An American Nazi Party member accused of libeling Negroes by distributing hate leaflets in the Detroit area won a court dismissal with the help of two attorneys, one a Jew and one a Negro.
Russell Roberts, 64, of Farmington, was accompanied by three storm troopers from the Nazi group’s headquarters in Arlington, Va., when he appeared in Farmington Municipal Court. Maurice Kelman, a Jew, and Charles Quick, a Negro, attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union, served as “friends of the court.” They helped win the case for the Nazi by contending that Michigan criminal libel laws do not apply to groups, as with the Negro race. Mr. Kelman Justified the ACLU intervention by asserting that his organization opposed group libel actions, but said that he found the hate leaflets “obnoxious and hateful.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
