◆ SpookStack

- eeBromsrein, formerly chief counsel of the Lawyers ToP mittee and now a fellow at.» - -the Institute of Politics at : ; Harvard University Ken-: nedy School of Government, . -by introducing him- gelfand the plaintiééiathe ae + (acoy—Bichard B. Sobol. .: Sobol is a young civil rights | Vettorney from Ww ‘cand New 1 _ been arrested in Plaque- “mines Parish for “unau- thorized practice of law.” . “Soboloff, and Bronstein,” * perez snorted, “it sounds jie Russian to me.” - Perez not only acknow- ledged but boasted of his ‘political powers. He was elected Plaquemines’ first judge in 1920.and later be- came district attorney, and president of the Parish Council—posts now held by his sons. Looe Perez, a millionaire and perhaps the parish’s wealth- jest landowner, declared he had set up the parish’s fiscal policy and Piaque- mines had thé lowest tax rate in the State. He has } made the parish’s jaw, -in- -terpreted it and enforced fF it. For two decades he has directed the Plaquemines . Democratic Executive Com- mittee and he often has had control or strong influence over the state committee. He eays_he, hss ‘written hur i. questioning of | * ta ome yah . reds of bills for the Legis: - Constitutional Defense Com- | ~ Jature” and calls himself the legislators’ “unofficial advi-, ser.” oe vee As Parish Council presi- 1 _ dent, Perez pushed through an order prohibiting demon- - strations of. more than 14 _y people without a permit. He - “proudly noted that no one “has applied for a permit . “and we have not had. any... such demonstrations.” . | Bronstein asked Perez - about ‘the Council's. pur- . chase of an old fort (Ft. St. Philip) on the Mississippi River for use as a stockade to imprison any civil rights workers who might venture into Plaquemines. ; “Yes, of course,” was the reply, “because we felt that our jails were not large enough to accomodate the large number of demonstrat- ors ... that visited other. places. So we prepared for them. Lo, To reach Pointe a la Ha- che, the parish seat, by one route it is necessary to cross the Mississippi by ferry. Bronstein asked Perez if he had once told someone, “If Martin Luther King comes in, we'll guarantee his trans- - portation across the river— part way that is.” -. “possibly,” Perez said. “Hey, are you defending Martin Luther King? Is he one of your idols?” At another point, Bron- stein asked about the adopt- ion of a parish ordinance re- { quiring that itinerant work- ers be fingerprinted. “There was an influx of ‘many hundreds .. . thou- sands of itinerant laborers. There were a number of un- desirable characters and criminals who drifted into the parish as a result, espe- cially one incident where a young woman was raped and | attempted murder was com- mitted .: .” ; Bronstein asked if Perez . enna” | . . J wee ’ gan Civil Liberties Union or belives the council “has the power to enact an ordinance requiring the fingerprinting and mugging or registering of lawyers .who come into the parish... 002. ew “That's entirely different,” Perez said. If we found a lawyer with a criminal rec- ord we would handle him, sir, just as we handle Ainer- - “So, if you are a member, for instance, of the’ Ameri-- any Communist organiza- tion, regardiess of whether the Federal Government at- tempts to protect you, we would make it very incon- venient for you in the Par- ish of Plaquemines.” _ Bronstein: “Suppose J told you that... Mr. Sobol is an outof-state lawyer and is affiliated with the American Civil Liberties Union?”, Perez: “My answer would be that he belongs to an atheistic, Communistic or- ganization, and in my com- munity he would not be a good American, but just a pat,” Perez said. Suppose Sobol made @ civil rights talk to a Ne- gro audience in Plequemines Parish, Bronstein asked. Perez: “If 1 saw him agi- tating unthinking Negroes to disturb the peace I'd handle him personally, as a man. Yes, I'd stop him. Try and see, Mr. Sobol . . .” Bronstein inquired about Perez's confirmation with two Negro attorneys from New Orleans who went to Plaquemines to represent ‘geveral Negroes arrested there. Perez replied that he told the attorneys they could represent the Negroes, “but -[ said if they came down to start any trouble, Td take eare of it” . _ "Didn't you in fact sug- gest they get out of town?” _ asked Bronstein. .— -. *T told them to use theiy,” a own judgment,” Percsee ‘plied and went on to ex- ‘plain their judgmem was.to leave town. (According to an attorney’s testimony dur- ing the Sobol case trial, the two attorneys found, pon . arriving in Plaquemines Par-. ish,. that. their clients had already been tried, convicted and sentenced). =, - - Had not perez once urged Plaquemines citizens to re- _ fuse to cooperate with the FBI, which was investigat- ing civil rights violations? “Yes,” he retorted. “At one time the secret police were knocking on and I told the people . . : to tell them to go ¢o hell. It was none of their business. Yes, we resent the Federal interference in our local gov- ernment, Absolutely. It's un- American. It’s unlawful. It’s dictatorial. It’s oppressive.” Did Perez believe civil rights legislation was par of the Communist conpirt q “That is correct, no dou at geese - <0 heen EreEpS TRE eee 0 ay