vol. 7, no. 9

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

FREE SPEECH FREE PRESS FREE ASSEMBLAGE

“Eternal is the price of liberty.”

Vol. VII SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, SEPTEMBER, 1942 No. 9

NEW EVACUATION TEST SUITS

Army’s Right To Detain Excluded American Citizens Challenged

Sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union, petitions for writs of habeas corpus were filed on August 19 and 20, respectively, in Los Angeles Federal Court in behalf of Toki Wakayama and Ernest W aleny ama: Both are JapaneseAmerican citizens imprisoned in detention centers by virtue of the Japanese evacuation orders of Lt. Gen. J. L. De- Witt, Commander of the Western Defense Command. ‘U. S. Army Veteran Ernest Wakayama served in the United States Army in the last World War, was acting Adjutant of Commodore Perry Post No. 525 of the American Legion at the time | of his evacuation, and secretarytreasurer of the Fishermen’s Union, A. Wo ct 1. at San Pedro. Toki Wakayama is his wife. Appearing in behalf of the petitioners are counsel furnished py the A.C.L.U., A. L. Wirin, E. W. Camp, Fred Okrand, and Loren Miller.

The petition challenges fhe constitutionality of the military evacuation orders. The case is a test case which is scheduled to be Eon to the oupy me Court of the United tates.

Particularly under constitutional attack in the petition is “‘Civilian Restrictive Order No. 1,” issued by Lt. Gen. J. L. DeWitt on May 19, 1942, under the terms of which American citizens of Japanese ancestry, amongst others, are prohibited from leaving assembly reception centers without written permission.

No Authority to Detain

The President’s executive order, it is urged, limits the authority of military com- manders to ‘“‘exclusion’”’ from military areas, and does not include authority to “detain” as well as exclude.

The imprisonment of the petitioners, according to the petitions, abridges the peti- tioners’ rights to ‘“‘due process of law’ in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, because they are detained solely because i their race or ancestry and without hearing having been granted them.

In addition, the petitions charge that eight of the ten amendments to the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution are violated by the imprisonment; as well as the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

Two-Fold Emphasis

The emphasis of the constitutional challenge is two-fold: (1) the failure of the military authorities to hold hearings to de-. termine the loyalty of Japanese-American citizens; ders discriminate illegally against the citigens of Japanese nationality. The petitions for habeas corpus have been set for hearing in Los Angeles before and (2) that the evacuation orFederal Judge Cee E. Beaumont on September 8.

“Illegal”? Meeting oe Dismissed

In the meantime, the position of the A.C. L.U., that the Federal criminal prosecution against Ernest Wakayama. -and three other Japanese-American citizens, for holding a (Continued on Page 3, Coll.2)

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BRANCH — CELEBRATES ITS EIGHTH BIRTHDAY

The Northern California branch of the A.C.L.U. celebrates its eighth birthday on September 14. Re-established September 14, 1934, the branch had its first start in the summer of 1926, following a visit by Roger Baldwin. Under the guidance of a full-time director, it managed to hurdle financial obstacles for a year, after which Austin Lewis carried on single-handedly with the meager support of a few loyal friends until our rebirth in 1934.

You can help us to celebrate the occasion. by signing up some'of your friends in the A.C.L.U. With so many members going into the Army or moving to Washington, there has been a considerable fluctuation in the Union’s membership. Nevertheless, at this writing the Union’s paid-up membership is 604, whereas on September 1, 1942, it was 598. But we are looking to YOU not only to maintain our membership but to increase it, One way of acquainting persons with the work of the A.C.L.U. is to give them a year’s subsiription to the A.C.L.U.-NEWS. Won’t you’send in 75c for a subscription for some friend?

Eureka Peddling License Case Appealed to the Superior Court

Claude Hashberger, Jehovah’s Witness, was convicted in Eureka last month for selling the group’s literature without a peddling license. He was fined $10, but the sentence was suspended. Attorney Clarence E. Rust of Oakland has taken an appeal to the Superior Court of Humboldt county. The case is being supported by the A.C. L.U. Under the terms of the ordinance, the license fee is $10 per day or $100 a quar| ter. Mr. Rust undertook to show that the license fee is prohibitive since no profit is made by the distributors of the literature.

