vol. 13, no. 1

~ American

Civil Liberties

~ Union-News

e

Free Press

Free Speech _-

Free Assemblage

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Vol. XIII

SAN FRANCISCO, JANUARY, 1948

INO.

ACLU RAPS MOTION

PICTURE INDUSTRY'S

BAN ON COMMUNISTS

`The recent decision of top film executives.

meeting in New York, to suspend or discharge

employees refusing to testify before the House

Un-American Activities Committee and not tc

employ any known Communists or other "sub-

_ "versive'"' persons, was scored last month by the

ACLU as "fraught with danger to freedom of

opinion in the industry" in letters to the heads

of the Motion Picture Association and the Inde-

_ pendent Producers. The Union also attacked the

producers' appeal for Congressional action tc

establish standards for employment of "subver-

sive" elements in private industry.

The Union's letters said: "It is only a short ster

from this employment policy to depriving the

public of that independence in the production of

films which our democracy has a right to demand.

It might easily follow that the industry would be

hesitant to make any films which would arouse

political controversy, for fear of effects on box

office receipts either in the United States or in

the foreign market. :

"We appreciate the problem you confront in

public relations as a result of the House Commit-

. tee hearings, but we do not think that it justifies

- the measures you have taken. In the long run they

' will cripple an industry which so readily_accepts

the dictates of an unthinking hysteria over

charges which are barren of proof. Nothing has

been shown to support the contention that Ameri-

can films have been influenced in any way by

Communists or subversive employees. The inde-

_ pendence of producers from the controls of preju-

diced forces would be a far better guarantee for

the future of the film industry than its acceptance

of so unreasonable an employment policy. -

"We may assume that the industry is constantly

on guard against the extension of public censor-

ship and may be fearful that the recent contro-

versy will lead to it. We are as wholly opposed tc

the extension of censorship as the industry. We

are also opposed to all the present censors, state

and local. We do not think that the American

public would accept any extension of public cen-

sorship, and we are confident that the industry

and its allies could defeat any such move. A forth-

right declaration of independence would far better

guarantee that result than submission to pressures

which have in them the dangerous elements of an

unofficial but equally effective censorship."

The Union's communications were signed by

Elmer Rice, chairman of the Council on Censor- (c)

ship, Arthur Garfield Hays, counsel, and Walter

Frank, acting chairman of the Board.

13 Vigilantes Convicted

For Raiding Meeting

Thirteen vigilantes -12 of them members of

the .Glendale American Legion Post 127, were

convicted last month of attempting to break ur

the last November 14 meeting of the La Crescenta-

La Canada Democratic Club in Los Angeles coun-

ty at the home of Hugh Hardyman, retired ranch.

er and a member of the Executive Committee of

_ the Southern California branch of the ACLU.

Nine of the 18 convicted received suspendec

sentences of $25 fines or five days in jail. H. C.

Burkheimer, former Glendale newspaper publish-

er, and Stanley Lord, who gathered the Legion

caps for the raid, were sentenced to $250 fines or

125 days in jail.

- Orville Collins, commander of the Legion Post

and Ralph Baker, who read a statement at the

meeting ordering the assemblage to disband, were

both ordered to pay $25 fines or spend five days

in jail. Counsel for the men entered an oral notice

of appeal.

The vigilantes apparently thought the gather.

ing was a meeting of the Progressive Citizens of

America. None of the group testified at the trial.

Not Acts But

The policy of the Government's Loyalty Review

Board became a little clearer last mogth with the

release of the following declaration by Chairman

Seth W. Richardson, on behalf of the Board:

"The board feels strongly that advocacy of

whatever change in the form of government or the

economic system of the United States, or both

however far-reaching such change may be, is not

disloyalty, unless that advocacy is coupled with

the advocacy or approval, either singly or in con-

cert with others, of the use of unconstitutional

means to effect such change.

"We strongly believe that persons holding be-

liefs calling for a change in our form of govern-

ment through the use of force or other unconsti-

tutional means who indicate these beliefs by asso-

ciation or conduct, and persons who demonstrate

that their allegiance is primarily to some foreign

power or influence, and that they desire to remain

in, or enter upon, the service of our Nation."

No matter how one reads these words, their

effect is to bar citizens from government employ-

ment not solely because of their actions but alsc

simply because of associations and beliefs. It

would appear that the foregoing statement is just

another way of saying that anyone who is a Com-

munist or a fellow traveler will be barred from

government employment.

The only trouble with the board's policy is that

the Communist Party today is in no different

legal status from. for example, the Republican

Party or the American Legion. If the Govern-

ment believes that membership in the C. P. con-

stitutes effective disloyalty to this nation, then

this fact should be determined by a test in the

Beliefs and Associations Will

Be the Test of Loyally for Federal Employees

courts. If it is by due legal process found that

membership in the Communist Party or any other

groups or practical co-operation with them con-

stitutes conspiracy against the safety of the State

then such membership or practical co-operation

is illegal and prohibited not only to government

employees, but to all citizens.

Until it is determined by unexceptionable legal]

process that membership in or practical co-opera-

tion with any of these organizations is illegal

there can be no legitimate grounds for proscrip-

tion of organizations either by executive fiat, or

by "regulation," and no grounds for the discharge

of individuals save incompetency or illegal action.

