vol. 9, no. 6

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

FREE SPEECH FREE PRESS FREE ASSEMBLAGE

“Eternal is the price of liberty.”

Vol. IX SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, JUNE, 1944 No. 6

TURNER CASE BACK TO KENNY

Att’y General’s Hopes For Action By Local Authorities Unrealized

Following the refusal of District Attorney Francis P. Healey of Contra Costa County to file murder complaints in the Homer Turner case, the A.C.L.U. has once again re- quested Attorney General Robert W. Kenny to intervene. “that the District Attorney does not intend to enforce the law doubt,” said the Union, “It is now clear beyond any in this case, and that the Attorney General has the duty to exercise his Constitutional power to prosecute because the ‘law of the State is not being adequately enforced’ in Contra Costa County.”

Homer Turner, it will be recalled, was beaten to death when he and two other .. Negroes, while at work collecting garbage. -In Richmond, were attacked by three white men from Oklahoma,—armed with a tire wrench, a tire iron and a piece of an automobile bumper, who felt themselves aggrieved by the Negroes.

Kenny Sounded Hopeful

The first development in the case since our report in the May issue of the “News” was a letter from Attorney General Kenny to the Union, dated April 28, in which he stated “that while I have been giving earnest consideration to matters in Richmond nothing developed as yet on which I would want to make any public announcement. In fact, I am hopeful that within a few days the announcements which will be gratifying to you will be forthcoming from the local authorities themselves.”

While such announcements were not forthcoming within a few days the Union was informed that the Mayor of Richmond, with the consent of the City Council, had appointed a ‘Home Front Unity Group” which would consider general civic, labor and racial problems in the community. The group, however, was so heavily weighted with public officials that it gave the appearance of being a burial ground for complaints against them. Out of its seventeen members, only three were Negroes, and at least a couple of the members of the group have reputations for being anti-Negro.

“Unity Group” Considers Case

At the initial meeting, however, in the absence of the District Attorney and several other members, the Homer Turner case became the main order of business. After reviewing the incident and generally expressing itself in favor of the District At- torney filing murder complaints, the chairman suggested that instead of adopting a motion recommending the filing of murder complaints, a transcript of the proceedings should be furnished to the District Attorney. —

There the matter rested until the Unity Group was again called into session on the afternoon of May 25. This time District Attorney Healey was present and he proceded not only to defend his handling of the Homer Turner case but to refuse to file murder complaints. Thereupon, the Committee, in effect, tabled further consideration of the case.

If Contra Costa County is to have evenhanded enforcement of the law, irrespective of race, Attorney General Kenny has a duty to step into the case to protect the rights of Negroes. Interested in the outcome of this affair will be the 1500 members of the United Negroes of America, resident in Richmond, who have demanded action by the public authorities.

CAMPAIGN FOR A FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE COMMITTEE GAINS STRENGTH

Two efforts to ensure the continuance of the President’s Committee on Fair Employment Practice are under way in Congress, supported by the National Council for the F.E.P.C. and many agencies throughout the country. One seeks an appropriation of $585,000 for the committee as at present constituted for the fiscal year beginning July 1st next. The other seeks to constitute a new Fair Employment Practice Committee by Congressional authority.

The success of either move would insure the continuance of the work undertaken by the committee established two years ago, by Presidential appointment, and financed by appropriations from executive funds. If the appropriation is voted by Congress, the committee would continue as a presidential committee. If the Fair Employment Practice bill is passed, the committee will become a regular rather than an emergency agency and would presumably secure its . needed funds from Congress.

The bill for a Permanent Fair Employment Practice Committee is before the House Labor Committee, headed by Rep. Mary T. Norton of New Jersey. The Civil Liberties Union and other agencies are urging public hearings.