HEARING DUE FOR TWO PERSONS PURGED FROM S. F. WRITERS’ PROJECT

Hearings will be allowed two persons dismissed from the San Francisco Writers’ Project on “radicalism” charges last June, ‘but the date for the hearings has not yet been set. Notice of the racing! of the hearings came after Malcolm J. Miller, Assistant Commissioner of the W.P.A., on July 28, had notified the local branch of the A.C. L.U. that the usual procedure of granting hearings would be abandoned because of “the existence of an unusual condition on the Writers’ Project.”

After Arthur Garfield Hays urged Miller not to destroy the eminently fair rules by exceptions, the Union was notified, | under date of August 20, “it is now possible to assure you that the cases will be submitted to our normal procedure.”’ Under the law, W.P.A. employees are required to furnish an affidavit denying Communist or Bund connections. Despite such affidavits, special investigators charged that the persons in question have Communist connections, but failed to reveal the basis for the charges. The persons dismissed have denied the charges and desire the hearing in order to clear them| selves.

A. L. Wirin Becomes Full-Time Counsel To So. Cal. Branch

ASL. -Wirin, prominent Los Angeles attorney, is now serving as full-time counsel to the Southern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. Securing the full-time services of Mr. Wirin was announced by the Union as part of an expansion program of the Southern California branch. Mr. Wirin has been part-time staff counsel for several years.

In making the move, Mr. Wirin severed his connections with the law firm of Gallagher and Wirin, which represented many C.I.0. unions in Southern California. The left-wing Executive Board of the Los Angeles C.1.0. Industrial Union Council, adhering to the Communist Party line, had attempted to prevent Mr. Wirin from appearing in certain civil liberties cases. It objected to his expressed intention of testing the Government’s right to evacuate and detain citizens of J apanese extraction, and also to his appearance in behalf of alleged seditionists.

Mr. Wirin has long been associated with the protection of civil liberties both in ' Southern California and at the national office of the Union, where he served as staff counsel some years ago. He was also on the legal staff of the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D. C., in its early years.

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Union Urges Exemptions Under Foreign Agents Registration Act

Responding to inquiries from American organizations with international connections concerning their liability to register under the new Foreign Agents Registration Act effective June 28, the American Civil Liberties Union, in a letter to L. M. C. Smith, chief of the Special Defense Unit of the Department of Justice, urged that the Act be interpreted to exempt such organizations. The Union urged the adoption of a formula to exclude those organizations “whose policies in the United States are determined solely by its United States membership or officers, and whose inter-— national connections are only those of cooperation with like organizations of similar purposes in other countries.”

Signed by Arthur Garfield Hays, general counsel, and Roger N. Baldwin, director of the A.C.L.U., the letter asks specific exemptions for trade unions with international affiliations, since practically all of the larger American unions have Canadian contacts; religious organizations with international affiliations, including the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the International YMCA; and non-religious organi- zations such as the League of Nations Association and the Carnegie Endowment for Industrial Peace.

The letter concluded: “The commendable purpose of the bill is to expose to the American public those persons and organizations which are acting in the interests of a foreign government, party or principal, so that the public may know precisely for whom they speak and act. No such requirement should be made of the organizations - indicated merely because of a technical interpretation of their foreign connections. Their activities are well known. They work in the open. They speak only for American citizens and American interests in international affairs.”

SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON POLL TAX MAY REOPEN HEARINGS

A request from an association of Attorneys General of the eight poll-tax states to appear before the Senate subcommittee reporting on the Senate poll tax bill will probably result in reopening the hearings sometime in September, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The hearings had been closed, and a record ordered printed. The Union plans to appear before the committee to answer the constitutional objections raised.