Chairman Richardson outlined many procedural

safeguards but the procedure will nevertheless

"deprive an accused person of confronting and

cross-examining his accuser.'' Where an employee

is accused, he will be served with a letter of

charges "in the fullest possible detail." `If the

samples we have seen are any criterion, an ac-

cused will be left pretty much in the dark as tc

the charges against him.

The local ACLU has had a "loyalty" case pend-

ing for almost three months. A colored aircraft

mechanic was suspended from his job at the Ala-

meda Naval Air Station after a ludicrous hearing

apparently because of his membership in the Com-

munist Party for two months in 1945. Althougr

an appeal was taken in October no decision has

been announced by the Secretary of the Navy anc

_ the Union has no way of knowing when a decision

will be forthcoming. Neither is it known whether

the Navy will permit. its decision to be reviewed

by the Loyalty Review Board.

"Un-American' Contempt

Cases Scored by ACLU

Because of the "failure of the House Un-

American Activities Committee to lay a proper

foundation" for questioning the Hollywood writ-

ers and directors about membership in the Com-

munist Party and the Screen Writers Guild, the

national office of the ACLU announced recently

that it would back those witnesses cited for con-

tempt for refusal to answer, where the record

makes the issue clear.

The ACLU statement stressed that it would not

defend all cases of refusal to divulge party affilia-

tions. But it held that for the question to be

"germane to the Committee's inquiry", the fact

that Communist propaganda was injected into a

film would have to be first established. The ACLU

noted that the Committee had not established

that fact.

ACLU Backs All But Disclosure Item

In President's Committee Report

After studying the thirty-five recommendations

of the report of the President's Committee on Civil

Rights, the Board of the ACLU has endorsed al!

but the controversial section on disclosure of "all

pertinent information by agencies seeking to in-

fluence public opinion."" That problem has beer

referred to a special committee for study. The

Union has in the past seen no issue in the invasion

of private rights in requiring disclosure where

public privileges or licenses are involved, nor ir

registering foreign agents.

In endorsing the other provisions of the Com-

mittee report the Union's Board reversed a pre-

vious position supporting federal aid for public

schools, whether segregated or not. The new

position supports federal aid only where segrega-

tion is abolished. Also endorsed as a new position

for the ACLU were the recommendations for

self-government for the District of Columbia and

for representation in Congress.

HERESY HUNT IN PROGRESS AT

THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING

The University of Wyoming's textbook investi-

gation for "un-American or subversive doctrines"

has aroused some inquiries from its faculty which

is reported as being "disturbed" by the investiga-

tion. Dr. Alfred Larson, chairman of a faculty

committee, stated that while the faculty members

are not opposed to the investigation, they would |

like to know what is "un-American" and "sub-

versive." The faculty committee is hoping to

receive an invitation to appear at a board meeting

on January 24, but will not appear without an

invitation.

Last October the board of trustees ordered

President G. D. Humphrey to appoint a committee

to study the textbooks in the social sciences to

see if they contained "un-American or subversive"

doctrines.

Contempt of Congress Decision

To Be Challenged in Supreme Court

The appeal from the decision of the Circuit

Court of Appeals at New York upholding the

conviction of Leon Josephson, Communist, for

refusing to testify before the House Un-Amer-

ican Activities Committee on the ground it is

"unconstitutional," will be supported by the Amer-

ican Civil Liberties Union. The Union's interven-

tion, based on the dissenting opinion by Judge

Charles E. Clark, will be addressed solely to the

point that the resolution under which the standing

committee operates is void because of its vague

language in relation to freedom of speech and

opinion. While upholding the value of the broad

powers of Congressional inquiry, the Union will

maintain that limits may be properly fixed con-

stitutionally to curtail inquiries into private

opinion and belief. .

Page 2

i

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

C. O.'s Get Legalistic Deal

From Truman's Amnesty Board

Scoring the action of the President's Amnesty

Board in recommending pardons for conscientious

objectors on "narrow legalistic grounds," the

American Civil Liberties Union last month ad-

dressed a letter to President Truman urging e

further review by the Department of Justice of

"hundreds of cases not covered." The Union's

communication was signed by Ernest Angell

chairman of its Committee on Conscientious Ob-

jectors, and a member of the American Legion

Mr. Angell was an officer in World War I.

_ The Union wrote that it "appealed not for con-

-Scientious objectors but for the principle of con-

science." The letter scored the refusal of the

Amnesty Board to recommend pardons for "the

most numerous single group of men of religious

conscience, Jehovah's Witnesses." The Union

told the President that "our whole tradition of

freedom of conscience rests on the superior claims

of duty to God, as a man sees it, as against his

duty to the State." Maintaining that Jehovah's.

Witnesses affirm that principle the Union criti-

cized the Board for condemning them as "Citizens -

above the law."

_ Also criticized was the refusal to recommencent

pardons for objectors who "arrived at a convic-

tion against participation in all war on ethical]

grounds" and four classes of men whose conduct

according to the Union, was clearly motivated by

conscience, "not bya desire to save themselves."

