WASHINGTON, DC – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has filed a brief on behalf of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) opposing the federal government’s request to unseal and publicly release FBI files on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Forty-eight years ago, the Lawyers’ Committee stood alongside the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to take legal action against the FBI— to prevent its illegal surveillance of SCLC and its founding president, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., from ever being released. Now, on the day that marks 57 years since Dr. King’s assassination, we have met the moment once again—challenging a shameful effort to unseal and publicize these decades-old illegal surveillance files. These despicable violations of civil rights and liberties occurred not because SCLC or Dr. King posed a threat to our nation, but because they were a powerful force in the fight for justice and equity.
“It is seemingly unprecedented for the FBI to publish surveillance records of private citizens. This kind of violation of rights simply does not happen, and for very good reason. Releasing such records to the public serves no legitimate interest whatsoever of the American people.
“We urge the court to reject the federal government’s request and to respect the wishes of the King family, and allow Dr. King’s legacy to stand on the strength of his words, the merit of his actions, and his relevance as an inspiring figure in the ongoing fight for racial and economic justice.”
– Damon T. Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee
“The Southern Christian Leadership Conference rests on a foundation of legacy, leadership, and love. Our founder, Dr. King, and the diligent staff of the SCLC worked to bend this country toward freedom, justice, and equality. Their work was surveilled because it disrupted and upended the status quo. Attempts to unseal these files don’t serve justice; they serve to sensationalize and distort. We stand firm in protecting the truth of the SCLC and Dr. King’s mission.”
– DeMark Liggins, national president/CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
