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The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (also known as the Sov-Com), a state agency directed by the governor of Mississippi, operated from 1956 to 1977. The commission had the stated objective to "() protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states" from "federal encroachment". Initially, it was formed to coordinate activities to portray the state - and the racial segregation enforced by the state - in a more positive light. During its existence, it profiled more than 87,000 names of people associated with the civil rights movement (which it opposed), and was complicit in the murders of three civil rights workers.〔 (Mississippi Commission's Files a Treasure Trove of Innuendo )." Associated Press 18 March 1998. Accessed 9 May 2008. 〕 ==Creation and structure== The Commission was created by the Mississippi Legislature in 1956 in reaction to the 1954 Supreme Court decision in ''Brown v. Board of Education'', in which the Court held unanimously that racially segregated public schools were unconstitutional. The "sovereignty" the state was trying to protect was against federal enforcement of civil rights laws, such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, and U.S. Supreme Court rulings. The membership consisted of 12 appointed and legislatively elected members, and the Governor of Mississippi, Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Mississippi and the Attorney General of Mississippi ''ex officio''. The governor sat as the chairman. Its initial budget was $250,000 a year. The Sovereignty Commission's first investigator was Leonard Hicks who began his position in 1956. In 1958 Zack Van Landingham became an investigator, followed by R.C. "Bob" Thomas, Rep. Hugh Boren, Andy Hopkins, and Tom Scarbrough in 1960. Other principal investigators for the Sovereignty Commission were Virgil Downing, Leland Cole, Fulton Tutor, Edgar C. Fortenberry and James "Mack" Mohead. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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