The four classes cited are: (1) those who re-

fused to accept civilian service in camps which

were under military control; (2) the few Amer-

_ ican Indians who refused service on the grounc

of tribal religion or treaties with the United

States; (3) the few Negroes who preferred prison

to serving in a Jim Crow army; and (4) the

"handful" of Puerto Rican nationalists who re-

sisted service in what they regarded as the im-

perialist forces of the United States.

The Union noted that the Presidential pardon-

ing power was created to transcend "narrow con--

_ siderations of law in order to do substantial

justice," and holds the report wholly out of line

with that principle. : (

_ The Board, appointed a year ago by the Presi.

' dent to review all selective service violators,

recommended pardons for only 1523 out of the

known 5000 conscientious objectors and Jehovah's

Witnesses. A large number were men, not ob-

jectors, who had broken the law and later went

into the army, and were not covered by a previous

amnesty requiring a year's service and honorable

discharge.

ROTH URGES DISMISSAL OF COMMUNISTS

FROM PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT

Not to be outdone by the Hollywood movie

producers, Almon E. Roth, president of the San

Francisco Employers' Council last month recom-

mended that applicants for private jobs be com-

pelled to sign loyalty affidayits. "I can see no

reason," Mr. Roth is quoted as saying, "why any

employer should knowingly retain Communist

disrupters on his staff."

Executive Committee

American Givil Liberties Union

of Northern California

Sara Bard Field

Honorary Member

Rt. Rev. Edw. L. Parsons

Chairman

"Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn

Helen Salz ~

Vice-Chairman

Joseph S. Thompson

Secretary-Treasurer

Ernest Besig

Director

Philip Adams

John H. Brill

Prof. James R. Caldwell

_ H.C, Carrasco

Wayne M. Collins

Rev. Oscar F. Green

Margaret C. Hayes

Prof. Ernest R. Hilgard

Ruth Kingman

Ralph N. Kleps

Dr, Edgar A: Lowther

Seaton W. Manning

Mrs. Bruce Porter

Clarence E. Rust

Rabbi Irving F. Reichert

Prof. Laurence Sears

Dr. Howard Thurman

Kathleen Drew Tolman

Removal of Restrictions

On Alien Visitors Sought

Restrictions imposed by the Attorney General

on alien visitors to United Nations and other

international conferences in the U. S. were scored

by the ACLU in a letter last month to Attorney

General Tom C. Clark as "highly undesirable from

the viewpoint of the U. S. as host to the United

Nations." The Union cited the restrictions imposed

on the Rev. Michael Scott of South Africa, bearing

petitions from the Indian and Negro minorities,

and on Communist journalists. my

The Union declared that Mr. Scott had been

held to be in the `inadmissible class" of Commun-

ists, anarchists and persons convicted of crimes

of moral turpitude although the only evidence

against him was his part in the Indian passive

resistance movement in South Africa. To avoid

involvement in foreign politics and reliance on

governments opposed to minority representatives,

the Union urged that no restrictions be placed on

any foreign visitors to official or unofficial con-

ferences beyond limiting the length of their stay

and "when considerations of national security

warrant, the area in which they may be permitted

to travel".

The Union conceded that there are of course

persons whe may be totally excluded, but that

when admitted there be no restrictions on speech

or publication, nor any requirement to register as

foreign agents, since they are sufficiently identi-

fied by their missions.

S. F. Committee to Oppose Universal

Military Training Is Organized

Organization of a San Francisco Committee to

Oppose Universal Military Training was announced

last month by its Secretary-Treasurer, Robert S.

McInnes, 2042 Forty-sixth avenue. Chairman of

the group is Rev. Robert W. Moon.

Sponsors of the Committee , include Bishop

James C. Baker, Rabbi Rudolph I. Coffee, Prof.

Alfred G. Fisk, Rt. Rev. Edward L. Parsons, and

Dr. Howard Thurman. The Speakers' Bureau is

headed by Rev. E. LeRoy Abbott.

The Committee is presently engaged in distrib-

uting educational leaflets, which are available

from the secretary, and presenting its case before

groups in the community. It will sponsor the

forthcoming speaking appearance of Brig. Gen.

H. C. Holdridge.in San Francisco. :

Segregation of Mexican School Children -

Challenged in Texas

A suit in the U. S. District Court at Austin

Texas, was recently filed to challenge the segrega-

tion of Spanish-speaking Mexican children, accord-

ing to an announcement by the ACLU last month.

A. L. Wirin of Los Angeles, counsel for the

ACLU Southern California branch, aided Texas

lawyers in setting up the case along lines success-

fully followed in California.

The suit seeks to compel school boards to accept

Mexican children in white schools despite objec-

tions of school officials that the language barrier

makes segregation desirable. Negro children in

Texas are segregated. Mexican children are com-

monly segregated in the primary schools, not ir

high schools or colleges. Previous cases in the

state courts have failed to upset the practice.

Right of Negro Travel on Excursion Boat

Backed in U. S. Supreme Court

The ACLU joined with the NAACP and the

National Lawyers Guild in filing a brief in the

U. S. Supreme Court on December 18 supporting

the right of Negroes to travel on excursion boats

from Detroit to Bob-Lo Island, an amusement

park in Canadian waters. No Negroes have been

carried on the boats for years. The Detroit

~NAACP brought the case under the Michigan

civil rights law. A conviction was obtained against

the boat company in the Michigan courts. The

company has appealed, challenging the constitu-

tionality of the civil rights law.