ROGER BALDWIN PLANS SPEAKING TRIP TO PACIFIC COAST NEXT NOVEMBER

Roger N. Baldwin, national director of the American Civil Liberties Union since its inception, is planning a speaking trip to the Pacific Coast after the November elections. This will be Mr. Baldwin’s fourth trip to the Coast. His last visit was in November, 1941. Previously, he appeared here in 1989 and 1926. ;

High Court to Hear Endo and Korematsu Cases Next October

The United States Supreme Court last month agreed to review the appeal of Mitsuye Endo, testing the government’s right to detain citizens of Japanese ancestry in concentration camps. Miss Endo, who is admittedly loyal, has been held first at Tule Lake and now at Topaz, Utah, for about two years.

Previously, the Circuit Court of Appeals had requested instructions from the Supreme Court for a proper determination of the case. Four questions had been certified to the court for its answers. The questions will remain unanswered, however, andt he case taken out of the hands of the Circuit. — Court by reason of an order bringing the entire case before the Supreme Court for a final decision. The Supreme Court’s order also provides that the oral argument will follow that in the case of Fred T. Korematsu, which tests the Military’s right to. exclude citizens of Japanese ancestry from the Pacific Coast.

As previously reported, the Korematsu case was scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court on May 1, but the argument: was postponed until next October after the government insisted it was not prepared to argue the Endo case at the present time. Both cases will, therefore, be argued at the term of court starting next October, at a date still undetermined. Attorney Wayne M. Collins of San Francisco will very likely argue both cases for the appellants.

The government seems very reluctant to , argue the Endo case, and rumor has it that the Japanese, except those at Tule Lake, will be released from the relocation centers by next fall, thus requiring a dismissal of the Endo appeal as “academic.” Rumors are also afloat that the Military exclusion. order is to be rescinded, or modified, to allow the loyal Japanese to return to the Pacific Coast. On the other hand, the present political campaign makes either move unlikely until after the elections in Novem ber.

INDICTMENTS FOR 1941 THREATS AGAINST PRESIDENT DISMISSED

During the past month the government dismissed an indictment against Quincy C. Reich of Sacramento, who was charged with uttering threats against President Roosevelt, after ‘a trial jury disagreed 6 to 6. The jury found Reich ‘Not Guilty” on three other counts. The interesting thing about this prosecution is that the oral statements attributed to Reich were made between June and September, 1941. Reich was not arrested until three months ago. The alleged remarks were all more or less to the effect that “Roosevelt ought to be shot for getting this country into war,” and that Reich was the man to do it: The defendant denied the charges.

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Conscientious Objectors Admitted to Citizenship

Despite the Supreme Court decision denyIng American citizenship to aliens conscien- tiously opposed to bearing arms, Federal Judge Leavy in the District Court at Tacoma, Washington, last month over-ruled a motion of the U. 8. Immigration Service and admitted to citizenship two conscientious objectors attached to the Medical Corps of the Army. The Immigration Service had moved to dismiss the petitions of the objectors, William Robert Kinlock and William McKillop, on the ground that the statutory oath of allegiance implies a willingness to bear arms. Both applicants were British subjects and members of religious organizations with tenets prohibiting bearing arms. In answer to a query from the . American Civil Liberties Union, the U. S. Department of Justice announced it would not appeal the decision in either case. Both applicants testified that if the oath of allegiance implies a willingness to bear arms in combat units of the Army, they could not subscribe to the oath without mental reservations in view of their religious convictions: Judge Leavy ruled, however, that the Selective Service Act would be ‘‘meaningless” if, under it, “‘conscientious objectors performing military duty and wearing the uniform’? are denied the privilege of citizenship.

“It. cannot be held,” he wrote, that such applicants ‘‘must have read into the oath of allegiance administered to them their willingness to bear arms, which is contrary to their religious convictions, since it is only by reason of such convictions that they find themselves serving in the armed forces in their present status of non-combatants.”

SPECIAL CALL OF LEGISLATURE SHOULD INCLUDE BALLOT CHANGES, SAYS UNION

The American Civil Liberties Union has requested Governor Earl Warren to place before the Legislature at its special session on June 5 the question of the liberalization of California’s election laws to allow ‘“‘third parties”’ to vote for the candidates of their choice. “Unless existing laws are now modified to give so-called ‘third parties’ a reasonable opportunity to place their candidates on the ballot, a substantial number of citizens of this State will be virtually disfranchised at the important November elections,’”’ said the Union in a letter to Governor Warren.

