NEWS from Southern Conference Educational Fund, Inc. 822 Perdido Street, New Orleans 12, La. October 6, 1960 JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--The Florida Supreme Court at Tallahassee has refused to free Richard F. Parker, a white student who is serving a 90-day sentence for taking part in sit-in demonstrations here during August. Parker sits in jail with a broken jaw received when he was slugged by a segregationist after the riots which followed the sit-ins. Unable to eat solid food, he lost 25 pounds during the first 35 days he was imprisoned. Because of his belief in the philosophy of [nonviolence], Parker refuses to prosecute his attacker. The student's attorneys plan to appeal to the federal courts to release Parker. They contend that his sentencing on a vagrancy charge violates his rights under the First, Fifth and and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Parker himself points out that he was in no sense a vagrant. He had funds in a local bank, was on vacation as a student from Florida State University, Tallahassee, and had a room in a local hotel when arrested. Jacksonville police admit they arrested Parker when he was sitting along in a white restaurant waiting for a cup of coffee. They had been watching him for 10 days because he was the only white person who had the courage to join Negro students in sit-ins. Parker took part in sit-ins on August 25 and 26. On August 27 the White Citizens Council brought on a riot by flooding the downtown section with hoodlums armed with ax handles and baseball bats. Police officials say they were unable to restrain these men because of a manpower shortage. Parker was arrested the day after the riot by officers who had