| We were a long ways from getting enough people to fill the jails. That's
when we made the decision to let the school children come in. They kept marching in
disciplined arrays, sitting in, demonstrating. I knew we were wining when I went to court
and the judge couldn't sentence me. He said, "Mr. Shuttlesworth, I regret that
because of the overcrowded condition at jail, we have no place to put you." I said,
"Your honor, we're making progress." The city had me on so many charges:
trespass, trespass after warning, conspiracy to violate a city ordinance, violation
of a city ordinance, and so on. And then they' get me for breach of the peace. I was never
a part of the sit-ins, but I got four convictions out of that. Several times they put a
vagrancy warrant against me to keep me in jail. But I was a full-time pastor, so after two
or three days, they'd charge me with something else. Many times when I was in a lower
court on one charge, the appellate court would affirm some decision that same day. I was
in jail so many times, I quit counting after twenty. But I knew what they were doing, and
it wasn't going to stop me. |