Catholic Institution Resists Release

Of Children to Parents in USSR

Armenian parents of New York City, recently

returned to Soviet Armenia, met resistance when

they attempted to secure the release of their three

children from Catholic institutions on the ground

that Soviet Armenia does not offer opportunity

for Catholic religious education. A writ was sued

out in the courts by the parents. The ACLU will

support the parent's contention through Raymond

L. Wise, appearing as a friend of the court. The

Union will support the superior rights of the

parents to the custody and education of their

children.

President Urged to Extend

Protection in Loyalty Cases

To avoid the "dangers inherent in so extensive

a check-up of the loyalty of federal employees,"

the ACLU last month urged on President Truman

the inclusion of procedural protections in the four

departments not covered by his loyalty order of

last March - State, War, Navy and Atomic En-

ergy. Pointing out that practically all the dis-

missals to date have been in War, Navy and State.

which by Congressional acts have the right of -

summary dismissal as special security agencies.

the Union urged that procedural proteetions

similar to those in other departments be pro--

vided and that employees found not qualified for

these departments be permitted to transfer tc

others. Where "full procedural protection is not:

available" the Union urged the right of employees

to resign rather than face dismissal.

Also urged on the President was an addition tc

his order to provide for hearings for organizations

black-listed by the Attorney-General as ``sub-

versive."'

The Union commended the President's state-

ment that every effort would be made to prevent

any "witch-hunt," and the character of the Loyal-

ty Review Board which will hear appeals from all

departments, with advisory powers which are

expected to determine general standards.

California Supreme Court

Upholds Union Political Tax

A four-year contest by Cecil B. DeMille, movie

producer, over a political assessment by the Amer-

ican Federation of Radio Artists came to an end

on December 16, when the California Supreme

Court held that the union was within its rights in

expelling him for refusing to pay it. DeMille con-

tended that union members could not be taxed

for a political purpose they opposed. The Fed-

eration contended that the tax, levied to defeat

an anti-closed shop amendment to the state con-

stitution, was a union, not a political matter. The

court sustained that view.

The ACLU had examined the issue when the

case first arose, on the ground of opposing forced

political contributions from union members, but .

concluded that a tax for a purpose so close to e

union's interest was not in fact political.

Reward Offered for Georgia

Kidnappers of Union Representative

ductors of Mrs. Edna Martin, CIO organizer

seized and deported on November 17 from the

mill town of Tallapoosa, Ga., was posted last

month by the American Civil Liberties Union at

the request of the Textile Workers Union. The

reward offer has beeh posted in the Georgia

county. :

Mrs. Martin, a native Georgian and the mother

of six children, one a veteran of the war, was

seized at midnight of the day of her arrival in

Tallapoosa, bound and gagged and taken by a

group of unmasked men and women in two auto-

mobiles and then dumped on a lonely road near the

town of Bremen. Tallapoosa, a one-mill town, has

long resisted union organization. -

New Mexico Indian Vote Issue oe

Before State Supreme Court |

Appeal was filed on November 27 in the New

Mexico Supreme Court by ACLU counsel on be-

Offer of a $500 reward for information leading

to the conviction and imprisonment of the ab-

ae

half of New Mexican Indians denied the right tc _

vote by a state constitutional provision that they

are "not taxed.'"' The Union contends that all In-

dians were made citizens by act of Congress in

1924 and have the right to vote in all states. Only

New Mexico and Arizona deny that right. The

contention is further made that Indians on reser-

vations are in fact taxed by both federal and state

governments, and that refusal of the right to vote -

constitutes a racial discrimination. Wm. J. Trus-

well of Albuquerque, ACLU counsel, is represent-.

ing the Indians.

U. S. Supreme Court Refuses

Review of N. J. Strike Law |

The New Jersey anti-strike law applicable to

public service industries taken over by the gover-

nor, passed in the midst of a telephone strike last

spring, was refused review by the U. S. Supreme

Court on December 8 on the ground that the fed-

eral courts will not intervene until the issue is

thrashed out in state courts. The ACLU has chal-

lenged the act in co-operation with the Traffic

Telephone Workers Federation, but did not par-

_ ticipate in the appeal to the federal courts. The

Federation has announced that it will go through

with a complete test of the law "even though it'

may now take several years."

ga

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS |

Page 3

College Bans on Left Wing

`Speakers Arouse Furor

Bans on allegedly subversive speakers to stu-

dent groups, following the House citations for

contempt of the Un-American Activities Commit-

tee and the publication of the Attorney-General's

blacklist, have aroused controversy over policy

in New York city colleges, the University of Wis-

~consin and elsewhere. The new bans take the

form either of barring speakers connected with

blacklisted organizations or under indictment for

contempt. Howard Fast, novelist, convicted for

refusing to produce the records of the Joint Anti-

Fascist Refugee Committee, heads the list of those

most frequently barred.

The ACLU has protested the action to Colum-

bia University which barred Fast on the ground

that he is convicted and on bail while the case is

on appeal. The Union scored a policy which would

permit "the guilty to address students after serv-

ing terms, but deny the right to those whose

guilt is not yet finally determined." Advocating

freedom for chartered student organizations tc

hear anyone, the Union said that denying. that

freedom "only gives weight to the very doctrines

and speakers opposed."

