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CG 77-22636 REC/mtd L On March 21, 1979, James B. Parsons, Chief Judges United States District Court, Northern District I ois (NDI), advised Special Agent (SA) b6 that he had first met Abner J. Mikva when he was b7c a senior and the applicant was a freshman in law school in or about 1948. The applicant quickly became well known among the students and faculty at the University of Chicago Law School because of his outstanding legal mind. Judge Parsons said that the applicant was a member of the Order of the Coif, was on the Dean's List, was a Phi Beta Kappa, and was fourth or fifth in his class academically. He again became acquainted with the applicant when the applicant was a partner of one of the Judge's law school classmates. The Judge then came in contact with the applicant when the applicant began working with a group of attorneys including Arthur Goldberg (before he became a Supreme Court Justice) on labor rights. In about 1957, the Judge's children were attending Harvard St. George School, which was one of the first integrated private schools in Chicago. The applicant donated his time to represent the school in legal matters which were caused by the fact that it was integrated. Judge Parsons worked with the applicant in 1963, in organizing the National Conference on Religion and Race and later worked together on the Chicago Conference on Religion and Race. For the past three or four years, the applicant has had a summer home three doors down from Judge Parsons’ summer home in Lakeside, Michigan. Judge Parsons stated that the applicant's attitude on race relations is very good and that the applicant is very social and human welfare minded. He stated that he believes the applicant's loyalty to the United States Government and to the American form of government to be excellent. Judge " Parsons said that when he was a prosecutor and the applicant was a defense counsel, they met in court on a number of occasions and that since he (Judge Parsons) has been on the bench, the applicant has practiced before him on a number of occasions. He said from this experience, his knowledge of the applicant in law school, and from his acquaintance with the applicant as previously described, the applicant has demonstrated a commit~ -100-