vol. 20, no. 3

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.'

Free Press

Free Assemblage

Free Speech -

VOLUME XX

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MARCH, 1955

NUMBER 3

Attacks on 5th Amend. and Tax

Exempt Groups In Legislature

Proposals which would nullify the Fifth Amend-

ment for a large segment of California's popula-

tion and one to compel tax exempt organizations

to conform to the status quo highlight the fifteen

anti-civil liberties measures introduced at the

1955 session of the California Legislature. More

suppressive measures may be expected to come to

light at the second half of the session, which

began on February 28, as a deluge of so-called

"spot bills," estimated by some to number as high

as 40% of the bills introduced, finally reveal their

purpose.

At the 1953 session of the California Legisla-

ture, by adopting the Dilworth and Luckel Acts,

teachers and other public employees were required

to answer questions concerning their political

opinions and associations since September 10,

1948 or suffer the loss of their jobs. Test suits

challenging the constitutionality of that legisla-

tion are still pending in the courts, Nevertheless,

Senator Dilworth now seeks to extend the period

of such allowable inquiry so that it goes back as

far as October 3, 1945. He would also allow ques-

tions concerning "Present personal advocacy by

the employee of the support of a foreign govern-

ment against the United States in the event of

hostilities." =

License Holders Must Talk

Senator Hugh Burns, Chairman of the Califor-

nia Committee on Un-American Activities is going

Sen. Dilworth one better in his attacks on the

Fifth Amendment. Under a measure proposed by

him, an estimated 450,000 persons who are

licensed or registered under the Business and Pro-

fessions Code, ranging from accountants, barbers,

boxers and contractors to chiropodists, cosmeto-

logists, dentists, physicians, lawyers and yacht

and ship brokers, are threatened with the loss of

their licenses and, hence, their occupations, unless

they answer the political questions of legislative

investigating committees just as teachers and

other public employees are presently required to

do.

Assemblyman Charles E. Chapel would slash

away even further at the Fifth Amendment, He

would require any person licensed under the Busi-

ness and Professions Code to answer questions

"in any legislative, executive or judicial proceed-

ing" on the threat of revocation of his license.

If, for example, a doctor is subpoened to testify

before a Grand Jury which is investigating his

income tax returns, he MUST testify or lose his

license to practice medicine. If the Legislature can

succeed with this method of nullifying the Fifth

Amendment for a large segment of the population,

it won't be long before similar methods are found

(Continued on Page 3, Col. 1)

`The Crucible' Will Play

in San Rafael on-March 23

As the "News" goes to press, arrangements are

being completed for the Actor's Workshop of

San Francisco to present Arthur Miller's tremen-

dous civil liberties play, "The Crucible," at the

San Rafael High School Auditorium on Wednes-

day evening, March 23, at 8:15 o'clock. The regu-

lar cast will appear in the play about the Salem

witch hunt. Incidentally, San Francisco perform-

ances of the play are sold out for the month of

March.

The Marin County Committee of the ACLU has

agreed to buy the house for the evening's per-

formance, thus, in effect, making it a benefit for

the Union's work. Only 600 seats are available.

Tickets will sell at $2.20 and $1.65.

Sali Lieberman, vice-chairman of the Chapter

and chairman of its Finance Committee, is in

charge of arrangements. He may be contacted at

215 Corte Madera Ave., Corte Madera, (Phone

Corte Madera 1082-W.)

- 28cent,

Oullawed In

The ACLU scored a resounding victory on Janu-

ary 9 as all five of Contra Costa's Superior Court

Judges unanimously decreed that the loyalty oath

requirement for veterans' property tax exemption

was unconstitutional. This history making deci-

sion was the first judicial determination of the -

legislation's validity in the entire state and was

also the first case in the history of Contra Costa

county in which the Superior Court panel ever sat -

on a single case en bane.