The Union pointed out that “almost insurmountable legal, requirements” have heretofore been established in this State, “for the purpose of eliminating minority parties and their candidates from the ballot.”” While the candidates of the Socialist Party, the Socialist Labor Party and other minority political groups will be carried as such on the ballots of many States in November, in California the requirements are such that it is almost impossible for minority parties to qualify their candidates even as independents.

JUDGE JACKSON H. RALSTON ELECTED HONORARY CHAIRMAN

Judge Jackson H. Ralston of Palo Alto has been elected Honorary Chairman of the local Executive Committee of the A.C.L.U. His election to that office follows retirement from active membership on the committee after more than nine years of devoted service.

Judge Ralston was born in Sacramento, February 6, 1857. He entered the practice of law in 1878 and remained active therein until 1924. During 26 years of that time he was counsel for the American Federation of Labor.

Judge Ralston is an expert on international law and taxation, on which subjects he has written numerous books. He was American Agent in the first dispute submitted to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague in 1902. He also served as umpire for the Italian claims against Venezuela before the mixed tribunal at Caracas.

Racial Restrictions On The Use of Property

Recently the press reported that the Superior Court had granted a permanent in- junction banning Mabel Tseng, Chinese, from occupying certain property on Clay Street, San Francisco, several blocks above the city’s Chinatown. It was explained that the injunction issued because back in 1931 the owners of all property on the particular block had agreed to restrict occupancy of their property exclusively to Caucasians.

Our attention has also been called to recent efforts by property owners in a number of bay area communities to establish similar restrictions directed particularly against our increasing Negro population. Consequently, we have been asked on numerous occasions whether such “‘restrictive covenants” do not violate the United States Constitution.

The law seems to be well established that such agreements between property owners are not in violation of the U.S. Constitution and may be enforced in the courts. If, how- ever, a community undertakes by law to segregate racial groups in particular parts of the community, then there is a clear denial of the equal protection of the laws junder the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

In some states property owners agree amongst themselves not to sell their property to non-Caucasians, but such agreements are not valid in California. That is because we have a provision in our Civil Code prohibiting restraints on the alienation or transfer of property. Consequently, the Chinese woman mentioned above may continue to own the particular piece of property on Clay Street, but she may not herself use or occupy the property. So long as she rents it to Caucasians or leaves. it unoccupied she is abiding by the terms of the agreement.

Past efforts in California to change the law have proved unsuccessful.

Seetaensss

Supreme Court Asked To . Review Negro Draft Quotas

A petition to review the decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals at New York up- holding separate draft quotas for Negroes and whites was filed last week with the U. 8. Supreme Court by Arthur Garfield Hays of New York, attorney for Winfred Lynn. The case involves a section of the selective service law which prohibits racial discrimination in the selection and training of men in the armed forces. Although racial segregation is not legally challenged as it affects military service, it is contended that separate quotas in selecting men cannot be justified as giving members of both races equal opportunities.

Lynn, a soldier in the army, seeks release by writ of habeas corpus on the ground of unlawful induction. His case was brought as a test of the law. Judge Charles E. ‘Clark of the Circuit Court of Appeals in a dissenting opinion upheld Lynn’s conten tions.

BOOK NOTE

Our Civil Liberties, by Osmond K. Fraenkel, Viking Press, April, 1944, 275 pages.

Mr. Fraenkel, counsel in many of the leading civil liberties cases. of recent years and one of the active leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union, has analyzed the varied problems arising under the Bill of Rights with particular reference to court decisions and legislation. The book extends to full-length discussion the analysis pre- sented by Mr. Fraenkel previously in pamphlets published by the Civil Liberties Union.

