vol. 11, no. 3

AMERICAN

PelVvil: LIBERTIES

UNIUN-NEWs

FREE SPEECH

FREE PRESS

FREE ASSEMBLAGE

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." -

Vol. XI.

_ SAN FRANCISCO, MARCH, 1946

No. 3

Blow to P.O. Censorship

Seen in "Esquire" Decision

Censorship by the U. S. Post Office Depart-

ment received a "stunning blow," according to

the ACLU, in the unanimous decision of the

U. S. Supreme Court on February 4 cancelling

the revocation of "Esquire" magazine's second-

class mailing rates. In an opinion written by

Justice William O. Douglas the court held that

former Postmaster General Frank C. Walker

had exceeded the powers granted him by Con-

gress when he revoked "Esquire's" second-class

rates in 1943 because he thought the magazine's

Varga girls did not make any contribution to

"literature, the sciences, or arts." The decision

of the high court sustained an opinion for the

District of Columbia last June.

Justice Douglas for the court said: `To with-

draw the second-class rate from this publication

today because its contents seemed to one official

not good for the public would sanction the with-

drawal oof the second-class rate tomorrow from

another periodical whose social or economic

views seemed harmful to another official...

Congress has left the Postmaster General no

power to prescribe standards for the literature

or the art which a mailable periodical dissemi-

nates." . a

he decision will prohibit all future censorship

of second-class matter by withdrawal of the

classification. It was estimated at the original

trial that it would cost "Esquire" some $500,000

more per year to distribute the magazine if its

second-class rates were revoked. The decision will

not apparently affect the Post Office Depart-

ment's power to exclude from the mails, after

hearing, any single publication held to be ob-

scene, seditious or fraudulent.

The ACLU, and the American Newspaper

Publishers Ass'n., among others, filed briefs in

the Supreme Court supporting "Esquire's'" ap-

peal. The ACLU maintained that regardless of

Congressional intent revocation of second-class

mailing rates by "official whim" was an uncon-

stitutional interference with freedom of the

press.

TWO IMPORTANT ALIEN LAND LAW

CASES BEFORE CALIFORNIA

APPELLATE COURTS

Two Alien Land Law cases made strides on

appeal last month. The "Stockton Theatres case,'

now pending before the Third District Court of

Appeals in Sacramento, if it is upheld, would

have the result of making it criminal for alien

Japanese to use or enjoy any commercial or resi-

dential property in California, thus effectively

barring alien Japanese from California.

The Alien Land Law provides that aliens in-

eligible for citizenship may use and enjoy real

property only to the extent allowed "by any

treaty NOW EXISTING." The treaty with Japan

was abrogated on January 26, 1940. In a brief

_ filed on February 6 by Freed and Freed, attorneys

for the appellants, it is contended that the abro-

gation of the treaty did not end the right of alien

Japanese to use residential or commercial prop-

erty in California since the right to such use as

defined in the treaty became an integral and

inseparable part of the Alien Land Law. Unless

these treaty provisions as they existed were in-

corporated into our law, the penal provisions of

the Act would be indefinite and uncertain, and

would thereby deprive alien Japanese of due

process of law under the Fourteenth Amend-

ment.

In the other development, the State Supreme

Court ordered a hearing in the Oyama escheat

case on March 8. That case challenges anew the

constitutionality of the Alien Land Law and also-

contends that the suit is barred by the statute

of limitations.

i

Federal Security Agency Ends Calif. Ban On

"Immigrant" Doctors Following Union's Protest

In consequence of complaints filed by the

American Civil Liberties Union of Northern Cal-

ifornia against activities of the California Pro-

curement and Assignment Service for Physicians

in keeping out-of-State veterans and others from

practicing in California, a directive was issued

by the Federal Security Agency in Washington,

last month, ordering California P. and A. to dis-

continue classifying doctors as "essential or non-

essential." :

Dr. gHarold A. Fletcher, State Chairman of

P. and A., in compliance with the directive, has

instructed all county chairmen and members of

committees, not only to discontinue such classi-

fications but to cancel all previous classifica-

tions.

California Procurement and Assignment Serv-

ice for Physicians is a governmental agency that

was established to aid Selective Service in draft-

ing doctors and at the same time to maintain a

reasonable distribution of physicians throughout

the State. With the end of the war, and the limi-

tation of the draft to men over 26, the need for

the agency practically vanished. Nevertheless,

on October 25, 1945, Dr. Fletcher, State Chair-

man of P. and A., sent instructions to Chair-

men and members of county committees con-

cerning "Relocation of Physicians Returning from

Military Service." Under these instructions,

"New Physicians coming from previous locations

in other states are not to be considered essential

-..y" and "Physicians formerly practicing in

another location in another county in California

temporarily must be considered as non-essential

to almost the same degree as a physician com-

ing from out of the state. Such physicians

should be advised to return to their former lo-

cations until the end of the emergency."

While the instructions admitted that P. and A.

"has no authority to tell a physician that he can

or cannot, or must not locate anywhere," at the

same time, it was pointed out that "almost all

county societies voluntarily passed regulations

that, during the emergency, no new physician

would be considered eligible to membership in

the county society unless he was classified as

essential by the Procurement and Assignment

Service."

