a
The Financial Forecast
For 1988
Special Section C
Excelsior Club: A Renewed Tradition
Entertainment/ Page IB
Diets To Help Shed Holiday Pounds
Lifestyles/ Page 7A
CljarJotte
"The Voice Of The Black Community"
Volume 13, Number 32
THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday, January 7, 1988
Price: 50 Cents
Chambers Fined
Over $53,000
For Lawsuit
RALEIGH (AP) — Civil rights
attorney Julius Chambers and
members of his former law firm
have been ordered to pay more
than $53,914 for pursuing what
a federal Judge called
"frivolous" allegations In a race
discrimination lawsuit against
Fort Bragg
ofUclals.
Judge
James C.
Fox's order,
which re
quired an ad
ditional pay
ment total
ing $30,000
by two plain
tiffs In the
case and le
vied lines of
$250 against
several law- Chsmbers
yers, apparently was unprece
dented In the Eastern District of
North Carolina.
"The wholesale, long-term
waste of physical, mental and fi
nancial resources engendered by
the extraordinarily reckless,
frivolous conduct of both plain
tiffs and their counsel mandate
a substantial monetary sanction
against both,” Fox wrote In the
482-page document, filed Mon
day In U.S. District Court in Ra
leigh.
"A mere slap on the wrist or
minor fine Is unacceptable for
reasons of both general and spe
cific deterrence," Fox wrote.
'The lawyers represented black
civilian workers at Fort Bragg
who filed two race discrimina
tion suits against the Army In
1980 and 1981. The suits were
filed under Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, which pro
hibits emplo3Tnent discrimina
tion on the basis of race. The
suits were consolidated and tried
In 1984.
The suits alleged dlscrtmlnato-
ry practices In the merit promo
tion process In areas Including
evaluations. Reduction In Force
procedures and disciplinary pol
icies. Plaintiffs also ^eged that
when they voiced their com
plaints they were harassed and
subject to retaliation.
Amy attorneys had asked Fox
to Impose sanctions on the
plaintiffs and their lawyers.
Fox’s order assessed $30,000
against Chambers, lead counsel
In the case and attorney for the
NAACP Legal Defense and Edu
cational Fund. But Fox said
none of that money should come
from the NAACP or Its legal de
fense fund, saying he wanted no
diversion of funds fro'm Its
"crxicial mission."
Fox also ordered lawyer Geral
dine Sumter to pay $12,500, and
assessed $5,000 each against GlI-
da Glazer and Penda Hair, who
also participated In the case. 'Hie
balance of $1,414 was assessed
against the Charlotte law firm of
Ferguson, Stein, Watt, Wallas
and Adkins, where Chambers
formerly was a member and
where the other lawyers In the
case practice.
Naslf Majeed 1* accompanied by his wife as he files for the office of
the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners for
District 2. The west side businessman is flanked by his supporters
HiotolBtyCaMnFa^guaon
from the comimity: Isaac Heard (fer left), (1-r) Ron Leeper, Rev. Leon
Riddick and A.J. Scoggins.
Blacks File For Offices
Lawyer Says She Will
Appeal Judge's Penalty
RALEIGH (AP) —^A lawyer pen
alized for pursuing what a feder
al Judge called a "frivolous" dis
crimination suit said she still
believed blacks at Fort Bragg
faced racial discrimination and
that the decision would be ap
pealed.
Geraldine Sumter of Charlotte
maintained In a telephone In
terview and In a prepared state
ment that blacks had been dis
criminated against at Fort Bragg
by not being admitted to the
higher civilian pay grades.
"In light of the history and
then existing practice of racial
discrimination at Fort Bragg ....
we felt then as we do now that
the black employees had sound
bases for pursuing their claims,"
she told The News and Observer
of Raleigh.
She also said the Judge’s ruling
will have a chilling effect on
other suits.