The clerk of the Senate Judiciary Committee stated that “it is likely that their (the Attorneys Generals’) request will be granted, and, if so, that the hearings will be opened also to any others wishing to be heard.”

Executive Committee Northern California Branch American Civil Liberties Union

Rt. Rev. Edw. i Parsons Chairman Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn Helen Salz Vice Chairmen Joseph 8. Thompson Secretary-Treasurer Ernest Besig Director Philip Adams H. C. Carrasco Wayne M. Collins James J. Cronin, Jr. Charles R. Garry Rev. Oscar F. Green Morris M. Grupp Prof. Ernest R. Hilgard. Dr. Edgar A. Lowther Mrs. Bruce Porter Judge Jackson H. Ralston Clarence E. Rust Kathleen Drew Tolman Marie de L. Welch Col. Chas. Erskine Scott Wood.

Union Protests Ousting Of University

The failure of the University of Texas Board of Regents to renew the contracts of three instructors on charges of misconduct growing out of an anti-labor mass meeting has been protested in a letter to the Board from the Committee on Academic Freedom of the American Civil Liberties: Union.

Three members of the University’s Department of Economics were dropped from the faculty payroll in late June-for attacking the legitimacy of a rally held March 22 in Dallas, Texas, directed against the 40hour week.

Prof. Karl N. Llewellyn, chairman; Prof. Eduard C. Lindeman and Prof. Alonzo F. Myers, who signed the letter, expressed “shock” at the summary action of the Board of Regents in the light of these facts, gathered from first-hand sources:

“1. That the only conduct chargeable to the three men, W. Nelson Peach, Wendell Gordon, and I. Fagg Foster, was a letter which they sent to the Dallas News, published on March 23, commenting on the character of a mass meeting called to protest the 40-hour week in American industry as responsible for military defeats. The letter attempted to correct the false impression that the 40-hour week was the maximum permitted by law.

“2. That’ at the time of the meeting there was considerable excitement, particularly in the Southwest, over the 40hour week issue, and a studied campaign ‘ Texas Instructors had been undertaken to combat the payment of overtime. “3. That no question of competence or moral character has been raised regarding these three men, whose reappointment had poee recommended, indeed one for promoion.

“4, That your board before refusing to renew the contracts gave the men the right to individual hearings, the character of which went beyond the incident in March. But nothing appears to have been brought out concerning the unfitness of the men to teach their subjects or to involve any other incident or conduct.” The Committee concluded that ‘‘the elementary principle of academic freedom has been violated. These men were virtually dismissed for exercising their right to comment on a public matter. What happened to these men from the point of view of the effects on them personally is not important. Two of them have since gotten equally good or better jobs in public service. One is in -the Army.

“What is important is the effect of these dismissals on academic freedom at the Uni- versity. For no man on the faculty can now, without fear of dismissal, engage in any public controversy nor discharge the obligations of men in academic positions to con- tribute to public debate. Your action will tend to impose conformity to whatever at the moment appears to be popular prejudice or the interests of an influential minority.”

Union Urges Strengthening Of Fair Employment Committee

Noting a statement by President Roosevelt that the Fair Employment Practice

Committee would be strengthened by its transfer to the War Manpower Commission, the American Civil Liberties Union recently urged Paul V. McNutt, chairman of the Commission, to clear the way for unhampered Committee action by insuring greater financial support and personnel, and by assuring independence in its investigations.

The President stated it was his intention “to strengthen, not to submerge, the Com- mittee, and to reinvigorate, not to repeal, his executive order.” Fears had been ex- pressed that the transfer had been made at the instance of hostile employers and poli- ticians to cripple its work.

In a letter to Mr. McNutt, signed by Prof. Edward Alsworth Ross, chairman of the National Committee of the A.C.L.U., and Dr. John Haynes Holmes, chairman of the Board of Directors, the Union declared, “It seems to us also important to emphasize that the Committee’s jurisdiction is not that exclusively of aiding in overcoming dlis- crimination against Negroes. It would be unfortunate if it came to be so regarded in the light of the many other victims of racial and religious discrimination both in the public service and in private employment.”