His treatment constitutes the authoritative text on the wide range of issues con- fronting not only lawyers but all students of democratic liberty. Balanced, judicial and lucid, the book not only sets forth the law and the problems, but charts public policy in terms of the larger concepts of democratic freedom advocated by the American Civil Liberties Union, to which Mr. Fraenkel dedicates his book.

Test Cases To Challenge Poll-Tax In Federal Courts

Court action in the federal courts of the poll-tax states is the ACLU answer to the defeat last month of the move to bring the anti-poll tax bill to a vote in the Senate. Aitorneys for the CLU believe that if the issue is once again brought before the U. S. Supreme Court, the court will take “a different view than that taken in previous de- cisions which held that a federal question was not involved where states place limi- tations on the qualifications of voters.’’

One suit has just been filed in the Federal District Court at Roanoke, Virginia, by Attorney Mess A. Plunkett, chairman of the Soutnern Electoral Reform League.

The suit, brougut in behalf of Mrs. Dorothy B. Jones of Roanoke, claims damages from the local registrar for refusing to enter her name after she refused to pay a poll tax. Mrs. Jones claims that the Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that the poll tax is not intended to raise revenue, but to limit suffrage. Poll taxes have been upheld by the United States Supreme Court only as revenue measures.

Another suit to be filed shortly in Virginia will allege that the constitutional pro- ' vision for representation by States in Congress is violated by including in the figures of eligible inhabitants those whom the poll tax disfranchises.

The ACLU statement on the national campaign to abolish the poll tax analyzes the four possible procedures; and comments: ‘‘Action by the states is most improbable. A federal constitutional amendment might take years to pass. Action by Congress against a southern filibuster is apparently impracticabie. The most likely solution in our opinion is to present the issue.in a new form to the United States Supreme Court.” Signing the Union’s statement were Arthur Garfield Hays, John -Minerty and Morris L. Ernst, attorneys-whse have participated in poll tax cases.

Court Hearings Speeded In Two Cases Testing : Hawaii Military Rule

The federal government has taken an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Harry E. White, who was recently granted a writ of habeas corpus by federal Judge J. Frank McLaughlin of Hawaii. White, a stockbroker and American citizen, has been imprisoned since August, 1942, following a ‘“‘trial’’ of several hours before a military court, on a charge of embezzlement. He was not permitted counsel nor was he furnished with a copy of the charges. In ordering White’s release Judge McLaughlin declared the martial law in Hawaii to be “‘absolutely and wholly invalid”’.

This is the second case now before the Ninth Circuit Court testing the legality of martial law that has continued in Hawaii ever since the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the other case, Judge Delbert E. Metzger granted a writ of habeas corpus to Lloyd C. Duncan, a civilian, who had been sentenced to six months in prison by a military court for assaulting a soldier. The contention in the Duncan case, as well as the White case, is that the prosecution should have been brought in the civil court where the defendant is entitled to all the rights that accompany the Constitutional concept of due process of law.

The government is making strenuous efforts to have the two cases heard by the Circuit Court now in order that they may come before the United States Supreme Court next October where they would be heard together with the Endo and Korematsu cases. Printing of the records is being rushed and arguments may be heard the latter part of this month, although the court generally is on vacation at that time. Arrangements have also been made for Garner E. Anthony, former territorial. attorney general, who represents the civilians imprisoned by the military, to secure special transportation to San Francisco by plane in order to participate in the argument.

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ACLU PROTESTS BAN ON TRADE UNION POLITICAL FUNDS

A bill in Congress, already passed by the Senate, to meet the criticism that business associations are not prohibited from making political . contributions while trade unions are, was opposed last month by the American Civil Liberties Union in communi- cations to the House Judiciary Committee. The bill adds to the provisions of the Cor- rupt Practices Act forbidding corporations from making political contributions by in- cluding, besides trade unions covered by the Smith-Connally Act, ‘any business league, chamber of commerce, board of trade, piulovers organization, trade association,”’ etc.

