Press Release, King and Abernathy Choose Jail Time over Fine
Author: Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Date: July 10, 1962
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Genre: Press Release
Topic: Albany Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Arrests
Nonviolence
Details
In this statement released from the SCLC office in Atlanta, King and Ralph Abernathy announce their decision to spend forty-five days in jail rather than pay a fine following their conviction the previous February for demonstrating without a permit in Albany.1 “Peaceful protest is a part of our American tradition,” King said, and “if we succumb to this unjust sentence and pay the fines levied, we would be partners in the crime of whittling away our freedom.” After spending two days in jail, the two were released on 12 July when an anonymous person paid the fine.2
“We have elected to serve out our 45 day sentences handed down today by Judge A. N. Durden of the Recorders Court.3 We sincerely feel that neither of us is guilty. Peaceful protest is a part of our American tradition. If we succumb to this unjust sentence and pay the fines levied, we would be partners in the crime of whittling away our freedom. Therefore, we chose to serve our sentences to give moral witness that it is better to go to jail with dignity and self respect than to pay an unjust fine and cooperate with evil and immorality. We willingly deferred bond because we are concerned about the fate of the more than 700 others similarly situated. We do earnestly pray that the deeper meaning of our action may be redempted {redeem} and reclaimed a sense of justice and morality in Mr. Durden and the officials of Albany. Our conviction today was a mortal wound in the body of justice. Jail-staying can possibly bring justice to life again in this community.”
Both King and Abernathy were sentenced by Recorder Court Judge, A. N. Durden, to fines of $178.00 or 45 days “on the streets” in Albany, Georgia in a conviction steming from a series of demonstrations against segregation in this south-side Georgia city.
Wyatt Tee Walker, executive assistant to Dr. King, indicated following a visit with King and Abernathy, that both were in “high spirits” and had begun fasting. Both SCLC officials told Walker and their wives that they would neither eat nor drink for the first 24 hours in order to purify their own sprits for the jail term ahead.
Dr. W. G. Anderson, leader of the Albany movement, pledged the total support of all the Albany community to this sacrificial gesture on the [part?] of Dr. King and Rev. Abernathy. Members of the Negro community in Albany were seen shortly after a mid-day mass meeting wearing black arm bands, which Walker says was a symbol of “mourning for dead justice” in Albany. The people in Albany have pledged to wear these black arm bands until Abernathy and King are free. It is their badge of belonging to the [Freedom?] Army of Dr. King. This could spread all over the nation.4
1. On 16 December 1961, King, Abernathy, and William G. Anderson led a group of over 260 to Albany City Hall to protest the failure of local officials to respond to the Albany Movement’s desegregation plan. On 27 February 1962, King and Abernathy appeared in an Albany courtroom to answer charges of unlawful assembly. At the end of the trial, the judge said he would not make his ruling for at least sixty days. According to the Washington Post, Coretta Scott King hugged her husband following the conviction and said through tears: “I know you are doing the right thing” (“King Refuses to Pay Fine, Goes to Jail,” 11 July 1962).
2. Rumors circulated about the anonymous donor who posted their bonds. The New York Times reported that local whites wanting King to leave Albany posted the bail; however, Albany police chief Laurie Pritchett said he did not know who paid the fines. Following their release, King and Abernathy held a news conference where King was quoted as saying: “This is one time I’m out of jail that I’m not happy to be out” (Claude Sitton, “Dr. King Is Freed against His Will,” 13 July 1962).
3. Adie Norman Durden (1898–1979) was a Georgia native and recorders’ court judge in Albany from 1962 to 1966.
4. Walker contacted King supporters asking them to send telegrams demanding King and Abernathy’s immediate release to President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Georgia governor S. Ernest Vandiver, and police chief Laurie Pritchett (Walker to Friends, 10 July 1962). Numerous people answered Walker’s call, including Harry Golden, a prominent Jewish journalist who sent a telegram to Vandiver: “Interesting that on the day Telestar revolutionized world communication that down at Albany, Georgia, they imprisoned Martin Luther King and Ralph D. Abernathy to remind us that perhaps the time is not yet to rejoice at our scientific advances” (Golden to Vandiver, 11 July 1962).
Source: SCLCR-GAMK, Southern Christian Leadership Conference Records, 1954–1970, Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.