AID OFFERED TO KENOSHA, WIS., ‘COUSTED SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS

The American Civil Liberties Union has offered its support in the defense of two men ousted from the Kenosha, Wis. school board because they had pledged allegiance to the American and local labor movement. The Union has asked permission to file a brief as a friend of the court in an appeal to the State Supreme Court.

The two men, Edward Weston and Edward Rice, were removed from the School Board by Circuit Judge A. C. Hoppman on the ground that the union men’s promise to.“‘abide by the principles of the American labor movement and of the local labor movement” precluded their support of the U.S. Constitution. The Wisconsin statutes, the A.C.L.U. stated, provide for the ousting of school board members only through recall by vote of the citizens or by the City Council.

U. S. TO PERMIT SHORE LEAVE TO CHINESE SAILORS

Reversing its previous policy of discrimination, the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice, to-— gether with the War Shipping Administra— tion and the Chinese Embassy, has developed a plan to grant shore leaves to Chinese sailors in U.S. ports on a parity with seamen of other nationalities.

The Justice Department had previously maintained that the high rate of desertions ‘among Chinese sailors made a policy of discrimination mandatory, but it was pointed out that better working conditions for the Chinese have, greatly reduced the reason for desertions. The American Civil Liberties Union, in a recent letter to Attorney General Francis Biddle, urged the granting of shore leaves for Chinese sailors for the effect it would have on international democratic aims. The Union called Mr. Biddle’s attention to a section of the law permitting him to prescribe regulations under which Chinese sailors may be granted shore leaves.

According to the new plan, representatives of the Chinese government will board all incoming ships hiring Chinese sailors, to explain to the men their responsibility to the U. S. and Chinese governments.

THE ACADEMIC MAN. A Study in Sociology of a Profession, by Logan Wilson, professor of sociology at Tulane University. Oxford Univ. Press, 1942.

The conventional limits of academic freedom are vastly extended by Prof. Wilson’s examination of the structure and practices of our leading universities. For he deals not with the conflicts around which academic freedom commonly revolves, but with the basic organization of academic life. It is in this that the real restraints are imposed and the real liberties denied, not in the oceasional arbitrary discipline of teachers. No appraisal of freedom in American universities can ignore the factors which Prof. Wilson so sharply and frankly describes, to the general discredit of the system. Prof. Wilson’s analysis, popularly and vigorously presented, is indispensable to all persons concerned with educational freedom at the university level.

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Military Commissions Will Ban Citizens From West Coast

On August 19 Lieutenant General J. L. DeWitt, Commanding, Western « Defense Command and Fourth Army, announced that a procedure had been established for the removal of individuals “deemed to be dangerous or potentially dangerous to military security from vital areas of the West‘ ern Defense Command.” In other words, the Army has set up machinery for removal of any persons it doesn’t like within the areas from which Japanese have already been removed.

Persons who are suspected of being dangerous are not going to enjoy what is “commonly called due process of law before they are removed. Instead, ‘“‘A hearing board composed of Army officers will con- sider every case properly referred to it, and, based upon the evidence before it, will make and submit its findings.” Thus, by virtue of the decision of a Military Commission, instead of a trial by jury, a citizen may suffer substantial though he has been convicted of no crime.

. “Upon issuance of an exclusion order by the Commanding General, the recipient will be given a reasonable time to take up residence elsewhere and to make such other arrangements as may be necessary to move from the area designated. Upon arrival at his new residence the individual will report to the nearest Federal Bureau of Investiga- tion office and will remain under the observation of that organization.’ In other words, continuing disabilities will be placed upon the suspected person.

General DeWitt did not define the basis for finding a person liable to exclusion, say- ing only that the board would base its decision on ‘evidence submitted to it.” If ex- cluded, an individual would be given assistance in relocating in a non-military area. — At the same time, General DeWitt declared that ‘‘No further collective evacua- tion is contemplated.”