.The Civil Liberties Union had opposed at the time of the passage of the Smith-con- nally Act, the provision barring trade unions from making contributions “in connection with any election of federal officials” on the ground that unions are not analogous to corporations but to trade associations. The bill seeks to meet that ob jection. The American Civil Liberties Union however, holds that the inclusion of trade associations does not cure the evil of discrimination against unions. The Union contends that “‘trade unions representing men of very small means should be allowed to use their common union funds for political purposes”, while sustaining the denial of that right to corporations and trade associations “‘composed mainly of persons of sufficient means to make individual contributions’’.

The Union says that “‘to deny the right of | common contributions by working men is in reality to deny them all right of contribution, while to deny the same right to cor- porations or trade associations is not to deny them all right of contribution’’.

Strange Fruit. Censorship 7 Extends to P. O.

The ban on Lillian Smith’s race relations novel, “Strange Fruit,” jumped last month from local municipalities in Massachusetts to Washington, where the Post Office De- partment peremptorily imposed, then hurriedly rescinded, a ban on mailing the book. The ban and the subsequent suspension came within a few hours of each other on the same day. The publishers are now free, according to final Post Office notification, to continue mailing the book at the risk of prosecution.

One unprecedented manifestation of Post Office procedure in banning the book came in the form of simultaneous release to newspapers and magazines that “‘no advertisements thereof should be published in eopies of your publication mailed hereafter.”’ Norman Cousins, editor of the Saturday Review, made public a reply which said, ‘“‘We feel obliged and privileged to state that it is our intention to continue advertising ‘Strange Fruit.’ .. . We not only protest (the) order, we refuse to follow it without due process of law.”’

The ACLU requested Vincent M. Miles, solicitor for the Post Office, for an official -explanation, and concluded that the Department on second thought preferred not to face court action in a test case at this time, particularly in view of the unusual number of cases pending in court challenging censorship. The “Esquire” case is the most prominent.

Further federal action relative to “Strange Fruit is evidently in practical abeyance pending a decision in the test case in the Massachusetts courts about to be. tried. The Massachusetts CLU is defending a bookseller who was fined $200 for offering it for sale.

Somewhere in New Guinea, April 29. 1944. Enclosed is a check for $10. I won it from an incipient fascist, playing poker. So what better than to use it for the ACLU? Best regards,

Attacks On “Witnesses” Bring Prosecutions in Nevada County

Three persons were convicted in Grass Valley, Nevada County, last month for hurling eggs at Jehovah’s Witnesses distributing literature on street corners in Grass Valley and Nevada City. The three, ranging in age from 16 to 19, were placed on probation for three months, after which time they will reappear in court for final dispositon of their cases. One boy had his driver’s license revoked for three months.

Not only have the Witnesses been assaulted on the streets, but Kingdom Hall, headquarters of the Grass Valley and Nevada City Jehovah’s Witnesses, has suffered attacks by vigilantes three times during the past month. Signs have been torn from the building and broken, and windows, doors and furnishings have been smashed. The last attack resulted in damage of $100.

In consequence of complaints made by the Witnesses, District Attorney Ward Sheldon issued a statement upholding the rights of the Witnesses and threatening prosecutions against the vigilantes. United States Supreme Court,” said he ‘“‘has held that the Constitution protects the right of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to worship in their own manner, and protects the right of

“The their evangelist, however misguided or intolerant he may be, to distribute his literature by ordinary commercial methods. The fact that the sect preaches views that may be unpopular, annoying and distasteful to others, does not deprive it of its right to the equal protection of the laws.

“Such acts of vandalism as have been reported can not be countenanced by the law; further action will be taken by this office and by the juvenile authorities as the in- vestigation may warrant.”

The local American Legion, hostile to the Witnesses, sent one of its members to at- tend the trial of the egg throwers and he obtained permission from the court to ap-. pear as the Legion’s special representative. He spent his time counseling the boys but was finally asked to move aside when he interfered with the proceedings. The editor of the local paper, The Morning Union, also spoke out against the vigilantism. Said he, ‘Summary unofficial action against persons whose beliefs and practices do not meet with public favor is not to be commended, and those who indulge in such outbursts are doing both their cause and the public a disservice.”