In announcing these policies, Dr. Fletcher

was serving not only as Chairman of California

P. and A., but also as Chairman of the' Postwar

Planning Committee of the California Medical

Association, and at a meeting of the Council of

that Association, held in Los Angeles on Oc-

tober 21, 1945, the policies were given "unani-

mous" approval,

Exclusion from membership in county medi-

cal societies, it should be noted, prevents a doc-

tor from practicing in accredited hospitals in his

area, and he is thereby prevented from exercis-

ing his highest skills. To put it another way,

unless a doctor belongs to the County Medical

Society, he is unable to get hospital beds for his

patients, and is thus compelled to turn his hos-

pital patients over to other doctors. Of course,

membership in the County Medical Society car-

ries no guarantee of membership on a hospital

staff, but it is usually a pre-requisite to such

membership.

What would happen to a doctor who went

contrary to the wishes of the County Medical

Society is indicated in the same issue of Cali-

fornia and Western Medicine, published by the Cal-

ifornia Medical Association, in which Dr. Fletch-

er's letter to his subordinates appears.

"If a physician is deemed non-essential for

civilian practice in a certain community," says

an editorial in that publication, "a committee of

the county Medical society should meet with him,

and courteously and diplomatically explain the lo-

cal situation. Every county medical society in

California should appoint such a committee.

"To put it in other words, if a physician who

has been declared `non-essential' to a community,

-(be he a former Californian or from some (c)

other State)-but who, nevertheless, insists on

establishing himself, he would probably in due

time learn, in taking such a course, he had sur-

rounded himself with isolation barriers that

would not become operative had he returned to

his pre-war location; and of a nature that might

seriously handicap him in his professional and _

other advancement."

Dr. Fred W. Borden, Chairman of Procure-

ment and Assignment Committe for Santa Clara

County, in a letter to Dr. Fletcher appearing in

California and Western Medicine for last No-

vember, tells how they handle doctors who ob-

ject to being classed "non-essential"

"In some instances, however, their personal

interests supersede their sense of fair play, and

we then explain that Procurement and Assign-

ment makes no attempt whatever to tell them

that they may not enter the ecmmunity-that if.

(Continued on Page 4, Col. 2) (c)

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds

Civil Court Rule In Hawaii

The U. S. Supreme Court on February 25 -

decided by a vote of 6 to 2 that military courts

established under martial law in Hawaii after the (c)

Pearl Harbor attack lacked authority to try

civilians. The court ruled on appeals taken by

Harry E. White, a stockbroker of Honolulu, who

was convicted of embezzlement by a military court

in Hawaii in August 1942 and sentenced to five

years, and Lloyd C. Duncan, who was convicted

of assault on a military guard in a similar court

in March 1944 and received six months' sentence.

Both men were granted writs `of habeas

corpus by the Federal District Court in Hawaii

on the ground that the military had no jurisdic-

tion because the civil courts were open for busi-

ness. On appeal by the Army the Circuit Court of

Appeals in San Francisco unanimously reversed

the District Court..The Union appeared as amicus

curiae in a brief prepared by Wayne M. Collins

of San Francisco. :

The majority opinion was written by Justice

Black. Justice Burton wrote a dissent in which

Justice Frankfurter concurred.

Said Justice Black: "Courts and their pro-

cedural safeguards are indispensable to our sys-

tem of government. They were set up by our

founders to protect the liberties they valued.

Our system of government clearly is the anti-

thesis of total military rule and the founders of

this country are not likely to have contemplated

complete military dominance within the limits of

a territory made part of this country and not

recently taken from an enemy.

"We have always been especially concerned

about the potential evils of summary criminal

trials, and have guarded against them by pro-

visions embodied in the Constitution itself. Legis-

latures and courts are not merely cherished Amer- _

ican institutions; they are indispensable to our

government.

"Military tribunals have no such standing.

For as we have said before: `The military should .

always be kept in subjection to the laws of the

country to which it belongs, and that he is no

friend to the republic who advocates the con-

trary. The established principle of every free peo-

ple is, that the law shall alone govern; and to it -

the military must always-yield.' "

s 6 lems.

Page 2

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

LEGAL RIGHTS OF WAR OBJECTORS

EXTENDED

BY U.S. SUPREME COURT

Legal protection for conscientious objectors

who refused induction into the armed forces was

"somewhat extended,' according to the Ameri-

can Civil Liberties Union, by a 6 to 2 decision

of the U. S. Supreme Court on February 4,

ordering new trials for two Jehovah's Witnesses,

Louis D. Smith and William M. Estep. The

court ruled that such objectors are entitled to

a judicial review of their draft board classifica-

tions in criminal prosecutions for refusal to

obey induction orders. The decision reversed pre-

vious court decisions that objectors are not en-

titled to review of their classifications unless

they first joined the army or went to prison and

then sought release by habeas corpus.

The majority opinion by Justice Douglas Heid

that it is not necessary to submit to induction

in order to exhaust administrative remedies un-

der the Selective Service Act, and pointed out

that it was a waste of the courts' time to try a

man for an offense that he might later prove

did not exist. Justice Douglas held that Congress

intended decisions of draft boards to be "final"

unless they are clearly arbitrary, contrary ta

_ regulations, and have "no basis in fact."

In the instant cases, the objectors claimed

that local draft boards discriminated against

them because they were Jehovah's Witnesses,

and arbitrarily denied them classifications as

ministers of religion. Both men reported for in-

duction, but refused to take the oath which

would bring them under military jurisdiction.

