Lawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center are set to appear in federal court in Alabama. It is the first hearing since the civil rights group was accused of defrauding donors by failing to disclose that money would be paid to informants inside extremist groups. The SPLC has a long history of working to combat discrimination and racism, primarily in the Deep South. It denies wrongdoing. The group says payments to informants helped it monitor threats of violence from extremist groups and saved lives. An arraignment on charges of money laundering conspiracy, wire fraud and false statements to a bank was set for Thursday in Montgomery.