Two Suits By Speiser

The decision was handed down in two suits

in which ACLU Staff Counsel, Lawrence Speiser,

a resident of El Cerrito, was the plaintiff against

County Tax Assessor Justin A. Randall and El

Cerrito City Assessor Maryellen Foley. Speiser ap-

`plied for his veteran's exemption last spring, but

crossed out the loyalty oath declaration on the

city and county forms. He filed an ACLU spon-

sored suit when the exemptions were refused,

along with similar suits in Marin County for Gab-

riel Lehrer and in San Francisco for Daniel Prince

for their veterans' exemption. It was only for-

`tuitous that a decision was first reached in the

Contra Costa case, which also was the only case in

_ which a request was made for the entire superior

Court to sit en bane. The matter was argued be-

fore the panel on December 23rd with ACLU

volunteer attorney Joseph Landisman acting as

co-counsel with Speiser, Landisman is presently

President of the Richmond Bar Association, -

Federal Constitution Violated

The judges declared unconstitutional both the

constitutional amendment passed by the voters of

the state in November 1952, denying tax exemp-

tions to advocates of the forceful overthrow of

the Government, as well as the 1953 legislation:

implementing this section, requiring an oath as

proof of non-advocacy. The Contra Costa jurists

Wins First Round As Vet. Tax Oath

Jnanimous 5-Judge Decision

held that these provisions infringed on freedom of

speech, under the First and Fourteenth Amend-

ments, and in no way helped protect the security

of the county. They stated:

"In effect the provisions involved here require

those who advocate doctrines unacceptable to the _

rest of us to pay a larger tax than those who re-

frain from expressing such doctrines, We do not

feel that this reasonably tends to avert a clear

and present danger to the state."

Discriminatory Tax

The five jurists also upheld another ACLU con-

tention that requiring a loyalty oath only from

applicants for tax exemptions on property was

an unreasonable classification. They pointed out

the inconsistency in stating:

"... one, no matter how subversive his activities

may have been, is entitled without making such

a declaration to claim the same exemptions as

others on state, income and inheritance taxes as

Well as other state and local taxes,"

The opinion was written by Judge Homer W.

Patterson after numerous consultations with his

colleagues. It was signed by Presiding Judge Har-

old Jacoby, and Judges Hugh H, Donovan, Nor-

iuan A, Gregg, and Wakefield Taylor, in addition

to Judge Patterson. The Contra Costa District At-

torney's office has announced it will appeal the

decision to the District Court of Appeal.

Important Precedent.

The decision, although binding in Contra Costa

County, sets an important precedent in other

pending court cases challenging the tax oath. The

First Methodist Church of San Leandro, repre-

sented by the local ACLU, is currently challenging

the oath as applied to churches in the Alameda

County Superior Court. Its case should be sub-

mitted for decision sometime during March.

New Pamphlets Available -

America's Need: A New Birth of Freedom.

- 34th Annual Report, ACLU, covering the

period July 1, 1953 to June 30, 1954, 128

pages. Price, 52c.

Academic Freedom: some recent Philadelphia

episodes. Issues arising at Temple Univer-

sity, The Jefferson Medical College and the

Philadelphia Public Schools. Published by

the ACLU, Greater Philadelphia Branch, 36

pages. Price, 52c. ~~

Constitutional Liberty and Seditious Activ-

ity, by Jack Peltason. Published by the Free-

dom Agenda Committee. 57 pages. Price,

The Constitution and Congressional Investi-

gating Committees, by Robert K. Carr. Pub-

lished by the Freedom Agenda Committee.

60 pages. Price, 28c. :

The Constitution and Loyalty Programs, by

Alan Westin. Published by the Freedom

Agenda. Committee. 53 pages. Price, 28c.

Dean Erwin N. Griswold's Speech on the

Fifth Amendment. Price, 5c.

Racism and Human Rights, by John G. Iliff.

An annotated chronologically arranged

reading guide to most of the better (and

some of the worst) works, book and pamph-

let, in English on Race, Racism, and Civil

Liberties. Published by the ACLU of North-

ern California and the NAACP. 79 pages.

Price, 15c. Very useful for students.

