Bernie asked:
>Was CAN bunked under a law designed to combat the Klan? More info
>please.
>P.S. Please send me an email copy if you answer. Thanks.
IANAL but I do know how to read legal material. Based on that here's a short
answer that points to the proper authorities on the question.
CAN and Rick Ross were successfully sued by Jason Scott under Title 42 Section
1985(3) of the United States Code. Section 1985 is based on, or updates, the
Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. The Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 was the basic law
passed by the US Congress to uphold and enforce the Civil War Amendments that
extended equal rights to all US citizens, to put force behind civil war
amendments by providing avenue for redress of injuries suffered by class of
newly emancipated slaves. McLellan v. Mississippi Power & Light Co., C.A.5
(Miss.) 1977, 545 F.2d 919. In the 1960's these were all updated in response
to violence in the southern US that was aimed at suppressing the political
participation of Negros.
The court of appeals in Scott said "A plaintiff alleging a conspiracy under
section 1985(3) must establish: the existence of a conspiracy to deprive the
plaintiff of the equal protection of the laws; an act in furtherance of the
conspiracy; and a resulting injury." It drew this test from United Broth. of
Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 610, AFL-CIO v. Scott, U.S.Tex.1983,
103 S.Ct. 3352. That court explained that the predominate purpose of this
section is to combat the prevalent animus against Negroes and their supporters,
including Republicans, generally, as well as others, such as northerners who
came south with sympathetic views towards the Negro, and to combat efforts of
Ku Klux Klan and its allies to frustrate intended effects of U.S.C.A.
Const.Amends. 13, 14, and 15. United Broth. of Carpenters and Joiners of
America, Local 610, AFL-CIO v. Scott, U.S.Tex.1983, 103 S.Ct. 3352.
In short, yes. CAN was killed off by the same law originally intended to
combat the Klan, as updated in the 1960's to further combat the Klan. It
outlaws conspiracies by private parties that use certain proscribed means to
interfere with the basic civil rights of others.
On a purely personal level, take away the rope for the lynching and the deaths
and I have a hard time distinguishing CAN type thugs from KLAN type thugs.
They promoted hatred and enabled violence for different reasons and to
different extents, but in both cases the aim was to combat ideas and
relationships with force and coercion.
Yeti
--http://www.bernie.us-inc.com/ars.htm
"I seek refuge in the GI, I seek refuge in the lawsuit". Modern day sangha.
