Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 25

THE fLARION-LEDGER FRIDAY February 6, 1981 5C Hinson's political odyssey began before college ended By CLIFF TREYENS ed a significant erosion of Hinson's support among the Republican mighty in Mississippi. Other instances of controversy have dogged Hinson practically from the day he took office. In April 1979, only months after Mississippi's devastating Easter flood, Hinson voted against a measure calling for $920 million in disaster relief and other expenditures. The measure sought funding for programs that he didn't support, the congressman explained. A month later, when asked what he thought about naming a national holiday after the late Rev.

Martin Luther King Hinson told a civic club that he was against the concept of civil disobedience, the foundation of King's civil rights movement. Also in 1979, he told a group of engineers that nuclear energy was "an unforgiving technology" and called for a five-year moratorium on construction of nuclear reactors. At the time, just such a plant was under construction in Port Gibson. With the candidate's approval, Hinson was depicted as a young conservative who was concerned about the same things voters were taxes, inflation, recession, unemployment. Hinson's election to the U.S.

House was cause for celebration for the people of Tylertown. Congratulatory advertisements appeared in the Tylertown Times from establishments such as Breland's Drug Store, Southern Tractor Co. and Walthall Citizens Bank. 1 "You have the wholehearted support of your homefolks as you begin your term in Congress," said one. In another, Clifton Hinson, the new congressman's father and a Walthall County supervisor, was pictured smiling alongside his fellow supervisors.

In 1980, Hinson again used an ingenious campaign to overcome imposing odds and handily defeat Democrat Britt Singletary of Jackson and independent candidates Leslie McLemore of Jackson and John Wayne Mclnerney of Clinton. The odds were laid out at an Aug. 8 news conference, when Hinson made two startling announcements. One was that he had been arrested in 1976 on a charge of committing an obscene act at the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.

He paid a $100 fine on a reduced charge of creating a public nuisance. The other revelation was that he was one of that Jackson lawyer and state Rep. Job Hampton Stennis would be the runaway victor in the election to fill Cochran's seat. But after breezing through the June 1978 Republican primary against three opponents, Hinson stunned nearly everyone but himself by soundly defeating Stennis by nearly a 2-1 margin. "The Eastland retirement triggered a feeling among people who really wanted a change.

Stennis' name, his lackluster campaign, all benefitted my candidacy," Hinson told his hometown newspaper, the Tylertown Times, in a 1979 post-election special section. "They did not figure on an aggressive campaign from me and the good media we put together." It was the advertising, specifically television, that may have been the keyto Hinson's decisive victory over virtual obscurity and the draw of the Stennis name. It was not the amount of campaign money, but how it was spent, that apparently made the difference. In fact, Stennis outspent Hinson, $303,000 to $231,000. "We went after the Democratic and independent voters and the hard-core Republicans.

We made the calculated decision to put our money in TV," Hinson told the the Tylertown Times. "Several of my opponents thought I was crazy." The brains behind Hinson's advertising campaign belonged to 26-year-old Stuart Stevens of Jackson, who later joined Hinson's congressional staff. four survivors of a 1977 fire at the Cinema Follies, a Washington club and theater which catered to homosexuals. Nine men died in the fire. Hinson people used a highly sophisticated, computerized campaign machine to counteract the negative publicity which began flooding in after the disclosures.

By conducting daily professional polls in the 4th Congressional District, campaign workers were able to pinpoint precisely where the disclosures did the most damage. Hand-in-hand with that effort was an attack on the press by Hinson for the reporting of details of the incidents he had disclosed, which he termed "journalistic terrorism." Ironically, the press, which facilitated the advertising blitz that helped him win in 1978, was now the enemy as much as Hinson's opponents were. But Hinson's financial and organizational backing also has played an important part in both campaigns. Both came in quantity from independent oilman Billy Mounger and insurance man Wirt A. Yerger Jr.

of Jackson, two veteran campaigners and Republican Party powers. Together they organized fund-raising committees, coached campaign volunteers and established finance committees in all 12 southwest Mississippi counties in the 4th Congressional District. So when both men, who stuck by Hinson last fall, said Wednesday they no longer thought the congressman should remain in office, it indicat Clanoo-Ledger Staff Writer Rep. Jon C. Hinson's often-stormy political career, which gained national attention with his arrest on sodomy charges Wednesday, began even before he was graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1964.

