Biography
Kenneth Martin Shilman was arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, on June 2, 1961, for participating in the Freedom Rides and challenging segregation in interstate transportation. His confinement included Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. A contemporaneous interview published in the Daily Iowan on June 27 records his release on June 24, 1961. The County Court later directed a verdict for him on December 14, 1961; that court disposition is separate from his earlier physical release.
Deputy clerk Robert Lilly’s sworn October 26, 1964 affidavit reports the following Hinds County Court disposition: County Court docket 12,777: directed verdict for the defendant, December 14, 1961. This is the legal disposition of the Freedom Ride prosecution, not evidence that physical custody continued until that date or that a jail release occurred then. Earlier municipal convictions, where already documented, are preserved as earlier events.