NATIVE SONS WILL APPEAL JAPANESE CITIZENSHIP CASE

Lloyd J. Cosgrove, grand president of the Native Sons of the Golden West, announced last month that his organization will appeal the refusal of U. S. District Judge St. Sure to deny citizenship-to persons of Japanese extraction born in the United States. Cooperating with the Native Sons are the Legion, the A. F. of L., and the Grange, according to Cosgrove. If the appeal is filed, the A.C.L.U. will ask permission to appear as a “friend of the Court.”

OUTSIDE SPEAKERS SUBJECT TO | CENSORSHIP AT ASSEMBLY CENTERS

Outside speakers are allowed at the Japanese Assembly Centers, BUT they are subject to the following restrictions:

‘“‘a.. That prior to the giving of any indication of approval or disapproval, the subject matter of the speech or discussion is to be submitted to this office for appro- val of the Chief, Public Relations Division, or the individual concerned is to be advised that he may visit this office and present the outline of the discussion or speech to the Chief, Public Relations Division.

“pb. That ordinarily no consideration will be given requests to discuss or speak on matters dealing with the propriety of the evacuation of individuals of Japanese ancestry, or of topics dealing with the war effort, or social aspects of the evacuation, or announced policies of the United States Government or this Headquarters. The foregoing restriction is, however, not to be construed, as prohibiting the application of the individual concerned to discuss such topics providing the provisions a. above are adhered to.”

punishment al

An Example Of Censorship In

Our Ameriean Concentration Camps

The Manager of an Army-controlled Japanese Assembly Center recently excluded the following editorial from the Center paper. No reason was given. This action demonstrates again that citizens of Japanese extraction are treated as virtual prisoners in our American concentration camps.

FAITH IN THE OUTCOME

Since Pearl Harbor, we, citizens of Japanese ancestry, have encountered numerous antagonistic actions and measures which have been aimed to undermine our privileges as American citizens. Many a time our minds have been in a maze because it was difficult to visualize that such discriminative actions would be taken against us, especially when we considered the fact that we were reared in an American environment and imbued with American ideals and cultures. Si being the case, it was necessary for us to face the situation with courage, hope and determination.

Many of us are conscious of the fact that certain powerful organizations and individ- uals have been crusading to infringe our civil rights. Needless to mention the names of these groups and persons, they have completely ' disregarded the rights and privileges which are guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and the ideals and causes for which this country of ours is presently engaged with other allied nations against the axis powers.

However, we have other organizations and individuals counteracting these movements. It has been these groups who sincerely believe that the destiny of this nation lies in the protection of civil liberties, regardless of race, color or creed. Our Sec- retary of State, Cordell Hull, has reaffirmed the above statement in his recent speech.

Therefore, we should not remain apathetic but do our utmost to preserve our rights even though we find ourselves in an unfortunate circumstance. We have every con- fidence that the American sense of justice and fair play will prevail and will carry out the traditions and heritage for which this country stands.

Stimson Queried On Classification of American-Born Japanese

Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson has been queried by the American Civil Liberties Union on the basis for the recent exclusion from the army of Americans of Japanese descent since thousands of Japanese served in the last war, and thousands more are now serving with the U. S. armed ‘forces. The Union’s query followed receipt of information from Major General Lewis B. Hershey of Selective Service that the War Department advised that “persons of Japanese parentage are not acceptable for service in the armed forces of the United States.”

The Union declared:

“We are advised by General Hershey of Selective Service that the War Department has indicated to him that it does not desire to induct into the Army any American citizens of Japanese ancestry. They *are therefore being classified by local boards as 4-C, a classification intended to cover aliens from neutral countries and obviously inappropriate and unjust in relation to Americans of Japanese ancestry.

“It would appear quite as reasonable to exclude from the armed forces American citizens of any other enemy ancestry. Yet evidently there is no such exclusion or deferment of American citizens of German or Italian extraction, for instance. .May we therefore inquire why the exception has been made concerning Americans of Japanese ancestry, and whether this represents a definite and final exclusion by the military authorities?”’