The New York City College authorities were

scored for taking the position that speakers con-

nected with organizations blacklisted by the At-

torney General would be barred, pointing out that

90 agencies were on the list and the task would

be `"formidable.'"' The City College also adopted

_ the policy of not permitting persons under indict-

ment to speak. The same rule applies at Hunter

College, New York City's institution for women

and to Brooklyn College. It is evidently main-

tained that chartered student organizations

- should not become involved in controversies pend-

ing in the courts. The ACLU pointed out that such

controversies are freely discussed by defendants

at public meetings which students, like others

attend, and that "nothing practical would appear

to be accomplished by barring such discussions

from the campus."

Atty. Gen. Urged to Act

Further on Loyalty Blacklist

Following up representations to Attorney Gen-

eral Tom C. Clark calling for hearings for organi-

zations protesting inclusion in the list of 90

agencies held to be "subversive" in connection

with federal employment tests, ACLU lawyers

last month urged the Attorney General to make

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judged. The lawyers maintained that without that

knowledge the list was open to attack as "ill-

_ conceived'. They also urged that no further addi-

_ tions be made to the list without hearings.

"Unless such a procedure is followed," the

Union's lawyers wrote, "grave damage may be

done not only to federal employees connected at

one time or other with one of these organizations

but to others against whom the list is already

being used to deprive them of some right. Un-

fortunately for our liberties in this period of

excitement over Communism, this list is being

used as if it were a judicial finding of subversion

applicable to all activities, not federal employment

alone and then only as one factor among many.'

The newly-appointed Loyalty Review Board

headed by Seth W. Richardson, New York attor-

ney, will evidently be the final authority in all

matters affecting loyalty proceedings, according

to an announcement by the President last month.

Its original advisory function has been strength-

ened to give its decisions binding effect. The

ACLU suggestions for handling the listing of or-

ganizations have been submitted to Board chair-

man Richardson.

What the Tenney Committee

Said About the ACLU

Following is the verbatim statement of Richard

E. Combs, counsel for the California Senate Com-

mittee on Un-American Activities, made at a

hearing of the Committee held in Fairfax on Oc-

tober 24, 1947, relating to his Committee's atti-

tude toward the Civil Liberties Union:

_ Mr. Besig: "I think you were going to make one

' additional statement, weren't you, Mr. Combs?"

- Mr. Combs: "I am. Now, I told Mr. Besig this

morning that I would state for the record - and

I am now fulfilling what I told him - that as far

as our reports are concerned, we have never

characterized the American Civil Liberties Union

as a Communist front organization, which we

have not. Isn't that the substance of what I eel

Mr. Besig?"

Mr. Besig: "That is the substance."

we

San Francisco Grand Jury Recommends

Establishment of Political Police

San Francisco's Grand Jury made the headlines

last month by recommending the establishment

of a police "red squad" and the outlawing of the

Communist Party. Otherwise, neither recommen-

dation received a favorable response.

The Chief of Police, Michael Riordan, com-

plained that `"`the philosophy of Communism can-

not be combatted by policemen," while the Police

Commission showed little interest in the pro-

posal. In expressing its opposition to the "red

squad," the ACLU declared that `Political police

have no place in a democratic society."

The San Francisco Chronicle stated the group

misnamed an Intelligence Department, "would

have the prime duty of spying upon Communists

and Communist sympathizers, whereas it is no

more illegal to be a Communist, than to be a

Methodist, a Republican or a member of the Cham-

ber of Commerce." The Chronicle suggested that

"the Grand Jury may unconsciously have ab-

sorbed some of the hysteria current on the subject

of Communism.

The Grand Jury's one-page, double spaced type-

written report was based on "factual data re- .

ceived from the San Francisco Police Department

and other authoritative agencies."

"San Francisco," the report went on to say

"is the second largest center of Communism in

the United States. This city is the administrative

center of Communist activities in the Western

United States and Hawaii. Their intensive opera-

tions in this great Western area are directed and

supervised from San Francisco. Here also are

located their principal book-stores, their schools

and other functional departments used in prose-

lyting for their revolutionary idealogy.

"We have found further that many of our civic

social service and labor organizations are infil-

_trated with active Communists or with fellow

travelers. As a vital shipping and transportation

center, San Francisco is in a precarious positior

when exposed to such active disruptive elements

within the gates. We must awake to this danger

realize our problem and take proper steps to com-

bat it. The history of the activities of this group

representing only a small minority, indicates con-

clusively that it wields tremendous influence far

out of proportion to its numerical strength.

"Tn order to more effectively combat this sinis-

ter group, we recommend that the San Francisco

Police Department establish an adequate Intelli-

gence Department. This should be separate and

apart from other departments of the Police Force

and accountable to the Chief of Police only. Be-

fore such a Department is established, we recom-

_mend a thorough study be made with other de-

partments and agencies of this nature, such as in

New York, Chicago, and other cities having such

departments.

"As the most vital step to combat this Com-

munistic threat, we strongly urge that immediate

action be taken in furtherance of the above recom-

mendation.

