Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Judge Charles Swinger Conley Collection |
Collection |
Judge Charles Swinger Conley Collection |
Catalog Number |
2009.003 |
Object Name |
Papers, Personal |
Level of description |
Fonds/Coll |
Scope & Content |
Judge Charles Swinger Conley Collection 1 medium box; 1 cubic foot The Honorable Judge Charles Swinger Conley, 1921-2010 This collection consists of a copy of a letter to A. Philip Randolph to help with the civil rights movement in Alabama. Also is a and a copy of a letter to Dr. Gomillion advising him of a meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Alabama Legal Defense Committee, copies of two court cases for several members of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) vs. the City of Montgomery, and other items relating to his career as a lawyer and judge. Judge Charles Conley is an ASU Alumnus, '41. Upon earning his Jurisprudence Degree in 1955 from New York University and serving as a Professor of Law at Florida A&M University, Attorney Conley returned to Montgomery in 1960. For several years, he served as attorney-of-record for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and was chosen as "attorney-of-choice" by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Among many noteworthy cases (see Constitutional Rights on Trial by Attorney Arthur Kinoy, which chronicles several record-setting cases), Attorney Conley was the lead counsel in the famous L. B. Sullivan vs. New York Times, Inc., Reverends Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, S. S. Seay, Sr., J. E. Lowery and Fred Shuttlesworth. This 1960 case grew out of the Civil Rights Movement's fund-raising appeal that appeared in the "New York Times" Sunday Magazine. Commentary in the appeal was critical of Montgomery's public officials, i.e., Police Commissioner L. B. Sullivan. The case went before the U.S. Supreme Court, where Attorney Conley argued on behalf of the Movement's defendants. The High Court ruled in favor of the defendants. This litigation is to this day the premiere case-law to protect the 1st Amendment rights. Attorney Conley in 1972 was elected as the first Black Judge for Macon County Court of Common Pleas. He was re-elected in 1976. |
Search Terms |
Conley, Charles Swinger Civil Rights Civil Rights Movement Conley, Charles Swinger Alabama - Politics and government African Americans Legal status |
People |
Conley, Charles Swinger |
Child Records |
Box 1 - Newspaper Articles, Court Cases, DVD |