NEW EVACUATION TEST SUITS

(Continued from Page 1, Col. 2) so-called “illegal” meeting at the Santa Anita Assembly Center, was without basis, was given support by the precipitate dismissal of the indictment against them by the U. 8. Attorney’s office at Los Angeles, under instructions from Attorney General Francis Biddle.

Cleared of all charges, Mr. Wakayama and Masarau Kawada, Jotaro Ban and Kaname Takahashi were seized by the military authorities and removed to the Pomona Assembly Center. From there they are scheduled for further removal to parts unknown, where they will be joined by their families. :

A.C.L.U.. counsel, A. LL. Wirin, E. W. Camp and Fred Okrand represented Wakayama, Kawada and Takahashi. Ban was represented by Attorney J. Allen Frankel.

NEW RULES ADOPTED FOR RELEASE OF JAPANESE IN MIXED FAMILY GROUPS

The Wartime Civil Control Administra tion has again changed its regulations with reference to mixed racial family groups. At the present time, where the head of the family is non-Japanese, and a U. S. citizen or a national of a friendly power, the fam- ily (there must be children) will be allowed at liberty within the area of the Western Defense Command. j

Where the head of the family is Japanese, the family may receive permission to leave the area of the Western Defense Command. In each case, however, there must be approval by the Military Intelligence, and, in the latter cases, police approval must be secured at the proposed destination.

The mixed racial family groups without children, are also out of luck. The Japanese member of the family must remain within the Assembly Center and trust to luck that a furlough can be arranged once ne or she is removed to a Relocation Cen er.

JAPANESE WHO LEAVE CENTERS TO ACCEPT JOBS WILL REMAIN IN “CONSTRUCTIVE CUSTODY”

The War Relocation Authority has announced that American citizens of Japanese ancestry and their families may obtain. permits to leave relocation centers to accept jobs, but they will remain in the “‘constructive custody” of military authorities, and the Director of the W.R.A. may revoke the permits at any time and require the person or persons affected to return to the relocation center.

A resident of a relocation center who has a definite offer of a job outside the center and outside the Western Defense Command may apply to the director of the center for a permit. If there are dependent members of the family, the applicant will state what plans have been made for taking care of those who will accompany him and for those who will remain in the relocation center.

Permission to leave the relocation center will be granted by the national Director of WRA after obtaining full information as to the loyalty of the person applying and the nature of the employment offered. The national Director will make necessary ar- rangements with the prospective employer in order to insure satisfactory working con- ditions and also will communicate with local officials in the community where the applicant will live.

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American Civil Liberties Union-News

Published monthly at 216 Pine Street, San Francisco, Calif., by the Northern California Branch of The American Civil Liberties Union. ‘

Phone: EXbrook 1816 ERNEST BESIG Editor Entered as second-class matter, July 31, 1941, at the Post Office at San Francisco, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879.

Subscription Rates—Seventy-five Cents a Year. Ten Cents per Copy.

CRITICIZING CONDUCT OF THE WAR LEADS TO JAIL

The American Civil Liberties Union has offered its aid in the defense of Moses Elis- berg, a 45-year-old machinery salesman of New York City, sentenced to thirty days in the workhouse, August 2, for. private remarks on the conduct of the war overheard in a public park by a policeman. Witnesses testified that Elisberg had said: ‘“‘Who is ' this President Roosevelt? He is only aman elected by the people. He’s not a god.

We're losing this war! Who are these generals? They’re only there because they knew the right somebodies.”

Protesting Magistrate Robert P. Levis’ action, Roger N. Baldwin, director of the Civil Liberties Union, said: ‘‘Elisberg’s remarks were solely an expression of opinion. They did not suggest disobedience of the law or obstruction of the war.”