"Because of the reasons enumerated Store it

is the considered opinion of this Grand Jury that

the Communist Party be smmediately outlawed

in the United States."

The American Civil Liberties Union of North-

ern California at once announced it would strong-

ly oppose the Grand Jury's recommendation tc

establish a special police detail to combat Com-

"munism as "an improper police function and an

effort to impose thought control on the people."

"The job of our police department," said the Un-

ion. "is to enforce existing laws against all per-

sons without distinction and not to snoop and tc

collect bits of gossip about the activities of un-

popular political minorities or any other groups."

"Political police," added the Union, "have no

place in a democratic society. They are character-

istic of the very totalitarian regime, Communist

or Fascist, which the Grand Jury fears."

The Union also opposed the Grand Jury's -

further recommendation that the Communist

Party be outlawed. "We can't get rid of Com-

munists simply by passing a law against them,"

said the Union. "And, as J. Edgar Hoover and

others have: testified, outlawing the Party will

merely drive it underground where its work will ~

be largely concealed. We should keep it out in the

open where its activities can be freely observed."

"It is about time," said the Union, "that the

American people vigorously opposed the growing

tendency of one agency of the government or an-

other to inquire into the political and economic

opinions of the people. Our job today is not tc

impose witch-hunting activities upon our police

but to strengthen the democratic processes. Un-

fortunately, the Grand Jury has joined the heresy

hunters whereas it should have come out with a

vigorous statement in support of the recommen-

dations of the President's Committee on Civil

Rights."

ACLU Adopts New Policy (c)

On Student Freedom

The controversy over denying charters in col-

leges and universities to the American Youth for

Democracy on the ground that it misrepresents

its alleged Communist origins and affiliations has

brought from the Civil Liberties Union a revision

of its previously declared policy not to intervene

when college authorities deny recognition. Ex-

perience has shown,'the Union now states, that.

denial of charters results only in resort to subter-

fuges and continuing controversy. The more ef-

fective remedy for `misrepresentation, the Union

holds, is exposure of the facts, leaving then to

students their choices of affiliation.

The statement of policy reads: "If after in-

vestigation and fair hearings, a campus organiza-

tion is found by the competent authority to be

concealing or misrepresenting its auspices and

affiliations, such findings may properly be per-

manently published to the college or university at

large, but such finding should not be ground for

the withholding or withdrawal of recognition, or

suspension, or other disciplinary action." |

Japanese Civil Liberties Union

Formed Last November 23

As a result of the visit to Japan last spring of

Roger Baldwin, national director of the ACLU,

a Japanese Civil Liberties Union was formed by

the three bar associations in Tokyo and inaug-

urated at a public meeting on November 23, ad-

dressed by Prime Minister Tetsu Katayama and

other officials. The Union, first private agency in

Japanese history to defend civil rights, will deal

with the issues arising under the new Constitu-

tion adopted in May and under Occupation policies

affecting civil liberties.

The ACLU is endeavoring to aid in resolving

some of the problems of international significance

by removing the present restrictions on printed

matter to Japan in the international mails and on

the affiliation of Japanese agencies with their

international bodies.

Univ. "Y' Urges Motion Picture Industry

To Fight Thomas Comm. Controls

Presidents of all major motion picture com-

panies on December 30 were urged, in communica-

tions from the student cabinet of the University

YMCA in Berkeley, California, to fight in 1948 to

continue a free screen. Widely known for its.

consistent support for many years of the Bill of

Rights, the University YMCA held that the at-

tempt by the House Un-American Activities Com-

mittee to control the film industry endangered

traditional American liberties and should be

vigorously opposed.

Stating repugnance for totalitarian or un-

democratic idealogies, communist or any other,

the campus "Y'" asked screen directors to deal

constructively even more frequently than in the

past, with controversial subjects. The companies

were assured that "we will attend movies which

possess merit, if you will give us that opportunity,

and will get many others to do likewise."

In view of the fear whipped up by the Thomas

Committee the communication expressed sym-

pathy for the industry, but asked it to refuse te -

be bluffed. The letter to the president of each

company was signed by Thomas W. Moore, presi-

dent of the University YMCA, and by Harry

Kingman, general secretary.

NO GENERAL PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR

HOLLYWOOD INVESTIGATION

According to the Gallup Poll, the House Com-

mittee on Un-American Activities has failed to

gain popular support for its. Hollywood investiga-

tion. Opinion is virtually divided as to whether (c)

or not the investigation was properly handled.

- On the other hand, 47% of those having an

opinion believe the writers, who refused to answer

whether or not they were Communists, should be

punished.

It is interesting to note that the desire for pun-

ishment and approval of the Committee's ac-

tivities is in inverse ratio to the amount of edu-

cation the voter has received. Hight out of ten

persons were informed about the issue.

Page 4 oe

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

and

American Civil Liberties Union-News

Published monthly at 461 Market St., San Francisco, 5

Calif., by the American Civil Liberties Union

of Northern California.

Phone: EXbrook 2-3255

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-One Dollar a Year.

Ten Cents per Copy.