Nevertheless, they were charged with refusing

to report for induction, and, at the trial, in both

- eases, the court would not accept proof that they

were ministers of religion. Consequently, the

merit of these claims was not passed upon by

the Supreme Court, but the cases were sent back

for new trials.

In arguing: for judicial review of draft board

classifications in criminal prosecutions charging

refusal to obey induction orders, Justice Douglas

pointed out, "If a local board classified a mem-

ber of Congress to report for induction, or if it

classified a registrant as available for military

service, because he was a Jew, a German, or a

_ SUPREME COURT TURNS DOWN APPEAL

' AGAINST MICHIGAN JURY SYSTEM -

: Last minute intervention by the American

_ Civil Liberties Union proved unavailing when the

U. S. Supreme Court turned down on February

11 a petition for a rehearing of an appeal

against a one man grand jury system function-

ing in Michigan. Although not informed of the

ease in time to support the original appeal the

ACLU filed a brief urging the high court to re-

consider its refusal to hear the appeal of Fran-

cis P. Slattery sentenced to sixty days for con-

tempt of court by a Michigan judge acting as

a one man grand jury.

In its unsuccessful bid for rehearing the

ACLU pointed out that a witness convicted of

- contempt by a Michigan judge acting as a grand

jury can be sentenced "without notice of a hear-

ing, or trial, and where one man is not only

prosecutor, judge, and jury, but the only witness

as well. This is a practice which strikes at the

very heart of the due process of law guaranteed

by the Constitution."

The Michigan. State Bar Association unani-

mously condemned the functioning of the one

man grand jury system at its convention last

fall.

BOOK NOTES

A NATION OF NATIONS by Louis Adamic,

Harper and Bros. 1945; 400 pages.

+ This is a fourth in a series of Louis Adamic's

studies of the relation of the foreign-born and

their offspring to the formation of the Ameri-

can people. It covers the major European mi-

norities and the Negroes. He plans a fifth vol-

ume to cover the smaller minorities and the Ori-

entals. The book is packed with facts, highly

useful for research on ethnic or minority prob-

DYNAMITE ON YOUR DOORSTEP by Wen-

zel Brown (Greenberg, publisher, New York).

A teacher in Puerto Rican schools in the last

few years, Mr. Brown has written an intimate

personal account of his experiences in Puerto

Rico, with particular reference to the political

attitudes of Puerto Rico. While Mr. Brown's

outlook is generally sympathetic, he is hostile

to the nationalists and distressed by evidence

of anti-American policy. The book is a vivid but

exaggerated picture of the less favorable cross-

currents among a distressingly impoverished

people, for whom the United States has not yet

found a solution.

Negro, it would act in defiance of the law. If

a local board refused to reopen on the written

request of the State Director a registrant's class-

ification and' refused to cancel its order to re-

port for induction, it would be acting in tHe

teeth of the regulations. In all such cases its

action would be lawless and beyond its juris-

diction."

In a concurring opinion, Justice Murphy de-

clared, ``There is something basically wrong and

unjust about a juridical system that sanctions

the imprisonment of a man without ever accord-

ing him the opportunity to claim that the charge

made against him is illegal. I am not yet willing

to concede that we may have such a system in

this nation... `

"We must be cognizant of the fact that we

are dealing here with a legislative measure born

of the cataclysm of war, which necessitates

`many temporary restrictions on personal liberty

and freedom. But the war power is not a blank

check to be used in blind disregard of all the

individual's rights which we have struggled so

long to recognize and preserve. It must be used

with discretion and with a sense of proportionate

values. In this instance it seems highly improb-

_able that the war effort necessitates the des-

truction of the right of a person charged with

a crime to obtain a complete review and con-

sideration of his defense. As long as courts are

' open and functioning judicial review is not ex-

pendable." @

Objectors have long sought in vain to obtain

court review of arbitrary draft board classifica-

tions when brought to trial for refusal to obey

induction orders. Scores who failed have gone to

prison. The Department of Justice under the

decision will obviously exercise great caution in

bringing cases in the future where any question

of arbitrary classification exists. Jehovah's Wit-

nesses claim classification as ministers, com-

monly denied by draft boards. Half a dozen

3uch cases arise every week, and the courts, re-

fusing to review, have been sending the men to

prison. :

TEN CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS FACE

TRIAL IN SACRAMENTO ON MARCH 14

Ten conscientious objectors at the Minersville,

Calif., CPS camp will go to trial in the U. S. Dis-

trict Court in Sacramento on March 14 charged

with refusing to obey an order. Apparently, the

charge is based on the refusal of the men to re-

move blanket partitions which they had arranged

between their cots.

The situation at Minersville is a struggle be-

tween the objectors and the government. The

men are intent upon keeping out of prison and at

the same time doing everything possible to make

operation of the camp a collosal failure. The camp

director, on the other hand, is trying to operate

the camp successfully. In the conflict both sides

have worked up their emotions to the bursting

point.

In fact, the camp director, Bliss O. Haynes,

struck one of the objectors in the course of the

conflict over the blanket partitions. The Union

has requested Selective Service, for the good of all

concerned, to relieve Mr. Haynes of his trying

duties.

Selective Service regards the "inmates" at

Minersville as "bad boys" and apparently intends

to be severe with the ten boys about to be tried.