In 1959, aged 21, Hinson served for a month as page to John Bell Williams, then a U.S. congressman and later governor of Mississippi. He returned to Washington in 1967 for a year as a doorman in the VS. House of Representatives. Hinson's first staff assignment, from 1968 to 1969, was as an assistant to U.S.

Rep. Charles H. Griffin. He then served as administrative assistant to Rep. Thad Cochran from January 1973 to May 1977.

Cochran won the seat vacated by Griffin, who did not run for re-election. From the time he left Cochran's staff until March 1978, when his own congressional campaign began, Hinson was a consultant on federal programs and office organization for Louis Kramp and Associates, Washington public relations consultants which deals in government relations. It was a big break for Hinson when Cochran decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by James 0. Eastland, who was retiring after a 37-year career in the U.S.

Senate. The campaip for Mississippi's 4th Congressional District seat presented what some considered to be insurmountable odds. Practically all political pundits predicted Despite these incidents, his staunch conserva-" tism apparently kept him on the good side of the electorate and organizations with names like Conservatives Against Liberal Legislation, On Thursday, some wondered whether Hinson could rise above the fray once more. But many didn't even want him to try. "After this incident I think he's sick and all he can do is resign," Mounger said.

Hopefuls in A fad of her life Cynthia Hinson has seen life a 4th District await word treat badly those close to her By ANNE Q. HOY gation by the FBI in 1966, Johnson resigned from his position "under pressure" from the president of the First Bulloch Bank Si Trust, Statesboro's lo- cal bank, and soon moved his family from that town. "She (Cynthia) went through a crisis period," recalled Dr. J. Robert Smith, who was pastor of Statesboro's local First Baptist Church when the family worshipped there.

"It was a sad, traumatic experience." W.G. Cobb Sr. of Statesboro, the president of First Bulloch Bank Trust when Johnson served as vice president, described those days as "rough" on the family, saying the incident finally forced them to leave town. The Johnsons moved from their hometown of Statesboro to Decatur, a suburban Atlanta community, in 1966 after Johnson's conviction in U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Georgia on April 29, 1966.

The late U.S. District Judge Frank Scarlett placed Johnson on five years of supervisory probation with the condition that he pay back the bank and a $2,500 fine within 60 days. The exact amount of money to be paid to the bank was not listed in federal court records detailing the case, a federal court clerk, said Thursday. Before the bank incident, Johnson had enjoyed an active political life as an administrative assistant to U.S. Rep.

Prince Preston, a Democrat who repre-sented Georgia's 1st Congressional Dis-tict. In those years, Congress was only in session for a few months each year, so i the family lived part of the year in Washington and part of the year in Statesboro. When the family returned to Statesboro in 1952 because Johnson thought his children should be in the same school year-round, Johnson parlayed his experience in the nation's capital into politi- cal posts with the Statesboro City Coun- cil and Georgia State Board of Educa- See Cynthia, page 8C Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Cynthia Hinson is no stranger to public life gone awry. Mrs. Hinson, 34, wife of Rep.

Jon C. Hinson who pleaded innocent Thursday in District of Columbia Superior Court to a reduced misdemeanor charge of attempted sodomy, again is forced to face a snickering public. Hinson won re-election last fall after making a public disclosure he had once been arrested for an obscene act at the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in the Arlington National Cemetery and that he had survived a deadly fire that gutted a theater which showed pornographic films located in an area frequented by homosexuals in Washington. Wednesday he was arrested again in Washington by U.S.

Capitol Police on a felony oral sodomy charge in a congressional office building's restroom. Mrs. Hinson, who stood by her husband as he fielded questions about his controversial revelations at his first news conference after the disclosures last August, was unavailable for comment Thursday. Her plans, if any, were not publicly known Thursday. But whatever Mrs.

Hinson decides, she faces the future with the advantage of hindsight in dealing with trying times brought on by political involvement. Her father, John Brantley Johnson Jr. of Decatur, a former Georgia politician, said Thursday he had "not even suggested" that his daughter leave her husband. Likewise, her mother, Evelyn Johnson, said Thursday she was not in a position to know her daughter's plans. "I don't know I would just rather not talk about it," she said.

