Justice Department Closes Its Doors to Jesse Jackson
The Rev. Jesse Jackson was turned away at the door of the Justice Department today as he sought to present Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III with a long list of complaints against the Reagan Administration’s civil rights record.
Jackson led a group of about 250 marchers from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library to the department on the 57th anniversary of King’s birth. They picketed and chanted--”What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!”--as Jackson, a one-time King aide, sought unsuccessfully to meet with Meese.
Jackson was met by uniformed police and a department publicist, who told him he could not enter the building without an appointment.
After Jackson stood his ground in a crush of police, supporters and reporters for 30 minutes, Steven Calabresi, a special assistant to Meese, appeared and accepted Jackson’s materials and told him consideration would be given to a future direct meeting with Meese.
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