The U. S. Commissioner at Red Bluff released

them on $500 bail each, furnished by the national

office of the A.C.L.U., but upon indictment the

bail was raised to $5000 in each case. Thereupon,

attorney Clarence E. Rust of Oakland moved to

lower the bail but the motion was denied. The

_U. 8S. attorney declared in open court that it was

the government's intention to keep the men in

ail.

: With the support of the local branch of the

Union, Mr. Rust then sought a writ of habeas

corpus in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

in San Francisco. Presiding Judge Garrecht ap-

parently got in touch with the U. 8. attorney and

Judge Welch and it was arranged to cut the bail

to $1000 each. Consequently, the petition was

withdrawn and the $25 filing fee returned.

UNION INVESTIGATES MASS

CONTEMPT PROCEEDING

Twenty-five San Franciscans, who made a

public statement demanding the ouster of Munici-

pal Judge Twain Michelsen as traffic judge, on

March 1 will be hailed before that judge on a

charge of "constructive contempt." The A.C.L.U.

of Northern California is investigating the matter

and may take action if the right of citizens to

criticize the courts is curtailed.

fi.

ACLU ENDORSES M'MAHON

ATOMIC ENERGY BILL

A bill to control atomic energy development

in the United States introduced by Senator Brien

McMahon has been endorsed by the American

Civil Liberties Union, as eliminating objection-

able features of the May-Johnson bill condemn-

ed as "unprecedented in its limitation of free

speech of scientists and its attempt to make

scientific research a government monopoly." In |

a letter to Senator McMahon, chairman of the

Special Senate Committee on Atomic Research,

the Civil Liberties Union said his new bill "leaves

research unhampered in its essential -elements

and publication of scientific information unre-

stricted."" The Union's letter was in reply to a

request by Senator McMahon for an opinion on

his bill.

The ACLU said it hoped Senator McMahon's

bill would be ``generally accepted in place of the

May-Johnson bill," since it confined government

control to information concerning the manufac-

ture of military weapons in order to withhold

secrets from other nations. The Union added

that there might be "some question" as to the ne-

cessity for government ownership or control of

all "fissionable materials," as provided in Sena-

tor McMahon's bill, but "there is no great threat

ee ae inquiry in view of the safeguards pro-

vided."

Union To Check On Police Violence

On Picket Lines; Oppose Injunctions

Observers for the American Civil Liberties

Union will be present at strike demonstrations

on picket lines where violence by police or strik-.

ers is threatened, according to instructions sent

on January 26 to local affiliated committees and

representatives by Roger N. Baldwin, Union di-

rector. @bservers' reports will determine the

Union's intervention in court proceedings.

In instructing its representatives, the Union

said, "The limits of lawful picketing are per-

fectly clear. Pickets are within their rights, re-

gardless of numbers, so long as they do not

unnecessarily obstruct traffic or access to

plants, and do not engage in personal violence.

The police are not within their rights when they

forbid mass picketing, regardless of traffic, nor

when they use more force than necessary to ~-

keep traffic or access open.

"The presence of large numbers of police,

especially when mounted, attracts large crowds

and inevitably promotes disorder and violence.

The use of tear gas to disperse crowds is never

justified. Adequate police forces are always

available to deal with unlawful conduct by or-

derly arrests.

"The record in current strikes shows in-

creased resort by the police to arbitrary limits

on pickets and unjustified force. Pickets on the

whole, are acting within their rights, despite

some conspicuous and deplorable instances of

force to bar access to plants even by managers

and maintenance employes.

"The American Civil Liberties Union will

participate through counsel in resisting injunc-

tions seeking unfairly to limit picketing on the

basis of inadequate of prejudiced evidence of

violence. If certain employers, as reported, are

importing strike-breakers across state lines they

are engaged in provocation which should be re-

sisted by local officials."

ACLU OPPOSES INJUNCTION LIMITING

PICKETS AT HOMESTEAD STEEL PLANT

A preliminary injunction limiting picketing

at the Homestead (Pa.) plant of the Carnegie-

Illinois Steel Co. was opposed on appeal by the

American Civil Liberties Union. William Wool-.

ston, Philadelphia attorney representing the

ACLU, appeared in support of the appeal by the

United Steel Workers (CIO) against the injunc-

tion heard by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court

in Philadelphia. The ACLU opposed the injunction

on constitutional grounds, although Judge Sara

Soffel of Pittsburg in issuing the original order

of February 2 had quoted a statement on picket-

ing by the ACLU in justification for her action.

The Supreme Court sustained the injunction on

February 13. Further proceedings will now be

held on the Company's motion to make the in-

junction permanent. /

The ACLU said the injunction was objection-

able on two grounds: first because it denied pro- .

per legal procedure, since it was issued by Judge

Soffel without hearing any witnesses and with-

outgiving the steel workers union a chance to

reply to the company complaint; and second be-

cause under the circumstances it abridged the

workers rights by limiting the number of pickets

to ten. The ACLU emphasized that while it rec- -

ognized the right of any one to gain access to

struck plants, it has supported mass picketing

where pickets did not bar access by violence.

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

_ Page 3

Court Enjoins Segregation of

Mexican School Children

Federal Judge Paul J. McCormick on Febru-

ary 18 granted an injunction enjoining four

Orange county, California, school districts from

discriminatory practices against pupils of Mexi-

can descent.

Under the regulations and practices of these

school districts, children of Mexican ancestry,

with a few exceptions, were segregated and

compelled to attend schools reserved for and

attended solely by children of Mexican and

Latin descent. In two of the districts, such segre-

gation extended through the sixth grade, while in

the remaining two districts, the segregation ex-

tended to and included the eighth grade.