Suits of Lovett and Others Postponed Until Fall

The test suits filed by Prof. Robert Morss Lovett, former Government Secretary of the Virgin Islands; Prof. Goodwin Watson, and William E. Dodd, formerly of the Federal Communications Commission, will not be heard by the Court of Claims until fall, according to the Washington, D. C., attorneys in charge of them. It had been ex- pected that the Court of Claims would hear the cases this spring. The cases test the right of Congress to effect discharge of federal employees by riders on appropriations bills specifying that no part of the appropriation should be used for the payment of the salaries of designated persons.

The action was taken on recommendation of a special House Committee appointed to review the recommendations of the Dies Committee. Some forty employees were charged with disloyalty because of alleged connections with Communist united fronts, but action was taken against only three of them pending the outcome of the suits.

Meanwhile the three employees are on leaves of absence from their former, posts in order that the test cases may not be compromised by their continued service.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE URGED TO DROP TWO OBSCENITY CASES

The American Civil Liberties Union has made representations to Attorney General Biddle in two cases of obscenity pending in the courts which the Union says ‘should never have been brought on grounds of public policy.”” One of these involves a charge against the Rev. Ilsley Boone of May’s Landing, New Jersey, secretary of the National Sun Bathing Society, arrested for receiving copies of his own magazine from a trucking company. The other involves eleven members of a dissident Mormon sect in Utah, charged with advocating polygamy in their publication “Truth.” The Rev. Dr. Boone’s case is pending before the Grand Jury at Newark, New Jersey. The advocates of polygamy have already been indicted.

The Union holds that in both cases obscenity is improperly charged when it includes a publication seriously devoted to a concept of health, and.another publication whose only offense is advocacy of polygamy in general terms and on religious authority. It is reported that local district attorneys acted in both cases on complaints without referring them to the Department of Justice.

JEHOVAH’S WITNESS SEEKS RELEASE FROM ARMY PRISON

In one of the first tests of the U. S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Arthur Billings case making illegal the induction into the Army of draft registrants refusing the oath of induction, Raymond E. Yost, a Jehovah’s Witness, last month filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the District Court at Los Angeles seeking | release from army detention and judicial — review of his classification.

The petition charges that Yost was seized by military officers after appearing at the induction center as ordered by his local board and refusing to take the oath. It asserts that Yost, imprisoned at Camp Roberts for refusing to submit to military authority, was arbitrarily classified without . respect for his claims as a full-time minister of the gospel.

Judge Paul J. McCormick issued an order directing Colonel Paul H. Brown, Post Commander at Camp Roberts, to show -ecause why the writ should not be granted.

Executive Committee Northern California Branch American Civil Liberties Union

Hon. Jackson H. Ralston Honorary Chairman Rt. Rev. Edw. L. Parsons Chairman Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn Helen Salz Vice-Chairmen Joseph S. Thompson Secretary-Treasurer Ernest Besig Director Philip Adams H. C. Carrasco Wayne M. Collins James J. Cronin, Jr. Rev. Oscar F. Green Morris M. Grupp Prof. Ernest R. Hilgard Ruth Kingman Dr. Edgar A. Lowther Mrs. Bruce Porter Rabbi Irving F. Reichert Clarence E. Rust Kathleen Drew Tolman

Ten Cents per Copy.

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American Civil Liberties Union-News Published monthly at 216. Pine Street, San Fran- cisco, 4, Calif., by the Northern California Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. Phone: EXbrook. 1816! ERNEST BESIG ... Editor Entered as second-class ation July 31, 1941, at the Post Office at San Francisco, California, Subscription Rates—Seventy-five Cents a Year.