“Prosecutions like this do not help the war effort,’ declared Mr. Baldwin. “Instead, they hinder it by making people fearful of expressing honest critical opinions. Democracy obviously depends upon freedom to comment fearlessly on the issues of the war and of the peace as well as other public questions.”’ '

Counsel for the New York City Committee of the Union volunteered their services to Sidney S. Levine, Elisberg’s attorney, in taking an appeal. Elisberg was released on - $50. bail after serving three days. Appeal will be heard in the Court of Special Ses- “sions...

LAWYERS PROTEST SUPREME COURT DECISION IN BETTS CASE

A recent Supreme Court decision that it is not obligatory for state courts to supply counsel for indigent defendants in serious but non-capital offenses has brought pro- tests from two nationally-known legal experts, Benjamin Cohen, assistant to Presi- dent Roosevelt in framing the Securities Exchange Act, and Erwin N. Griswold of the Labor Production Division of the War Labor Board. The case was brought to the Supreme Court by the Maryland Civil Liberties Committee.

In a long letter to the New York Times, the lawyers declared:

«| At a critical period in world history, Betts vs. Brady dangerously tilts the scales against the safeguarding of one of the most precious rights of man. For in a free world no man should be condemned to penal servitude without having the right to counsel to defend him. The right to counsel, for the poor as well as the rich, is an indispensable safeguard of freedom and justice under the law.”

URGE YOUR CONGRESSMAN TO SIGN THE GEYER ANTI-POLL TAX PETITION

Two hundred Congressmen have signed their names to the petition to discharge the House Judiciary Committee from consideration of the Geyer Anti-Poll Tax Bill and to bring the bill to the floor of the House. Only 46 names are needed to accomplish this result.

‘California Congressmen who have thus far not signed the petition are as follows: John Anderson (R), Frank H. Buck (D), Albert Carter (R), John M. Costello (D), Alfred J. Elliott (D), Leland M. Ford (R), Ward Johnson (R), Clarence Lea (D), and Thomas Rolph of San Francisco (R). If your Congressmen is among the foregoing,’ won’t you please urge him to sign the petition.

“Little Dies Committee” Charged With Violating Right To Privacy —

A novel question of constitutional law awaits decision by the Appellate Department of the Los Angeles Superior Court. The issue is whether or not the “due process clause’’ of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects a citizen in the “right to privacy.” :

That issue was raised last month in a brief filed as a friend of the court, upon order of the Appellate Department, by the American Civil Liberties Union, through its counsel A. L. Wirin, in the appeal of George Knox Roth from a conviction for contempt of the Tenney Assembly Committee, familiarly known as the “Little Dies” Committe. :

Roth had ‘refused to answer questions propounded to him by the Committee as to the names of Japanese-American citizens who contributed toward the financing of radio addresses by Roth upon the constitutional rights of American citizens of Japanese ancestry.

The Civil Liberties Union memorandum contends that the questions were improper and that a conviction for contempt because of refusal to answer them abridges the Federal Constitution, being an invasion of Roth’s “right to privacy,” which abridgment also constituted ‘an unreasonable search and seizure.”

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, according to the memorandum, protects the citizen from unreasonable searches and seizures; that amendment has heretofore been construed as a protection of the citizen only against Federal action and not State action. In the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which. accords guarantees against State action, no reference is made to unreasonable searches and seizyj. 4... 1m Sg his dismissal for religious reasons, so an ap

Whether or not the Supreme Court of the United States will read into the Fourteenth Amendment, the guarantees of the Fourth,

A.CLU. OPPOSES REMOVAL OF BAXTER TO WASHINGTON

The Southern California branch of the A.C.L.U. last month directed its attorney, A. L. Wirin, to take appropriate legal steps to oppose the removal to Washington, D. C., for trial under charges of ‘‘sedition”’ and “espionage,” of David J. Baxter, San Bernardino pamphleteer. Because Baxter had no funds with which to employ an attorney, United States Commissioner David B. Head had, prior to A.C.L.U. interest in the case, appointed Mr. Wirin to act as counsel for Baxter. Mr. Wirin accepted the appointment with the statement that he would ask to be released from the case if it appeared that no civil liberties principles were at issue.