The school districts defended their action

on the ground that children of Mexican an-

-cestry entered school life with English language

deficiencies. But, in the Santa Ana City schools,

for example, the court found the tests applied

to the beginners "to have been generally hasty,

superficial and not. reliable. In some instances

separate classification was determined largely by

the Latinized or Mexican name of the child."

The court held the segregation of Mexican

school children unlawful on two grounds. In the

first place, `We think the pattern of public edu-

cation promulgated in the Constitution of Cali

fornia and effectuated by the provisions of the

Education Code of the State prohibits segrega-

tion of the pupils of Mexican ancestry in the

elementary schools from the rest of the school

children . . . We perceive in the laws relating

to the public educational system in `the State

of California a clear purpose to avoid and forbid

distinctions among pupils based upon race or

ancestry except in specific situations not pertin-

ent to this action. Distinctions of that kind have

recently been declared by the highest judicial

authority of the United States `by their very

nature odious to a free people whose institutions

, are founded upon the doctrine of equality.' They

are said to be `utterly inconsistent with Ameri-

can traditions and ideals.' "'

In the second place, the court found that

"such practices clearly and unmistakably dis-

regard rights secured by the supreme law of the

land. `The equal protection of the laws' pertaining

to the public school system in California is not

provided by furnishing in separaate schools the

same technical facilities, text books and courses

of instruction to children of Mexican ancestry

that are available to the other public school

children regardless of their ancestry. A para-

- mount requisite in the American system of edu-

cation is social equality. It must be open to all

children by unified school association regardless

of lineage." _

The court declared "The evidence clearly

shows that Spanish-speaking children are retard-

ed in learning English by lack of exposure to its

use because of segregation, and that commingl-

ing of the entire student body instills and devel-

ops a common cultural attitude among the school

children which is imperative for the perpetua-

tion of American institutions and ideals. It is

also established by the record that the methods

of segregation prevalent in the defendant school

districts foster antagonisms in the children and

suggest inferiority among them where none

exists."

The court admitted that foreign language

handicaps may require special treatment in

separate classrooms, but "Such separate allo-

cations, however, can be lawfully made only

after credible examination by the appropriate

_ school authority of each child whose capacity

to learn is under consideration and the deter-

mination of such segregation must be based

wholly upon indiscriminate foreign language im-

pediments in the individual child, regardless of

his ethnic traits or ancestry."

The court did not pass upon the constitu-

tionality of two sections of the California School

Code which permit the segregation of `Indian

children or children of Chinese, Japanese, or -

Mongolian parentage," since no children of these

classes were involved in the issue before the

court. The Union is advised that before the war

segregation of children of Japanese ancestry was

followed in Florin and several other districts in

the Northern California. It would seem clear

that under the decision in the instant case such

segregation violates the Fourteenth Amendment,

and, if such practices are renewed, they should

be challenged in the courts.

BAR ASS'N RETAINS "JIM CROW" POLICY |

By a vote of 768 to 604, the Los Angeles Bar

Association last month defeated a proposal to

admit Negroes and other non-Caucasians to

membership. The vote was taken by mail, and

some 2100 ballots were distributed.

MORE THAN 1200 TULE LAKE RENUNCIANTS

ORDERED RELEASED

BY JUSTICE DEPT.

During the past month there were a number

of developments in the cases of persons of Japa-

nese ancestry who claim they renounced their

citizenship under governmental and community

duress.

1. As we go to press, exactly 1246 renun-

ciants have been ordered released from the Tule

Lake center in consequence of the so-called

"mitigation hearings" that were held in January.

Additional names are coming in all the time

and the final figure may be known in a couple

of weeks. While these persons are being granted

their liberty, their citizenship is not being re-

stored to them. Only by legal action can such

an end be attained.

Thus far, the Justice Department has tenta-

tively rejected 429 renunciants, and many of

these people, who had not previously sought

legal redress, have now joined in the suit filed

by attorney Wayne M. Collins.

2. The Justice Department has undertaken to

grant hearings to all of the renunciants at the

Bismarck, No. Dakota, and Santa Fe, New Mex-

ico, internment centers. The Bismarck camp will

be closed very shortly and the renunciants not

granted their release will be shipped to another

center. oe

3. A supplement to the petition for writs of

habeas corpus will be filed shortly by Mr. Collins

in the U. S. District Court in San Francisco.

That supplement will allege many other ways in

which the renunciants were victimized by gov-

ernment duress.

4. In consequence of the disclosure that a

slave labor racket was being conducted at the

Tule Lake center, the wages of workers at the

Recreation Club, operated for the benefit of

Caucasians, have been raised to 65c an hour

from the previous $19 per month for a 40-hour

week. Complaints against the racket were filed

by the Union with the Secretary of the Interior

as well as Dillon Myer, national director of the

War Relocation Authority. Apparently in order

to escape further criticism of the handling of

the Tule Lake Center, Mr. Myer, according to

Raymond Best, camp director, has issued an

order excluding visitors from the camp. Attor-

neys will be permitted to interview their clients,

but they are not allowed beyond the very en-

trance to the camp. Thus, the W.R.A. will be

able to carry on in great secrecy until it re- |

linquishes control of the camp to the Justice

Department around the middle of the month.