Martin Dies Withdrawal Will Help Civil Liberties, Says ACLU

The retirement of Martin Dies from the Democratic primary in Texas because of a “throat ailment” should “give more than one person, and the nation a chance to recover,” said the ACLU in a recent statement. The Union said: “The withdrawal of Dies of course means the end of the Committee which has been his personal mouthpicce. Every defender of civil liberties will welcome its demise in view of the havoc it has wrought, particularly in the government service against liberals alleged to be too radical for public employment. The six-year record shows not one single accomplishment in legislation, nor any useful accomplishment in any field except ballyhoo for reaction. We expect to hear little or nothing from the Committee in the remaining eight months of its life. It hasn’t held public hearings for two years.”

Mr. Dies’ throat ailment came at the moment that he was repudiated by a Democratic convention in his district, which elected a CIO union representative chairman, and when a local judge of high stand‘ing entered the primaries against him.

Ga. Civil Rights Conviction To Be Reviewed By Supreme Court

The case of three State officials convictot on charges of violating the federal civil rights law in the fatal beating of a Negro prisoner, at Newton, Georgia, was accept- éd for. review on May. 15 by the U. S. Supreme Court.

The defendants, Sheriff M. Claude Screws, policeman J ones, and special deputy Kelley, -were convicted in the Middle Georgia Federal District Court and each was sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined $1,000. The Fifth Federal Circuit Court upheld the convictions. The Court held that ‘“‘. . . the right to be secure in one’s person and ‘to be immune from illegal arrest and battery, or the right not to be deprived of life or liberty without due process of law, and the right to enjoy equal protection of the laws are rights ‘secured or protected’ by the Constitution of the United States.”

In asking Supreme Court review, the three officers said the question involved is the extent of federal jurisdiction to try a State officer for assaulting a State prisoner. The CLU may file a brief in this case upholding federal jurisdiction.

BILLS WOULD GIVES EAST INDIANS AND FILIPINOS CITIZENSHIP

Bills to admit to American citizenship natives of India and Filipinos are being pushed in Congress following the repeal last December of the Chinese exclusion act. The bills are backed by the ACLU and other agencies. They face considerable op position chiefly on the ground that no such persuasive argument of war-time morale as in the case of China justifies including India and the Philippines. Advocates of the legislation point out that both the Philippines and India are .members of the United Nations and that the passage of the bills would have a profound effect ‘on general morale in the Orient in support of the Allied cause.” The support of the bills by the American Civil Liberties Union is based solely upon the denial of equal rights to citizenship regardless of race.

The bills carry small annual quotas for immigrants—about 75 in the case of India and 50 in the case of the Philippines. About 3,000 natives of India reside in the U. 8. who would be eligible for citizenship and about 30,000 Filipinos on the mainland with some 40,000 more in Hawaii.

“Religious Liberty Issue Splits U. S.

“An important decision on the question of religious liberty was handed down recently by the United States Supreme Court in the case involving the Ballard family, leaders of the 1 Am movement. “The Ballard family claimed miraculous communication with the spirit world and supernatural power to heal the sick. They were brought to trial for mail fraud on an indictment which charged that their representations were false and that they ‘well knew’ they were false.”’

The question before the court, which split 5 to 4, was whether the constitutional guaranty of freedom of religion affords immunity from criminal prosecution for mis- representation of religious belief or experience. In deciding that the first amendment does grant such immunity, Justice Douglas, speaking for the majority, made the fol- lowing statement:

“Thus the Amendment embraces two concepts,—freedom to believe and freedom to act. The first is absolute but, in the nature of things, the second cannot be.’’ Freedom of thought, which includes freedom of religious belief, is basic in a society of free men. It embraces the right to maintain theories of life and of death and of the hereafter which are rank heresy to followers of the orthodox faiths. Heresy trials are foreign to our Constitution. Men may believe what they cannot prove. They may not be put to. the proof of their religious doctrines or beliefs. Religious experiences which are as real as life to some may be incomprehensible to others. Yet the fact that they may be beyond the ken of mortals

Supreme Court

does not mean that they can be made suspect before the law. Many take their gospel from the New Testament. But it would hardly be supposed that they could be tried before a jury charged with the duty to determining whether those teaching contained false representations. The miracles of the New Testament, the Divinity of Christ, life after death, the power of prayer are deep in the religious convictions of many.