Send orders to the ACLU, 503 Market St.,

San Francisco 5, Calif. Please accompany

- orders with checks made payable to the

Union. The above prices include sales tax and

mailing costs.

Pa. Court Upholds Negroes

Use of Public Swimming Pools

In a test case brought by the Philadelphia

branches of the American Civil Liberties Union

and the National Association for the Advancement

of Colored People, and the city's Commission on.

iduman Relations, the Pennsylvania Supreme

Court upheld a lower court decision ordering the

management of the Boulevard Pools to permit

Negroes to use the pools.

The high court's decision affirmed a ruling by

Common Pleas Judge Edwin O. Lewis in 1953 that

the pools were places of public accommodation

under the State Civil Rights Law of 1939 and

were open to all. The pools' owners maintained in

their appeal that swimming pools were not speci-

fically mentioned in the 1939 law, but the State -

Supreme Court rejected this plea. It noted that

among the 40-odd categories named in the law,

"pathhouses" and "amusement and recreation

parks" are included, and reasoned:

"It is difficult to imagine how the whole enter-

prise (Boulevard Pools) could be characterized

as other than `an amusement and recreation.' The

exclusion of the Negroes, therefore, merely be-

cause of their race or color, constitutes a violation

of the act."

ACLU Conference Now Set

For Chicago, March 12-13

The ACLU Conference on Finances, originally

scheduled for February 19 and 20, was postponed

and will now be held at the Conference House,

Chicago Theological Seminary, March 12 and 13.

Fred H. Smith, IV, the Union's local treasurer,

and Ernest Besig, local director, have been desig-

nated as delegates for the ACLU of Northern

California. :

Page 2

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS'

MARCH, 1955

Urge Voiding of High Court

`Anti-Noise'' Law Decision

The ACLU of Northern California has filed a

"friend of the court" brief with the State Supreme

Court asking a rehearing on its February 4 deci-

sion upholding the constitutionality of the Fresno .

County Anti-Noise Ordinance. The ordinance pro-

hibits any amplification of the human voice from

or upon any street or highway in entire Fresno

County. The court's 4 to 2 decision reversed a

superior court and a District Court of Appeals

ruling that the ordinance was unconstitutional

in a case brought by C. J. Haggerty, State Secre-

tary of the AFL against Fresno County and the

Associated Farmers.

In his suit, Haggerty contended that the ordi-

nance was passed to prevent union organization

of farm workers, and his attorneys Clarence and

Henry Todd sought an injunction against prosecu-

tions of some 12 organizers who were charged

with violating the ordinance. -

Freedom Without Value

Justices Jesse W. Carter and Roger J. Traynor

vigorously dissented from the majority opinion

written by Justice Edmonds. The dissenters

wrote:

`In singling out the amplification of the human

voice as the `only' thing prohibited by the clause

of the ordinance in question the majority clearly

discriminates against human speech and the free

dissemination of ideas thereby because without

amplification so that it can be heard by others

freedom to use the human voice on the highways

and thoroughfares is a freedom without value."

The ACLU urged the court to reconsider its

decision and suggested ways in which freedom of

speech was abridged which were not considered

by the court. The brief pointed out that under

the terms of the ordinance, even the use of mega-

phones and the cupping of a person's hands

around his mouth were prohibited.

The majority opinion had referred to the fact

that there were other places in which the ampli-

fied voice could be used, but the ACLU brief writ-

ten by Staff Counsel Lawrence Speiser noted that

_ geveral U.S. Supreme Court decisions had held

. "this was immaterial because the streets and high-

ways have always been held in trust for the free

communication of ideas.

Any Amplification Banned

`The "friend of the court" brief demonstrated

how the ordinance effectively banned any voice

amplification throughout the entire county since

under its terms, it is a crime if it can be merely

`heard on the highways and streets. The ordinance

went too far, the brief urged, in banning the am-

plified human voice even though it may not be

loud and raucous, and thus violates the due pro-

cess clause in having no reasonable relationship

to accomplishing its purpose of abating noise.

