ACLU of Mississippi v. Kirk Fordice

The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission was a state agency created “to monitor and disrupt civil rights activities.” (American Radio Works) The Commission’s stated objective was to “do and perform any and all acts deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states . . ." from perceived “encroachment thereon by the Federal Government or any branch, department or agency thereof.”

The Sovereignty Commission was a “spy agency and propaganda machine.” (American Radio Works) The aim of investigations was to hinder civil rights progress and discredit activists. Hard evidence of "racial agitation" was not necessary to warrant their attention. The rumor mill and the race-baiters fed the Commission, and anyone who appeared to transgress the racial lines or who espoused a vaguely liberal perspective might be brought to their attention. Common targets of investigations included African-American applicants for notary public, owners of cars parked outside alleged civil rights meetings, individuals earmarked as "race agitators" as well as their families, and the babies of reported inter-racial relationships. Invariably the information gathered was intimate and slanderous in nature and often based on little more than local gossip and hearsay.

The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (referred to as the Commission) was created by the Mississippi legislature on March 29, 1956. It was the Mississippi government’s response to the May 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education stating that segregated schools are inherently unequal. The Commission was officially dissolved in 1977, four years after being defunded in 1973. The timing and duration of the Sovereignty Commission coincide with the timing of the Civil Rights Movement in the South, particularly in the state of Mississippi.

The Sovereignty Commission attempted to undermine the civil rights movement and maintain white supremacy in the following ways: (1) Investigating and disrupting individuals and organizations that challenged the racial status quo, especially civil rights workers. (2) Producing segregationist propaganda, such as pamphlets; (3) Sponsoring a Speakers’ Bureau to argue for the benefits of segregation; (4) Providing funding for white supremacist groups like the White Citizens Councils, an organization founded in Indianola, Miss. in 1954 that soon had hundreds of chapters across the South.

The Sovereignty Commission operated throughout the state of Mississippi. Because it was a state-funded agency, it had the resources to reach across the entire state and perform in multiple capacities. The Commission was able to be in multiple different cities with hardly any restriction.

The agency included a director, public relations director, clerical staff and a handful of investigators. It also employed private detectives and paid informants, meaning everyone from regular citizens to high-ranking government officials could be a part of the Commission in some form or fashion.

The governor was appointed ex-officio chairman of the Commission (Mississippi governors from 1956-1977 were: James P. Coleman; Ross Barnett; Paul B. Johnson Jr.; John Bell Williams; William Waller; Cliff Finch). Other ex-officio members were the president of the Senate; the attorney general; and the speaker of the House of Representatives. Two members from the Senate and three members from the House of Representatives also served on the Commission.

Coinciding with the preservationists' fight to save the records, the ACLU of Mississippi now sued for access. In February 1977, the ACLU filed a class action suit charging the state with illegal surveillance of its citizens and demanding the files be opened. Thus began the twenty-one-year-long battle in the courts. As the case evolved, the pivotal issue was balancing the demands of public access with the rights of privacy protection.

Although the Commission was not officially dissolved until 1977, it ceased functioning in 1973 when Governor William Waller vetoed its appropriation. Commission limped on, hopeful that the 1974 legislature would override Waller's actions. However, faced with the specter of imminent closure, the Commission voted to seal and transfer their files to the Secretary of State for safekeeping. Although members made plans for future meetings, the Commission officially closed its doors on June 30, 1973. The status of the agency remained unresolved until March 1977 when it was legally disbanded, under Governor Cliff Finch. The act of dissolution ordered the records sealed at MDAH until 2027. This decision followed a heated debate in the legislature over whether the records should be destroyed. Thankfully, the preservationists triumphed and the records were secured at the Archives.

From 1977 to 1998, the records of the defunct Sovereignty Commission were stored in a sealed vault at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in Jackson. On July 27, 1989, Judge Barbour rules that the Sovereignty Commission records should be opened and maintained just like any other public records. He stipulates that anyone named in the records may file rebuttal information. Privacy plaintiffs immediately appeal. In a related case on July 28, Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Stuart Robinson rules that copies of Sovereignty Commission records in the files of the Paul B. Johnson Family Papers curated at the McCain Library and Archives at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) are public records and should be opened. Accordingly, these records are quietly opened by the USM archives.

In 1998, all Commission records not involved in litigation were opened to the public by a U.S. District Court order. Accordingly, on March 17, 1998, the majority of the Sovereignty Commission records are made available to the public on three computer terminals in MDAH search room. This is the first time the records have been accessible to the public, and the opening attracts considerable media attention. The records of the 45 privacy respondents, totaling approximately 7,700 pages or 6 percent of the Sovereignty Commission collection remain sealed. In 2002, the MDAH made an online full-text version of the Commission records accessible on its website.