If one could be sent to jail because a jury in a hostile environment found those teach- ings false, little indeed would be left of religious freedom. The Fathers of the Con- stitution were not unaware of the varied and extreme views of religious sects, of the violence of disagreement among them, and of the lack of any one religious creed on which all men would agree. They fashioned a charter of government which envisaged the widest possible toleration of conflicting views. Man’s relation to his God was made no concern of the state. He was granted the right to worship as he pleased and to answer to no man for the verity of his religious views. The religious views espoused by respondents might seem incredible, if not preposterous, to most people. But if those doctrines are subject to trial before a jury charged with finding their truth or falsity (then the same can be done with the religious beliefs of any sect. When the triers of fact undertake that task, they enter a forbidden domain. The First Amendment does not select any one group or any one type of religion for preferred treatment. It puts them all in that position.

Local Membership Growing |

As we go to press, the local branch of the A.C.L.U. has reached a paid-up membership of 7238, the largest in its history. In addition, the Union has 83 separate sub- scribers to the ‘‘News’’. The membership shows an increase of almost 20% over the figure at this time last year.

Until the present fiscal year, the membership reached its peak on September 1, 1940, with a total of 649. During the past four months. the membership has been beyond that figure.

ON GETTING LEAVE CLEARANCE FROM A RELOCATION CENTER

Almost fourteen months ago the local branch of the A.C.L.U. interested itself in the application for leave clearance from a concentration camp of a citizen of Japanese ancestry. He had served in the Army as a conscientious objector and had been honorably discharged. In answering the questionnaire for leave clearance, which all residents of relocation centers were required to fill out, this man, because of his con| scientious objections, stated he would not — be willing to serve in the Army on combat duty, and next that he was not willing ‘“‘to defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces.” In giving these answers he explained that he was a conscientious objector who was willing to perform only non-combatant service. In any case, the War Relocation Authority informed the Union that the application would be disposed of istratively possible.”

Finally, about two months ago, the man received notice that he should prepare to depart for Tule Lake. The Union then asked Dillon S. Meyer, director of the W.R.A., whether the leave clearance had been denied, and under date of May 13 he answerd, “We recently granted leave clearance to Mr. H-——

The only ieuble was that the W.R.A. had neglected to tell the person most interested that he is allowed to leave the concentration camp. So, after fourteen months ‘as soon as admin-.

ALIEN SERVICEMEN’S BAR | TO CITIZENSHIP FOUGHT

Passage by the Senate of a House Bill to admit to citizenship aliens in the armed forces who entered the country illegally, is being urged by the ACLU, which has asked its local branches to express their support to Senator Richard B. Russell, Chairman, of the Committee on Immigration. The bill, backed by the Departments of War and Justice, would permit the naturalization of some thousands in the armed forces who cannot produce proof of legal entry. Among them are many refugees from European tyrannies, many Chinese, and many Canadians who came over the border to work without getting entry papers.

It is understood that objections to the — bill have been raised among Senate com- mittee members opposed to liberalizing admission to citizenship, even for men in the armed forces. The bill is numbered H.R. 1284.

COUCHOIS SEDITION CONVICTION AFFIRMED BY CIRCUIT COURT

The conviction at Mobile, Alabama of James O. Couchois, NMU seaman for seditious utterances to a naval gun crew while serving on board a merchant ship has been affirmed by the United States Circuit Court at New Orleans. Couchois received a five year sentence. His appeal was backed by the ACLU on the grounds that his appointed. counsel did not have time to prepare his case, nor were witnesses called in his defense.

he is still trying to get an administrative release.

In the Endo case, the government has contended that there is an adequate remedy for the Japanese to get out of the camps; all they have to do is to apply for leave clearance. In fact, some 22,000 have been released. For some of the other thousands, however, it may be many more months before it is “administratively possible’ to release them.