"It says to litigants that you
cannot pursue your federally
protected rights without run
ning the risk of having to pay a
defendant large sums of money,"
Ms. Sumter said. "Whenever
you have the imposition of sanc
tions. there Is a chilling effect
on anybody else who would
bring a lawsuit."
But a former lawyer for the
U.S. Army, which had sought
nearly $84,000 In penalties
against the lawyers and two
plaintiffs, say the fines will not
discourage people who have le
gitimate cases.
U.S. District Judge James Fox
assessed $53,914 Monday
against Julius Chambers, direc
tor-counsel of the NAACP Legal
Defense and Educational Fund,
Ms. Sumter and two other law
yers, all members of Chambers’
former law firm In Charlotte.
He also Imposed penalties of
$30,000 against two plaintiffs in
the lawsuit, which had been
filed by black civilian employ
ees at Fort Bragg.
See Sumter On Page 2A
By Herb White
Post Staff Writer
The Mecklenburg political
season officially got under way
this week with blacks filing for
county commissioner, school
board, the N.C. General Assem
bly and district Judgeships.
With all seven county commis
sioners’ seats up for election,
the most Interesting race may
shape up In District 2, where a
political newcomer, Naslf Ma
jeed, will try to succeed Incum
bent Bob Walton.
Majeed’s Monday entry Into
the District 2 race guaranteed a
challenger to Walton, should he
decide to run for another term.
Majeed, 42, owns a Burger
King restaurant on Beatties
Ford Road and is active In Char
lotte’s black community as a
member of Project Catatyst, the
West Trade-Beattles Ford Road
Merchants Association and the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hous
ing Authority.
Walton, who has served five
terms as a commissioner, has
not said If he wUl file for reelec-
tlon although he has sent ques
tionnaires to guage public sup
port for another campaign.
Cedric Jones, a retired Garlng-
er High English teacher, filed for
one of the three at-large seats.
Jones, 70, was unsuccessful In a
similar bid, losing In the 1986
Democratic primary. No black
has won an at-large county
Sen. Jim Richardson, a Demo
crat, filed for reelectlon to his
seat In District 33. Richardson,
who was elected to the senate in
1986 after serving as a state
representative. Is probably best
known for pushing for passage
of bills to strengthen city coun
cil's affirmative action policy In
awarding contracts. He also
supported the council's bid to
allow the county to assess a real
estate transfer tax.
Richardson, 61, Is a retired
postmaster.
Cunningham represents Dis
trict 59 In the N.C. House. A 57-
year-old Democrat, Cunning
ham sponsored a bill last year
to curb racial violence and In
timidation. The legislation,
which passed the General As
sembly last July, allows victims
of racial harassment to file civil
suits In local court Instead of
trying cases under federal Juris
diction.
Cunningham also owns the
Excelsior Club on Beatties Ford
Road.
Maggie Nicholson Is trying to
win a seat on the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg School Board.
Nicholson, who has run In every
school board election since
1974.without success. Is 81 and
a Democrat.
• j •
Senator Jim Richardson files for the office of State Senator in Dis
trict 33.
King March Scheduled
Racist Leader, Family To Take On New Identities
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) —White
supremacist Glenn Miller and
his family will assume new
Identities under the federal gov
ernment’s witness protection
program, acting U.S. Attorney
Doug McCullou^ says.
In a related development Mon
day, Miller, who threatened a
race war last spring, was sen
tenced In federcd court to five
years In prison. He had entered
Into a plea-bargain arrange
ment In which he agreed to be
come a government informant
and pleaded guilty to mailing a
"declaration of war" and Ille
gally possessing hand grenades.
Miller will probably end up
serving 2 1/2 to three years of
the sentence, McCullough said.
U.S. District Judge E^arl Britt
sentenced Miller to five years on
the charge of mailing a threa
tening communication and gave
him a 10-year suspended sen
tence on the weapons charge. He
ordered Miller to remain on pro
bation for five years after serv
ing his active sentence. Miller
could have faced 15 years In
prison and fines of $100,000.