More than 14 years ago, the then-teenage Cynthia Johnson watched her father fall under the weight of a federal fraud conviction on charges of embezzling funds from a Statesboro, federally insured bank of which he was vice president. While the charge was under investi V- I I v'. v. j-u fill ji" "1 a I 7i 1 I A 1 A ri v- tv. I i 'i' AIA 1 yl A' 1 'Af -a4" a a AV I 1 v' 1 A i i ih J-' i By CLIFF TREYENS Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer The futures of an untold number of Mississippi politicians were up in the air Thursday as the fate of 4th District Rep.

Jon Hinson hung in the balance. Those who were convinced Hinson would announce his resignation after his Wednesday arrest on a charge of oral sodomy weren't so sure after Thursday's arraignment. And their comments about possible candidacies for Hinson's seat were couched in tentative language. "We've got plenty of candidates out there but the question is moot right now," independent Jackson oilman Billy Mounger said Thursday. "There's obviously no vacancy unless he resigns." The names of a number of persons surfaced Thursday as possible candidates.

They ranged from current Jackson city Commissioner Nielsen Cochran (brother of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran) and former city Commissioner Doug Shanks to state legislators Rep. Dick Hall and Sen. Con Maloney, both of Jackson.

Rumored to be considering a bid for the congressional seat were state Insurance Commissioner George Dale, former state Senate staffer Jesse White, former Gov. Bill Waller and Jackson lawyer Richard Barrett. Among the leading possible candidates were Hinson's two major opponents in his November re-election campaign: runner-up Leslie McLemore, an independent and Democrat Britt Singletary. Both have expressed interest in running again if a special election is called by Gov. Winter to fill a vacancy.

Another potential candidate, Jackson Mayor Dale Danks apparently is not considering running for Congress. "Dale Danks is extremely happy with the job he's doing with the city of Jackson and has no intention to do anything else but to be mayor of this town," said Art Salomon, a spokesman for the Danks mayoral campaign. Mounger, one of Hinson's closest backers and confidants, said Wednesday night the second-term congressman is "sick" and should resign. Moreover, he indicated that he plans to meet with prospective candidates for the congressional seat. He did talk to more than a dozen unnamed persons by telephone and in person about the matter.

But Mounger -known for being outspoken was more subdued on Thursday. Hinson had pleaded innocent to a misdemeanor charge of attempted sodomy. He was originally charged with oral sodomy, a felony. And the congressman had made no statement concerning his intention to remain in office or to resign. "He's aware that Wirt (A.

Yerger Jr. of Jackson) and the main ones who supported him, are calling for his resignation," Mounger said, adding that he has not attempted to call Hinson and Hinson hasn't called him. "From the moves that he has made you've got to read in those moves that he doesn't intend to resign." It was that uncertainty which riveted the attention of possible candidates for Hinson's job. "I've heard rumors that he (Hinson) had two letters written one saying that he would resign and one saying that he wouldn't," Maloney said. "As far as 1 and the district are concerned, I think the congressman should resign, but don't think that's necessarily what he's going to do." Maloney said he was "not seeking support" for the position.

But, should Hinson resign, he said he would discuss the matter of his candidacy with family and friends. It is not the first time that Hall has considered the congressional seat. "I was approached the first time Mr. Hinson ran by some people who were very interested in me running," said Hall, who was not interested at the time. Now, because of what he termed the "poor job" Hinson has done and "this terrible embarrassment," his tune may change.

"I'm seriously considering it," he said. 'Dissociative reaction9 defined as ego defense Staff photo by Paul Beaver Victory on Election Day was a high point in Rep. 4th District victory, Hinson and wife Cynthia Jon Hinson's roller-coaster career. As he made his seemed to have overcome the burden of his Au-way through a crowd that night to announce his gust disclosures of sexual impropriety. Man arrested with Hinson is 'nice guy' In his current job, he is a technician in the processing section of the Library of Congress' law library.

Sources said Moore has filed a grievance complaint against his current supervisor, a woman, who replaced a black supervisor they said gave Moore "a lot of responsibility." "He's known as a good worker, very quiet," one source said. "But he has emotional problems in dealing with women." Another source said Moore was "a quiet man and a nice guy," who took his work seriously. The staff at the Library of Congress was buzzing Thursday at the news that one of its own had been arrested on a sodomy charge in a congressional office building men's room. See Harold Moore, page 8C By JOHANNA NEUMAN Clarion-Ledger Washington Bureau WASHINGTON He was described by friends and acquaintances as a quiet man, a good worker and a nice guy. Harold Moore, 28, a black man who was born in Richmond, and who now lives in Oxon Hill, was catapulted into the headlines Wednesday when he was arrested with Rep.

