Operation Southern Justice
"The acquittal of Thomas Coleman, which is surely a travesty of justice, is not the price we must pay
for the jury system. Rather it is the fearful price extracted from society for the administration of the system
by people whose prejudices lead them to sacrifice justice upon the altar of their irrational fears."
- The Rt. Rev. John Hines
Members of ESCRU believed Thomas Coleman was wrongfully acquitted in Daniel’s death and that white juries would continue to fail to convict defendants charged with race and hate crimes. In response to Coleman’s acquittal, and those of other white defendants charged with killing civil rights workers, ESCRU joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), National Council of Churches and other groups in Operation Southern Justice, which brought lawsuits and a lobbying campaign to integrate southern juries. In response to these efforts, President Lyndon B. Johnson instructed the Justice Department to draft legislation to ensure fair jury selection in the South. This legislation was introduced to Congress as the Civil Rights Act of 1966. It passed the House, but failed to pass the Senate.