151- =

Racial Housing Attacked

in U. S. Supreme Court

The ACLU announced last month that it, had

joined with several other agencies and the Attor-

ney General of the U. S. in filing briefs in the

U. S. Supreme Court opposing real estate agree-

ments among property-owners prohibiting occu-

pancy by members of minority races. The Union's

brief was signed by twelve lawyers from five

states and the District of Columbia. The cases on

appeal to the court, to be heard in January, arose

in Michigan, Missouri and the District of Co-

lumbia. Supporting briefs have been filed by the

American Association for the United Nations

based on U. S. obligations under the charter, the

A. F. of L. and C. I. O., and the American Jewish

.Congress, and the Japanese American Citizens'

-League.

The Court has refused up to this year to review

-housing covenant appeals. Residential segregation

by law was avoided years ago by the Court. Ac-

cording to the Union, the private covenants have

done far more to segregate than local laws ever

attempted. Estimates of residential areas in north-

ern and western cities covered by racial housing

agreements run from 40 to 80%. The Union called

the court's attention to decisions which permit

ownership by members of minority races but not

occupancy of their own property, and observed

ae "ownership without occupancy ig a sham

| eht?.

Negro Railroad Men Win

Court Order Against Union

Twenty-one Negro firemen suing the all-white

Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engine-

men recently won a temporary court order re-

straining that union from alleged discriminatory

practices. Associate Justice Alexander Holtzoff of

ACLUN_1946 ACLUN_1946.MODS ACLUN_1946.batch ACLUN_1947 ACLUN_1947.MODS ACLUN_1947.batch ACLUN_1948 ACLUN_1948.MODS ACLUN_1948.batch ACLUN_1949 ACLUN_ladd ACLUN_ladd.MODS ACLUN_ladd.bags ACLUN_ladd.batch ACLUN_test_batch ACLUN_testyear ACLUN_testyear.MODS ACLUN_testyear.bags ACLUN_testyear.batch add-tei.sh create-bags.sh create-manuscript-bags.sh create-manuscript-batch.sh fits.log the D. C. District Court granted the preliminary

injunction. He declared that the case did not in-

volve social equality but "whether a faithful

employee who has earned a place for himself may

be stripped of his means of livelihood by his own

bargaining agent."

Aid has been promised the Negro workers by

the Dept. of Justice if the suit is appealed to the

higher courts. The Department's decision to file

a supporting brief as a friend of the court was

commended by the ACLU as "a welcome affirma-

tive step by a government department to translate

into concrete action the recommendations of the

President's Committee on Civil Rights."

The Negro firemen charge that some 1200

colored employees of the Atlanta Coast Line and

the Norfolk and Southern Railway have been

classed as `"non-promotable" by a 1941 agreement

between the roads and the union. The Brother-

hood recently was ordered to pay a Negro worker

$1000 damages for refusing to back his promotion,

when the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Balti-

: more upheld a lower court's decision that even

though the union does not admit Negroes tc

membership, it incurs a responsibility for all

colored employees. Southern railroads, with the

co-operation of the union, discriminate against

Negroes in employment or promotion.

_ American Citizen Interned in Hawaii

_ Sues General in West Virginia

Dr. Hans Zimmerman, American citizen resi-

dent of Hawaii during the regime of quasi-martial

`law, brought suit last month in the federal court

in West Virginia for $225,000 damages for false

imprisonment. The suit was brought in West Vir-

ginia as the present legal residence of the then

commanding general in Hawaii, Delos C. Emmons.

The United States Supreme Court in 1945 de-

clared illegal the trials and imprisonment by the

military in Hawaii of scores of U. S. citizens and

aliens. Numerous suits have been brought. Dr.

Zimmerman's is the latest.

Dr. Zimmerman, an honorably discharged vet-

eran of the U. S. Army, attempted to gain his

freedom from military imprisonment by habeas

corpus proceedings both in Hawaii and on the

mainland, to which the army officers removed him

to avoid service. Confronted by proceedings on

- the mainland they moved him back to Hawaii. He

was imprisoned without hearing or charges from

Pearl Harbor until March, 1943, when he was

released without explanation: _

Decision Awaited on Constitutionality

Instruction in Public Schools

Of Religious

The ACLU joined with other agencies last

month in filing in the U. S. Supreme Court a brief

attacking the practice in Illinois of permitting

religious classes in public school buildings on "`re-

leased time." The court heard arguments in the

appeal of Mrs. Vashti McCollum of Champaign.

suing as a parent opposed to subjecting her son

to religious pressures. `

Although no state permits by law private re-

ligious instruction in the public schools, the Ili-

nois Supreme Court held it legal, since attendance

was voluntary and no religious discrimination

`was practiced. Nineteen states, however, pro-

hibit such instruction in school buildings, ten

permit it outside. '

Religious education classes for public school

pupils have been established and maintained for

several years in the public school buildings of

Champaign, Illinois, during regular school hours

under arrangements made by the Board of Edu-

cation and "The Champaign Council of Religious

Education," a religious organization made up of

representatives of Roman Catholic, Jewish and

some Protestant faiths. Only six of the larger

Protestant denominations are represented in the

Council. 7

Public school teachers distribute to pupils

"Parents' Request Cards" for parents to sign re-

questing permission for their children to attend

religious education classes. Thereon they check

the class desired - "Interdenominational," "Prot-

estant," "Roman Catholic" or `Jewish' - and

also indicate "Parents' Church." When returned

to the school teachers these cards are given to the

religious teacher. .