A "friend of the court" brief was also submitted

by Attorney Francis Heisler on behalf of the

CIO backing up the petition for rehearing filed

by Haggerty's attorneys. The matter is now under

submission.

Herman Bernick Elected

Head of Marin Co. Committee

The newly formed Marin County Committee of

the ACLU last month selected the following roster

of officers:

Chairman: Herman Bernick

1st Vice-Chairman: Helen Merret

2nd Vice-Chairman: Sali Lieberman

3rd Vice-Chairman: Clement W. Miller |

Corresponding Secretary: Ellen Dewey

Recording Secretary: Anne Coolidge

Treasurer: Milan Dempster

Publicity: Aileen Johnston

Librarian: Patricia Hooper

The three vice-chairmen head up the three

functional committees of the Committee, namely

membership, finances and education.

Re-hearing Denied In

Cutter Lab. Case

The California Supreme Court, in the same 4

to 3 lineup as in the original decision, refused to

review its holding that Cutter Laboratories of

Berkeley may fire an employee it believes to be a

Communist. The fired employee, Doris Brin

Walker, and her attorney, Bertram LEdises,

sought the review, as did the ACLU and a num-

ber of other organizations, which filed "friend of

the court" briefs. They included the C.I.O., the

AFL and the National Lawyers Guild.

An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is being

considered by Mrs. Walker and her attorney.

Constitution

| American

1. Name

The name of this membership corporation, as

stated in the certificate of incorporation, is Ameri-

can Civil Liberties Union, Inc.

2. Object

The object of the corporation, as stated in

the certificate of incorporation, is "to maintain

throughout the United States and its possessions,

the rights of free speech, free press, free assem-

blage and other civil rights, and to take all legi-

timate action in furtherance of such purposes,"

The Union's object shall be sought wholly without

political partisanship.

3. Headquarters

The national headquarters shall be located in

New York City.

4, Management

The management of the Union's business shall

be vested in its national Board of Directors, as

hereinafter provided.

5. General Members and Corporation Members

(a) General members shall be: (i) the persons

or organizations each contributing to the Union

two dollars or more annually (students in schools

or colleges-in groups of not less than twenty-

five-each one dollar or more) whether from an

area covered by a local affiliate integrated in mem-

bership and income with the national organization

or from any other area; and (ii) any other mem- .

bers of any non-integrated local affiliate. A gen-

eral member may be suspended or removed, or a

prospective general member may be excluded, by

a vote of a majority of all members of the national

Board of Directors.

(b) Corporation members shall be: (i) the mem-

bers of the national Board of Directors, (ji) the

members of the National Committee, and (iii) the

boards - considered corporately - of the local

affiliates. All persons who are members of the

national Board of Directors, the National Com-

mittee, or the boards of the local affiliates, and

all persons who are members of the national or

local staffs, shall be unequivocally loyal to demo-

cratic government and civil liberties for all people.

This requirement shall be interpreted in accord- .

ance with the 1940 Resolution, a copy of which is

attached. A corporation member may, after hear-

ing, be suspended or removed by vote of a majority

of all the members of the national Board of

Directors. :

6. National Committee, Board and Affiliates

(a) The National Committee shall be composed

of not more than one hundred persons, apportioned

roughly according to the population of the main

geographical sections of the United States and its

possessions, Its members shall be elected at large,

for three-year terms, by the general members vot-

ing by mail. Approximately one-third of its mem-

bers shall be elected each year. The national Board

of Directors shall each year decide on the size of

the National Committee as a basis for the election

of the following year, and may each year fill any

vacancy-for the remainder of its term-within

the number decided on during the previous year.

(b) The national Board of Directors shall be

composed of not less than fifteen or more than

thirty-five persons. Its members shall be elected

at large, for three-year terms, by the corporation

members voting by mail. Approximately one-third

of its members shall be elected each year. In an-

nual elections, each member of the Board voting

and each member of the National Committee vot-

ing shall cast as many votes as there are general

members divided by the number of Board and

National Committee members voting, and the

board of each local affiliate voting shall cast as

many votes as there are members enrolled in that

affiliate. The national Board of Directors shall

each year decide on the size of the Board as a basis

for the election of the following year, and may

each year fill any vacancy-for the remainder of

its term-within the number decided on during the

previous year. Members of the Board who fail to

attend three consecutive regular meetings of the

Board, without obtaining from the Board leave of

absence in advance, shall have their absence called

to the attention of the Board and may be removed

by vote of a majority of all the members of the

Board.

