folks that we have a record of
having contributed to the SLRC from January 1 through October 15,
2005. If you want to keep receiving this little newsletter, and
keep staying abreast of our doings as we continue to fight to secure
the rights of Southerners who seek to honor their heritage and
culture, and if you haven’t sent us a check so far this year …
please fill out the contribution fom enclosed and enclose it and
your check in the envelope provided.
In fact, if you can,
please check the middle box and pledge a monthly amount to send us
or to debit your credit card. Knowing we’ll have that money to
count on each month will be a huge help. (Just think – if everybody
on this list pledged five buck a month, that would be $11,500 –
nearly 2/3 of our monthly overhead!)
Tto those readers who
do contribute to us every month, as well as those whodonate whatever
they can whenever they can. Thank you as always from the bottom of
our hearts. We couldn’t exist without you. May we always be worthy
of your generosity and your friendship.
-- Roger McCredie
Executive Director
“Justice for
Dixie” SLRC logo stickers now available
The SLRC is proud
to announce that elegant full-color sticker versions of its new
logo are now available for sale through the SLRC office.
The stickers, which measure 4” x 4”, show the
SLRC’s coat of arms – a shield bearing the Southern Cross in red,
white and blue above a black scales of justice on a gold ground –
surrounded by a blue and gold strap with the motto, “Justice for
Dixie.” They are mounted on clear, static-cling plastic, which
allows them to be applied and removed at will from the inside of a
car windshield or any similar surface.
Price is $5.00 each, or 10 for $45, with a 20%
discount for orders of 50 or more.
Need a
speaker for your meeting or event?
Contact the SLRC Speakers’ Bureau.
FOR
INFORMATION, RATES and AVAILABILITY, call Allison Schaum at (864)
476-0656!
The Southern Legal Resource Center is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit
organization, and contributions to it are fully tax deductible.
Credit card and PayPal donations may be made at our website by
clicking on “How You Can Help.” Checks payable to the Southern
Legal Resource Center should be mailed to P.O. Box 1235, Black
Mountain, NC 28711. “Thumbs Up for Dixie” stickers are available
for SLRC and local heritage fundraising projects. Contact Allison
Schaum for details at slrc@slrc-csa.org or (864)
476-0656. If you wish to receive our weekly e-mail update,
contact us at slrc@slrc-csa.org.