The religious work in the schools is directed by

a Protestant religion teacher. She makes detailed

arrangements with the school principals and

teachers for the conduct of religion classes. Prot-

estant teachers are selected, and paid by the

Council. Catholic and Jewish teachers are not.

Religious teachers are subject to approval by

School Superintendent. |

Some 35 religious classes are conducted in

Grades 4 through 9 for 30 minutes a week in ele-

mentary schools and 50 minutes a week in junior

high schools, in regular classrooms in school

buildings during regular school hours at various

times throughout the school days. oe

The Superintendent issues school bulletins ad-

vising teachers and principals to work our pro- _

grams for religious courses with the religious -

teachers, which is done. Schedules given students

from principals' offices show rooms designated for

religious education. The school issues printed

schedules to junior high students on' which they |

note an election to take "religious education."

Religion teachers make attendance reports to the

- Superintendent.

Religious teachers use, without charge, regular

school classrooms, blackboards, chairs, desks

tables, light and heat. "Request cards" were

mimeographed in a school office by a school clerk.

The Superintendent says the schools are open

to all denominations, but the School Board has an

"unwritten reservation" that religion teachers

must teach "`properly'" and in proper English; and

he has given no thought to whether the schools

can provide space for all:denominations to teach

during school hours. :

The Union's lengthy brief raised two main

points: 1-The teaching of sectarian religion tc

public school students in school buildings during |

school hours violates the First Amendment of the

Federal Constitution and the basic doctrine of

separation of church and state inherent therein

2-The use, directly or indirectly, of public funds

for purposes of sectarian instruction is in viola-

tion of said constitutional provisions.

The brief was signed by eleven lawyers from

seven states, among them former Rep. Thos. H.

Eliot of Boston, former Judge Russell Whitman

of Chicago, Winthrop Wadleigh of Manchester

N. H., former president of the State Bar Associa-

tion, and Whitney North Seymour of New York

former assistant solicitor general of the U. S

Briefs were also filed by the Unitarians, Seventh

Day Adventists and the American Jewish

Congress.

U. S. Supreme Court

Rejects JW's Draft Appeal .

Three Jehovah's witnesses lost a long legal

battle for exemption under the selective service

act as ministers when the U. S. Supreme Court

on November 24 upheld their conviction for walk-

ing out of a public service camp. The 5-4 vote at-

tested to the closeness of the issue. -

The majority opinion held that the men coulc

. not challenge a lower court's instruction to the

jury to disregard their claim denied by draft

boards that they were not in fact ministers. Loca'

boards had held that they gave only part-time tc

religious work and classified them as conscien-

tious objectors, a status they refused.

One minority dissent by Justice Douglas helc

that ``to deny these claimants their statutory

exemption is to adopt a definition of minister

which contracts the classification provided by

Congress." Another dissent by Justice Murphy

warned that persons accused of selective service

violations must have the right to challenge the

judgment of their draft boards." Otherwise the

right to prove the invalidity of the classification

is drained of much of its substance and the trial

becomes a mere formality.'' He rejected the ma-

jority view that the men had not devoted sufficient

time to warrant classification as ministers. "Con-

gress must have intended to exempt from statu-

tory duties those ministers who are forced to labor

at secular jobs to earn a living as well as those

who preach to more opulent congregations."

Bill of Rights Day Prompts

Pledge for President's Report

President Truman's proclamation of a Bill of

Rights week beginning December 15, 156th anni-

versary of the adoption of: the Bill of Rights

brought from the ACLU a telegram expressing

"heartiest co-operation in carrying out the es-

sential recommendations of the President's Com- .

mittee on Civil Rights.

It is understood that the President will deal

with the subject in his message on the "state of

the Union''.to the new session of Congress, and

that steps will then be taken, presumably by the

Department of Justice, to call a conference of

national agencies in the field to work our co-

operation: in putting the recommendations intc

effect. It is also learned that several national (c)

agencies are planning to back a long-range educa-

tional program on the defects in American democ-

racy pointed out in the report.

ACLU Scores Pressure on Film

Showings by Private Groups

While recognizing the right of private agencies

to boycott disapproved films, and to picket or

otherwise demonstrate against them, the ACLU

last month urged exhibitors not to yield to pres-

sures by withdrawing such films from general (c)

public showing. The, latest examples were the

withdrawal in Philadelphia by the Fox Theaters

of "Forever Amber,' condemned by the Legion

of Decency and by Cardinal Dennis Daugherty,

and in New York by Loew's State ,Theater of

"Monsieur Verdoux,". opposed by the Catholic

War Veterans. `Forever Amber" was withdrawn

after it had run for five weeks, despite continuous

picketing.

In letters to the exhibitors the Union said: -

"When public officials yield to such pressures

legal means are at hand to protect the public in-

terests. When private agencies like yours do: so

no legal protection of the public's rights is pos-

sible. But the interests of the public are the same

in both cases. The consequences in the long run

of yielding to protests from one source or another

will be to turn over your judgments to self-ap-

pointed censors of public tastes and morals, and

in the long run it will, we are sure, prove to be

neither good business nor good policy." ;

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