Jon Hinson of Mississippi on a charge of oral sodomy in the men's room at the Longworth House Office Building here. Moore, the only one of four defendants arrested in the case Wednesday who could not post bond and had to spend the night in jail, was released on his own recognizance after he pleaded innocent before District of Columbia Superior Court Judge William Thompson Thursday afternoon. A five-year veteran of the Library of Congress, Moore first worked in tho serials division, sorting and cataloging magazines and other periodicals. was an aide to Rep. Thad Cochran, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of creating a public nuisance and paid a $100 fine.

7 He also revealed that he was one of four survivors of an October 1977 Wash- ington theater fire in which nine per-J sons died. Hinson admitted that tie theater showed pornographic films and was located in an area frequented by homosexuals, but he denied that he had ever been homosexual. The American Psychiatric Associ-1 ation no longer considers homosexuality to be a mental disorder or a sexual dysfunction. It is now referred to as an alternative sexual lifestyle. Psychological experts said dissocia- tive reaction is a very common legal defense that is often seen in court.

"It means the person was not psycho- logically responsible for the acts he is 3 accused of committing," a Jackson psy-! chologistsaid. Experts said dissociation is not con- jj sidered as severe a psychological disor- der as, for example, schizophrenia, which is a psychosis or severe mental disorder. Dissociation can be treated with counseling aimed at either remov- i ing the patient from the stressful situa- tion or teaching him to handle the stress constructively, they said. 4 The misdemeanor crime with which 3 Hinson has been charged has no strict definition, not even in legal circles. Paul Gebhard, director of the nation- 2 ally known Institute for Sexual Re- search at Indiana University in Bloom- ington, said sodomy is often used to de scribe oral and anal sex acts between members of the opposite sex as well as between members cf the same sex.

At one time, all SO states had laws i that made sodomy a crime, but 182 states have since repealed those laws, he said. The laws rarely define sodomy" in a consistent manner, Gebhard noted. By MARTIN ZIMMERMAN Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Rep. Jon Hinson, who pleaded innocent Thursday to a charge of attempted sodomy, is voluntarily confined to a Washington-area hospital today for treatment of what he described as a "dissociative reaction" caused by a buildup of pressure. Dissociation is defined by psychologists as "a separation of an idea or activity from the mainstream of consciousness as a mechanism of ego defense." It basically means that a person "is not acting the way he normally acts," said one local mental health expert who asked not to be named.

"They may go through the motions but they don't really know what they're doing. "Later they may not remember the incident, or give a different version of events, in order to protect their egos," the expert said. "Dissociative reaction can crop up in times of severe stress or pressure." An official of the National Institute of Mental Health said dissociative reaction is an uncommon disorder covering a range of mental problems including multiple personalities and temporary amnesia. Another expert, who also asked not to be named, said Hinson's dissociative reaction may have been triggered by pressures resulting from last year's reelection campaign. During the campaip, Hinson's private life came under public scrutiny after he revealed that he had been arrested in 1976 on a homosexual-related charge.

Hinson disclosed last August that he was arrested in September 1976 on charges of committing an obscene act at the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in the Arlington National Cemetery. Hinson, who at the time of the arrest 'Insiders' know which restroom feet, is bare of furniture or accessories. It is here, in the beige walls of the "common area," that the incident allegedly took place. A wooden door leads into the bathroom proper.

Three sinks and a mirror line one wall. A pair of urinals and two stalls, one equipped for men in wheelchairs, line the opposite wall. There is no graffiti, only the marble of the walls and the antiseptic cleanliness to remind one of the room's purpose. The bathroom is on the fifth floor, just a few steps from the office Jon Hinson occupied during his first term. Sources who work in the building and asked not to be See Quiet, page 8C Clarion-Ledger Washington Bureau WASHINGTON It is marked with a printed sign that says "MEN" and a caricature of a male in a wheelchair.

Otherwise, the restroom of the Longworth House Office Building where Rep. Jon C. Hinson of Mississippi was arrested on a sodomy charge Wednesday is as innocuous as it is hidden. Tucked away in a hallway which houses only three staff offices, the bathroom is reminiscent of the men's rooms that might grace a fashionable gentlemen's club. A visitor first enters a large, high-ceiling anteroom whose only feature is space.

The room, measuring about 12 feet bv 9.