(c) Any group of general members residing in

the United States or its possessions may apply for

recognition as a local affiliate of the Union, and

the national Board of Directors shall so recognize

the group when satisfied that the purposes of the

Union will be served by such recognition. The

structure and functions of the local affiliates, and

and By-laws

of

Civil Liberties Union, Inc.

As Amended on May 31, 1954.

their relations with the Union, shall be governed

by this Constitution and these By-Laws, and by

rules adopted from time to time by the national

Board of Directors. -

7. Officers and Board Committees

(a) The officers of the corporation shall be a

chairman, a secretary and one or more assistant

secretaries, a treasurer and one or more assistant

treasurers, and an executive director. The officers

of the National Committee shall be a chairman and

two or more vice-chairmen. The officers of the

national Board of Directors shall be a chairman,

one or more vice-chairmen, one or more general

counsel, and any others which it may from time

to time create. The officers of the corporation, the

National Committee and the national Board of

Directors shall be elected by the Board, at the time.

of or as soon as possible after the annual meeting

of the corporation, for one-year terms, Vacancies

occurring between annual elections may he filled

by the Board, until the next annual election. All

officers shall hold office at the pleasure of the

Board.

(b) In addition to the Nominating Committee

hereinafter provided, the chairman of the national

Board of Directors, with the advice and consent of

the Board, shall appoint the officers and member-

ship of such committees or other agencies as the

Board may deem desirable in serving the pur-

poses of the Union. The officers and members of

such committees or agencies shall be appointed as

soon as possible after the annual meeting of the

corporation, for terms expiring on the appoint-

ment of committee officers and members after the

next such annual meeting but subject to removal

by the Board:

8. Nominations

(a) Nominations for the annual elections of the

members of the National Committee and the na-

tional Board of Directors shall be made by the

Board, after seeking suggestions from the cor-

poration members and the general members. Any

ten corporation-members or any twenty-five gen-

`eral members shall be entitled to make further

nominations-subject to the power of the national

Board of Directors to reject any such nomination

in order to promote the geographical apportion-

ment for National Committee members provided

for in Section 6-a above, and in order to avert

difficulty of attendance in the case of Board mem-

rs.

(b) As soon as possible after the annual meeting

of the corporation, the chairman of the national

Board of Directors, with the advice and consent

of the Board shall appoint-from among the Board

members-the chairman and four other members

of a Nominating Committee, for terms expiring on

the appointment of their successors but subject to

removal by the Board. Not more than two mem-

bers of the Nominating Committee may he ap-

pointed to succeed themselves. The Nominating

Committee shall make recommendations to the

Board of nominations for the annual elections of

National Committee and Board members, and shall

make nominations for all other elections.

"9, Meetings

(a) The annual meeting of the corporation shall

be held at a time and place to be fixed by the na-

tional Board of Directors. A special meeting shall

be called on request of the chairman of the cor-

poration, or any ten corporation members. Twenty

corporation members shall constitute a quorum

for any meeting of the corporation.

(b) Meetings of the national Board of Directors

shall be held at least as often as once a month, at

a time and place to be fixed by the chairman of the

Board. Ten Board members shall constitute a

quorum for any meeting of the Board, and any

action taken by majority vote when such a quorum

is present shall be the action of the Board, except

as otherwise provided in these By-Laws. By ma-

jority vote of a quorum, the written vote of any

absent member may be counted on any proposition

discussed at a previous meeting where he was

present.

(c) Members of the National Committee and

members of the boards of the local affiliates shall

be entitled to attend meetings of the national

Board of Directors and to participate in discus-

sion, but without vote.