This high-handed action is typical of what

goes on at the Tule Lake Center. In this connec-

tion, the Union has just discovered that all tele-

phone conversations between attorneys and

Seven Nisei Finally Freed on

Draft Evasion Charge

Seven Japanese American evacuees who re-

cently appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court their

conviction of conspiracy to evade the draft were

assured release from the Federal Penitentiary

at Fort Leavenworth last month after the U.S.

Attorney General's office in Washington agreed

to drop the charges. The seven Nisei had pre-

o

f

clients are recorded by the W.R.A. :

The Union has recently procured figures on

the number of renunciants at the various cen-

ters. Tule Lake led the list with 5371. Next

came Colorado River with 86, Gila River with 26

and Granada with 12. In the remaining camps, ~

Central Utah had 9, Manzanar 8, Minidoka 7,

Rowher 2 and Heart Mountain 1. Outside of Tule

Lake center, there were only 151 renunciants.

The government is still resorting to pressure

to force renunciants to go to Japan. When the

list of "rejectees" was posted at Tule Lake, it

appeared with the following note:

"The following renunciants at the Tule Lake

Segregation Center who have been accorded

hearings have been recommended by the Hear-

ing Board for removal to Japan. While in some

cases this notification may not be final, it is

contemplated that those on the following list

who do not apply for voluntary repatriation to

Japan on the vessel sailing from San Pedro,

California, on February 21, 1946, will be removed

in the near future to the Santa Fe Internment

Camp or to the Crystal City Internment Camp.

All applications tor repatriation on the sailing

ot Fevruary 21 will be accepted until 9:00 A. M.,

Thursday, Heb. 14. All persons who wish to_

repatriate to Japan on this vessel must report

to the Processing Bidg. at once. Additional lists

will be published when received."

The psychological effect of this entire busi- |

hess on many ot the renunciants has been dis-

_astrous. About two months ago, because of anx-

iety over the possibilities of deportation, a Mrs.

Fudetani developed an acute psychosis-neurosis

and kilied one of her children with a hammer

and injured a second, She is now in a state in-

stitution, A father, worried over the impending

Separation from his sons who had renounced,

took a quantity of gasoline in an attempt to

commit suicide. A woman, faced with the fear

ot deportation, took "puis" to do away with her-

Self. Many young giris and boys who are alone

viously won an order for a new trial from the.

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, and

had appealed to the Supreme Court to rule that

no new trial was necessary. The seven were all

members of a Fair Play Committee at the Heart

Mountain, Wyo. Reloeation Center, and were

"originally convicted after they had advised other

inmates of the Center not to submit to induc-

tion until a court test had been made of their

status. In ordering a new trial the Circuit Court

pointed out that they were within their rights

in thus advising their fellow inmates.

RESTRICTED MAIL SERVICE TO GERMANY

ANNOUNCED FOR APRIL 1

Restricted mail service from the United States

to all parts of Germany will be reestablished on

April first according to an announcement of the

Allied Control Council in Berlin on February 14

reported by the Associated Press. The U(R) S. War

Department had previously informed the Ameri-

can Civil Liberties Union that mail service to

the American zone of occupation would be re-

sumed by "early spring," but that mail to other

zones depended on agreement of the Control

Council, now apparently secured. Announcement

by the Control Council did not specify what the

"restrictions" on the mail service would be. The

ACLU has been pressing various government

departments for the resumption of mail .service

to Germany since last October, in order to re-

establish "world-wide freedom of the mails."

at camp are breaking under the difficulties of _

the past four years, and it is not unlikely that -

they will end up in mental institutions.

Legislation May Afford Relief in

Z0U Japanese Weportation Cases

Deportation to Japan of some two hundred

citizens long residents in the U. S. will prob-

ably be hela up foilowing the introduction in the (c)

House Of Kepresentatives of a bill sponsored by

the American Civil Liberties Union. The bill,

H. R. 5454, introduced by Rep. Herman P. Eber-

harter of Pennsylvania on Hebruary 12 would

permit the Attorney General to grant six months

stay of deportation to orientalis ineligible for

citizenship in cases where extreme hardship

would follow deportation. The 200 Japanese con-

cerned are illegal entrants, treaty merchants,

and students, many of whom have wives and

children who are American citizens, and some

of whose children served in the armed forces.

In a memorandum supporting the bill the

"ACLU said its purpose was to enable the Attor-

ney General to exercise clemency in deporta-

tion cases "regardless of race, color, or national -

crigin," since "hardship for personal or family

reasons recognizes no racial boundaries." It was

emphasized that the bill does not grant resi-

dence to aliens, but merely extends the power

of a six months stay of deportation already

granted in cases of all aliens. except those ineli-

gible for citizenship. It was also pointed out that

a Select Committee of the House Immigration

and Naturalization Committee had recommended

the legislation last fall.

On February 8, Congressman George Miller

of Alameda county, introduced H. R. 5429, which

would, in effect, establish a ten-year statute of

limitations for illegal entrants. That is to say,

any person who entered the country more than

ten years ago would not be deportable because

of illegal entry. :

The ACLU of Northern California is handling

exactly 40 Japanese deportation cases, and the

foregoing legislation, if adopted, would prevent

the deportation of all concerned. In all of its

cases, the Union has petitioned for stays of de-.

portation, and, although there was a threat that

several persons would be deported on February -

21, the Union was successful in preventing such

action.

