To settle a long-running ownership dispute over their father’s Nobel Prize and Bible, the children of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have turned to a man who knows something about conflict negotiations: Jimmy Carter.
The former president has agreed to serve as the King siblings’ mediator in a court battle over whether brothers Dexter Scott King and Martin Luther King III may sell their father’s possessions, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned. Their sister, Bernice King, has argued the items are sacred and should remain with the family.
Carter, whose peace-brokering resume includes a 1979 treaty between Egypt and Israel and agreements between the U.S. and Russia over arms control, met with the Kings on Monday, confirmed his grandson Jason Carter. The younger Carter is serving as legal counsel in the matter.
The King siblings’ very public family rift — laid bare in a series of lawsuits — stands at odds with their father’s legacy and has earned them repeated headlines over the years. But President Carter and the Kings expressed optimism in statements issued Monday that resolution for this and other matters is within reach.
“I am honored to be working with the King family in an effort to resolve the outstanding legal issues relating to their remarkable family legacy,” Carter said. “I have great respect for each of the three heirs of this legacy. They are working diligently with me, and I believe we will be able to resolve these difficult disputes once and for all.”
The King siblings also released a statement Monday, saying jointly, “We are truly honored and encouraged by President Carter’s involvement, and we look forward to a positive resolution.”
Because of the pending litigation, neither Carter nor the King siblings would make further comment.
The news comes about six weeks after Carter, now 91, revealed to the world that he’s begun treatment for cancer that has spread from his liver to his brain. As a result, the 39th president said he’s going to “cut back fairly dramatically” on his obligations, which for the past 35 years have included global peace-keeping and disease-eradication missions with The Carter Center.
In a press conference last month, Carter also announced that Jason Carter will take the helm as chair of The Carter Center’s board of trustees in November.
It’s unclear how the one-time president became involved in the Kings’ legal case, which is still playing out in Fulton County Superior Court.
At issue is the brothers’ contention that a 1995 agreement gives the Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Inc. ownership of all their father’s property. Each sibling sits on the estate’s board, but Bernice King counters that the Bible and Nobel medal belonged to her mother, Coretta Scott King, and therefore is not subject to that agreement. In 2014, the brothers voted 2-1 — against their sister — in favor of selling King’s 1964 peace prize and traveling Bible, which was used by President Barack Obama during his second inauguration.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had given both sides until June 30 to find a mediator or submit candidates to the court, with a deadline of Sept. 30 to reach a resolution.The talks continue with Carter on-board, though court records indicate that the judge hasn’t formally extended that deadline.
The lawsuit is separate from the King estate’s 2013 filing against The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which is run by Bernice King. In that case, the estate contended that items housed at the center were being kept in unsafe and potentially hazardous conditions. Dexter King withdrew that lawsuit in January.
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