Estate of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Sues MS TV News Anchor Howard Ballou to Get Documents

The estate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sued Howard Nelson Ballou, a television news anchor in Mississippi, claiming he has documents taken from the civil rights leader by a former employee, who happens to be his mother, Maude Ballou.

The lawsuit, which seeks possession of the papers, was filed Wednesday against Howard Nelson Ballou in U.S. District Court in Jackson. It says Ballou's mother worked for King as a secretary from 1955 to 1960 and kept documents during the time King led the Montgomery Improvement Association and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Attorneys for the estate say in court papers that the letters, photographs and other items are worth more than $75,000, though the exact value is not clear. The documents described in court records include a sermon; a statement King made the day after a landmark Supreme Court ruling on segregation; and a handwritten letter to Ballou's mother, Maude Ballou, from civil rights icon Rosa Parks. The material also is thought to contain photographs. "These documents and items are not only rare and irreplaceable, but of great value and historical importance as well," the lawsuit says. Source

I don't what the deal is but it seems that Dexter King, Rev. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III are a litigious bunch who are only after money and still more money. I lost all respect for them when they allowed the King Center in downtown Atlanta to fall into such disrepair that the city forced them to do repairs after citing the facility with multiple violations.