A majority of the aliens are detained at Tule

Lake. Such persons as are able to provide a $500

bond will be released pending further action in

their cases. In most of the cases, however, the

aliens are without funds and the Unions is,

therefore, urging their release on parole.

`Page 4 |

AMERICAN CiVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

American Civil Liberties Union-News

Published monthly at 216 Pine Street, San Francisco, 4,

Calif., by the American Civil Liberties Union

of Northern California. :

Phone: EXbrook 1818

ERNEST BESIG ...... : Editor

Wntered as second-class matter, July 31, 1941, at the

Post Office at San Francisco, California,

under the Act of March 3, 1879.

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year.

Ten Cents per Copy.

ACLU OPPOSES CASE

151-. ge

STRIKE CONTROL BILL

The strike-control bill introduced in the

House of Representatives by Rep. Francis Case

of South Dakota was condemned by the Ameri-

can Civil Liberties Union on February 3 in let-

ters addressed to Congressional leaders of both

major parties as "destroying labor's basic con-

stitutional right to strike or picket." The Union

letter made three points against the bill: :

"(1) Except in war-time no justification ex-

ists for curtailing labor's basic constitutional

right not to work. The 30-day cooling-off period

for strikes hits at the essence of this right.

"(2) Orderly picketing is a recognized form

of free speech. By effectively repealing federal

anti-injunction legislation the Case bill threatens

to deprive workers of their free speech rights

through wholesale issuances of injunctions.

"(3) The provision in the bill withdrawing

the right of workingmen to refuse to work on

`unfair materials' is a direct attack upon the

_ right to strike."

The bill passed the House 258-155 on Febru-

ary 7, and is now before the Senate Labor Com-

mittee.

UNO to Consider Free Press

Conference at Next Meeting

The calling of an international press confer-

ence among members of the United Nations was

put on the agenda of the first American meeting

of the General Assembly by a decision of the As-

-gembly's steering committee in London on Feb-

ruary 7. The steering committee voted against

the sole objection of the USSR to consider at its

next meeting a resolution for an internationl

conference introduced by the Philippine delegate,

Fedro Lopez. _

The resolution laid down three principles

that should govern the international gathering

and distribution of the news (1): all sources of

news, and particularly unofficial sources, should

be open to all without discrimination; (2) trans-

mission facilities should be equally available to

all; and (3) there should be a minimum of of-

ficial regulation of the flow of news. The Philip-

pine resolution went on to say that there should

be adequate representation of both "managerial

and professional" press organizations at any

conference called.

A draft declaration of the Rights of Man

was introduced in the General Assembly of the

a UNO by the Cuban delegation on February 13. .

It is to be used as a basis of study by the Coun-

cil on Human Rights of the Economic and Social

Commission of the UNO.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

American Civil Liberties Union

of Northern California

216 Pine Street

San Francisco 4, Calif.

(Please check appropriate blank or blanks)

1. Please enroll me'as a member..........

(Annual dues, $2; unemployed and stu-

dents, $1. Membership dues includes sub-

scription to the "American Civil Liberties

Union-News" at $1 a year.)

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3. Please enter my subscription to the.

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Federal Security Agency Ends Calif. Ban On

"Immigrant" Doctors Following Union's Protest

(Continued from Page 1, Col. 3)

they meet the legal requirements of State licen-

sure, they are free to go anywhere they like,

but that they are thereby taking upon theif own

shoulders the full responsibility of achieving

County Society Membership and membership on

the closed hospital staffs. We explain that staff

membership is essential for practice in the hos-

pital and that only County Society members are

accepted as members of the hospital staff. In

turn, the County Society by-laws provide that

Procurement and Assignment approval is a pre-

requisite to membership."

The issue was brought to public attention on

January 29 when Dr. Cabot Brown, speaking

before the San Francisco Physicians' Forum, de-

clared, "We do not want immigration laws (for

physicians) in this and adjoining counties. There

are first-rate doctors who happen to come from

the Middle West or other places and who after

being stationed here for a long time, want to

practice here. They are being kept out because

they interfere with our incomes, but they will

help us to learn better medicine. The principle

is wrong."

The ACLU of Northern California agreed

that the principle is wrong. It's Executive Com-

mittee took the position that the government

may not discriminate against one group of citi-

zens in favor of another group and thereby deny

the equal protection of the laws.

On January 18 the director of the A.C.L.U.

sought to procure a copy of P. and A.'s exclusion

policies. A telephone request to the P. and A.'s of-

fice resulted in a refusal, and a letter to Dr.

Fletcher drew the response that. "These direc-

tives are purely for interdepartmental use and

... are not available to outside agencies." The

Union then discovered that the exclusion policies

`had been published by Dr. Fletcher.

Thereafter, the Executive Committee of the

Union adopted the following four-point program

in fighting the ban on "immigrant" doctors:

1. A request directed to Watson Miller, Ad-

ministrator of the Federal Security Agency, and

Paul Barton, Executive Director of the national

Procurement and Assignment Service for Physi-

cians, that California P. and A. be ordered to quit

cooperating with private medical groups in ban-

ning "immigrant" doctors from the practice of

medicine, and the confidential handling by P. and

A. of information listing doctors as "essential

or non-essential."

2. Filing of a complaint with the anti-trust

division of the Department of Justice requesting

criminal prosecution of those responsible for the

"immigrant" doctor ban.