"It Is not easy to minimize the
extent of the wrong you have
committed," Britt told Miller be
fore sentencing.
"Many of the things you have
said and done may have been
bluffs as far as you were con
cerned. but to the impressiona
ble people who may have been
- following you, they were not
threats, they were not bluffs,
they were not boasts," Britt said.
"They were calls to action."
Miller’s attorney, Thomas C.
Manning, had asked that Miller
be put on probation.
Miller was released on $25,000
secured bond and ordered to re
port to prison on Feb. 26, McCul
lough said.
'Hie race-war threat was issued
after Miller disappeared while
an appeal of a contempt convic
tion was pending. The hand gre
nades were part of an arsenal of
weapons found In a Missouri
mobile home In which Miller
and three of his associates were
captured in April.
Before he signed a plea agree
ment In May promising to testl-
Ify against other white suprema
cists, Miller faced potential
charges ceunylng more than 100
years In prison, according to a
sentencing memo filed In U.S.
District Court In Raleigh.
Although Miller agreed to be
come a government Informer,
Klan watchers said the move
was apparently motivated by
self-preservation rather than by
a change In his political out
look.
"I think It’s Just a matter of
keeping his rear end out of the
fire," said Danny K. Welch, chief
Investigator for Klanwatch. "In
order to do that, he’s telling
things on other people."
Federal authorities have been
secretive about the cases In
which Miller Is cooperating.
Private .groups that monitor ac
tivities of the Ku Klux Klan and
other extremist groups say Mill
er has ties to national groups,
making him a valuable infor
mant.
See Racist On Page 2A
People United for Justice will
lead Its annual march In honor
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on
Sunday, January 10.
The march wlU begin at comer
of LaSalle St. and Beatties Ford
Rd. at 3 p.m. and end at West
Charlotte High School.
The theme for the march will
be: "Sleeping in Times Like
These." Former city councilman
Ron Leeper will be a guest speak
er. March officials are asking
black leaders of the community
to take a stand In 1988. They
state, "Our goal Is to get 100 peo
ple to take a stand for peace. Jus
tice. love and freedom."
It Is People United for Justice’s
hope that all will march togeth
er In honor of Dr. King this year
and pledge to fight to keep the
dream alive throughout the
year.
Dixie Must Go, Ala. Rep. Says
Inside This Week
Medicine
Dr. Kirk Williams is City's
first black eye, ear, nose and
throat specialist Page 3A
Lifestyles 7A
Church News...8A
Sports
Virginia Unions Dumps JCSU
Athletics by PAL Page 7B
Classifieds....12B
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) —
The state president of the
NAACP said Wednesday he will
personally haul down the Con
federate flag atop Alabama’s
Capitol If Gov. Guy Hunt does not
do so by the Feb. 2 start of the
1988 legislative session.
State Rep. Tom Reed, D-
■'Tuskegee, who directs Alabama
operations of the Natlonjil Asso
ciation for the Advancement of
Colored People, also said news
reports incorrectly stated that
he wasn’t Joining a regional
campaign to remove Confederate
flags from several Southern
statehouses.
He said he would Join the cam
paign announced by the South
east regional NAACP director,
Earl Shlnhoster.
Reed said that for procedural
purposes, the matter would be
considered at the next meeting of
the state NAACP board of direc
tors.
"This flag Is obnoxious to me
and to all black people," said
Reed. "It should not fly over the
state Capitol. I’m asldng Gov.
Hunt to have the flag removed. If
he does not remove It by the
opening of the regular session of
the Legislature —that’s noon on
Feb. 2 —then I will physically
remove It myself as a citizen of
this great state."
Hunt said Tuesday the Legisla
ture, not the governor, should
settle the issue. His press secre
tary, Terry Abbott, said Wednes
day that Reed’s statement proba
bly would not change the govern
or’s stand.
"His position all along is that
See Flag On Page 2A