Baxter, a commercial artist, has devoted his spare time toward the organization of a small group known as the “Social Republic Society.” It has 40 or 50 members scattered throughout the United States and primarily was opposed to Communism. Nonetheless, Baxter advocated freedom of speech for the Communists. Baxter “published” six issues of the mimeographed sheet called ‘““Comment” which had a total circulation of 300. At one time Baxter admitted he was strongly anti-Semitic but upon investigation changed his mind. Prior to Pearl. Harbor, he opposed the entry of the U. S. into the war, but thereafter he sought unsuccessfully to enlist. Baxter has been a caustic critic of the New Deal.

“The A.C.L.U. “contends that Baxter should be tried in Southern California, the scene of all his activities and that it is a denial of due process of law to require this penniless pamphleteer to defend himself in the District of Columbia. If Baxter has vio- lated the sedition or espionage laws, a federal court jury in Southern California is as qualified to pass upon the matter as one in distant Washington.

as that Court has broadened the Fourteenth Amendment to include freedom of speech guaranteed in the First Amendment, is the issue to be determined in the case.

In the oral argument before the court, Mr. Wirin pointed out that the Tenney Committee had acted arbitrarily and unfairly, in that the purpose of the Committee was to secure the names of JapaneseAmerican citizens in order to pillory them before the public during a time of hysteria against the Japanese.

The court took the case under submission. An early decision is expected.—Open Forum.

CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION DENIES APPEAL TO “WITNESS” DISMISSED FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS

Hehe United States Civil Service Commission has refused to allow Helge C. Peterson of Turlock an appeal from his discharge as a substitute clerk in the Turlock Post Office. Peterson, a Jehovah’s Witness, | asserted that he was dismissed because of his membership in that group.

Peterson’s discharge came about at the request of the Rex Ish Post 88 of the American Legion in Turlock. The Legion contended that he should no longer be employed because of his refusal to salute the flag and “‘to defend the country.” They informed inspectors that they objected to “being served by a man to whose doctrines they objected.” The Postmaster also objected to Peterson standing on street corners and distributing the literatur A hovah’s Witnesses. B ES : “ The Civil Service Commission nevertheless reached the conclusion that Peterson had not made a prima facie case showing peal was denied.

‘LOUISIANA ATTEMPTS TO PUNISH ‘“WITNESSES’’ REFUSAL TO SALUTE FLAG

The American Civil Liberties Union will support the Louisiana League for the Pres- ervation of Constitutional Rights in attacking a bill recently passed by the Louisiana legislature and signed by Governor Sam Jones making it a misdemeanor for any person to advocate “‘an attitude of stubborn refusal to,salute, honor, or respect, any flag, standard, color, or ensign of the United States of America or of the State of Louisiana’.

The Union termed the law, no doubt aimed directly at the Jehovah’s Witnesses, “an outrageous attack on fredom of religion as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights’’. Members of this religious sect refuse to salute the flag on the ground that it is a graven image. The Union stated, ‘In providing a heavy penalty for refusal to salute the flag, the state of Louisiana is challenging one of the basic tenets of the Constitution of the United States.

The passage of the Louisiana law followed closely a similar law in Mississippi penalizing those who profess ‘doctrines or teaching detrimental to public safety”. The Union has already begun a test of the Miss issippi law.

PUBLISHERS TO AID UNION IN REQUESTING REHEARING OF DECISION AGAINST ‘WITNESSES’

Support by the American Newspaper Publishers Association and the Seventh Day Adventists was announced last month fora rehearing of the recent Supreme Court decision granting municipalities the right to license the sale of literature on the streets.

Homer Cummings, former U. S. Attorney General, will act as counsel for the Adven- tists. The American Bar Association is also considering filing a brief as friend of the court in the petition for a rehearing. The A.C.L.U., which took part in the case, will also file a brief in support of counsel for Jehovah’s Witnesses.