3. A public offer to bring an appropriate

Has House Un-American Committee

Decided Democracy Is Un-American?

Abolition of the House Committee on un-

Americanism was urged last month by the

American Civil Liberties Union, noting that ac-

tivities of the Committee's chief counsel, Ernie

Adamson, have reached heights of absurdity

"that seriously reflected on the good sense and

good faith of the House itself." The ACLU said

a recent letter from Adamson requesting the

records of the Veterans Against Discrimination

in New York City, contained the "amazing im-

plication that any organization advocating de-

mocracy is un-American and properly subject to

House investigation." The ACLU told House |

Speaker Sam Rayburn that the "nonsense con-

tained in Adamson's letter would justify investi-

gating even the Democratic Party."

In his letter to the Veterans Against Dis-

crimination on January 29, Adamson said: "Sev-

eral of your circulars have been sent to us by

citizens of your city, and I note that you refer

to democracy several times. I wonder if you are

sufficiently familiar with the history of the

United States to be aware' that this country

was not organized as a democracy."

In urging abolition of the House Committee

the ACLU said it was "not concerned with silly

semantics but with the gross impropriety of

such inquiries, which reflect upon the good sense

and good faith of the House Committee and

thus upon the House itself. Taken together with

other recent activities of the Committee, or of-

ficially on its behalf, the conclusion is inescap-

able that the conception of un-Americanism that

dominates the Committee is contrary to our

principles and traditions. While we are wholly

in favor of the utmost use of the Congressional

power of inquiry, this Committee has so abused

it that its abolition is plainly justified."

civil suit in behalf of any reputable licensed phy-

sician, who is the victim of the exclusion policies

of the public and private agencies.

4. The filing of a protest with Watson Miller,

Administrator of the Federal Security Agency,

against Dr. Harold A. Fletcher holding his job

as Chairman of California P. and A., and at the

same time acting as Chairman of the Postwar

Planning Committee of the California Medical

Association, one of the sponsors of the "immi-

grant" doctor exclusion program, on the ground

that the interests of the private physicians'

group conflict with the interests of the general

public. At the same time, a protest was author-

ized against the refusal of Dr. Fletcher to furn-.

ish the Union a copy of the exclusion program

because "our directives are not available to out-

side agencies," whereas such information had

already been printed in California and Western

Medicine, published by the California Medical As-

sociation.

As we go to press, the Union has not yet re-

ceived a report from the Federal Security Ag-

ency. It was advised by wire, however, that an

inquiry was being made and that the Union

would be advised as soon as full particulars be-

came available.

Apparently not all county medical societies

cooperated in the "immigrant" doctor exclusion

program. Rollen Waterson, Executive Secretary

of the Alameda County Medical Association, de-

clared publicly, "There is no discrimination

against any group or class of physicians who

apply to the Alameda County Medical Associa-

tion." At the same time, Mr. Waterson admitted

that doctors are discouraged from coming to Al-

ameda County. We also have reports that Los

Angeles and San Diego county medical societies

also failed to cooperate with P. and A.'s exclusion

program.

The Civil Liberties Union is also investigatirig

complaints that the State Board of Medical Ex-

aminers is arbitrarily denying licenses to physi-

cians who have practiced for more than ten

years in other states. The Union has information

that these doctors are given oral examinations

lasting only a few minutes, which make no at-

`tempt to test their general knowledge of medi-

cine nor their knowledge of their specialties.

The Union is urging physicians who have taken

these examinations to supply it with the full de-

tails of their experiences, and promises to keep

their names confidential. Le

CLU Asks Dismissal of Ernie Adamson,

Un-American Committee Counsel

Following receipt of a letter from Rep. Karl

E. Mundt disavowing Ernie Adamson, chief coun-

sel for the House Committee on Un-American

Activities, the American Civil Liberties Union

on February 20 wrote committee chairman Rep.

John S. Wood expressing the hope that Adam-

son's "services will promptly be dispensed with,"

and calling attention to the fact that "he was

a party to an intolerable remark by a Commit-

tee investigator, one Nicklas, to Prof. Clyde

Miller of Columbia University." Mr. Nicklas was

quoted as telling Prof. Miller in Adamson's

presence that: "You should tell your Jewish

friends that the Jews in Germany stuck their

necks out too far and Hitler took good care of

them, and that the same thing will happen here

unless they watch their steps."

The ACLU told Rep. Wood that `as long as

the House Un-American Committee is author-

ized, it would appear that the least that can be

done is to employ reasonably fair-minded rep-

resentatives, qualified by tact and discretion in

dealing with the delicate and debatable area of

un-Americanism." Rep. Wood was asked to con-

firm reports that Mr. Nicklas had been dis-

missed, and to give serious attention to the

problem of dispensing with Mr. Adamson. |

In answer to earlier protests by the ACLU

against letters by Ernie Adamson criticizing

columnist Drew Pearson and others for calling

America a "democracy," Rep. Karl E. Mundt,

a committee member, replied characterizing -

Adamson's statements as "foolish and unjusti-

fiable.' He went on to say: "I can assure you

that our committee looks with extreme disfavor

upon such a letter as Mr. Adamson wrote both

Mr. Pearson and the Veterans Against Discrim-

ination. We are endeavoring to work out a pro-

gram that will make certain that letters of this

type are not written in the future.'' He declined,

however, to support the ACLU's stand for aboli-

tion of the Committee, `on the basis of its

record."