10. Policy Determination

(a) A conference of the corporation members-

to`discuss any matter of concern to the Union and

to make recommendations thereon to the Board-

shall be held at a time and place to he fixed by the

national Board of Directors, and-if possible with-

(Continued on Page 4, Col. 1)

MARCH, 1955

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES- UNION-NEWS

Page 3

Attacks on 5th Amend. and Tax

Exempt Groups In Legislature

(Continued from Page 1, Col. 1)

to deny the protections of the Fifth Amendment

to all citizens in the State.

Churches Must Bar Known Subversives __

Fully as dangerous is a fantastic proposal of

Assemblyman Levering which has won the sup-

port of 22 other assemblymen, including Caldecott

of Berkeley and Weinberger of San Francisco.

This bill would deny tax exemption to property

which the "owner, lessee, or other person legally

entitled to" its possession knowingly allows to be

used by any subversive individual or group.

Churches, Y's, Co-ops, nursery schools, commun-

ity centers of all kinds, etc., would have to bar

known subversives or lose their tax exemption.

Indeed, just to be safe, they would have to check

on the orthodoxy of the users of their facilities.

The proposal cuts even deeper than this since

it denies tax exemption to property used by any

individual (or organization) who advocates the

support of a foreign government against the

United States in the event of hostilities. If the

measure becomes law, it would mean that such a

place as International House at Berkeley, which

is a home and community center for foreign stu-

dents, would have to close its doors. Obviously,

these foreign students remain loyal to their own

governments, and many people don't expect them

to surrender that loyalty while they are attending

schools in this country. Obviously, too, Interna-

tional House would not be the only tax exempt

organization that would have to close its doors

to foreign students. :

Bills Are Free

A survey of the above measures and other

pending legislation in the civil liberties field is

found elsewhere in this issue of the "News."

Copies of bills may be secured free of charge by

writing to the Legislative Bill Room, State Capitol,

Sacramento, Calif.

US. Court of Appeals Upsets

Ban on Nudist Magazine

The U.S. Court of `Appeals in Washington, D. C.,

held recently that the Postmaster General cannot

refuse to transmit all mail to a magazine which he

considered obscene. The magazines involved were.

Sunshine and Health, Sun Magazine, and Natu-

ral Herald, nudist publications.

All the publications advocate and explain nudism

and the nudist mode of living. In the view of the

Postmaster General, these magazines were obscene

because of the photographs of nude men and wo-

men which appeared on the covers and accom-

panied the texts of the magazines.

A Federal District Court had granted an injunc-

tion against the enforcement of the Postmaster

General's orders returning all mail addressed to

the magazines, When the case was appealed, the

ACLU filed a friend of the court brief urging af-

firmance of the District Court injunction on the

grounds that the Postmaster General. had exer-

cised censorship, in violation of the free speech

and due process amendments of the Constitution.

However, in its decision, the Court of Appeals

avoided the Constitutional questions by limiting

_ its ruling to a decision that the Postmaster Gen-

eral's orders were too broad and in excess of the

statutory power conferred upon him by the Postal

Code, and that he could only return as "unlawful"

all mail connected with any particular issue which

had been deemed obscene, Furthermore, the Court

strongly indicated that the Postmaster General

could not do this unless the publication was one

with pictures.

_ The Post Office, stung by the Court of Appeals

_ decision, has taken new action against two of the

magazines. It banned the February issue of Sun-

shine and Health and the January-February issue

of Sun Magazine for containing alleged obscene

photographs. A Federal District Court upheld the

ban, but the case will be appealed to the Court of

Appeals. The ACLU will file a friend of the court

brief against the Post Office ban on the grounds

of censorship.

New Bill In Congress

For Honduran Stowaway

Congressman John J. Allen, Jr. of Oakland

has written the ACLU office that he' has intro-

duced a new bill in Congress to allow Ruben Bar-

row, the Honduran stowaway, to remain in the

United States.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service

had attempted to exclude Barrow from the coun-

try without a hearing, until the ACLU intervened.

A prior bill introduced by Congressman Allen on

Barrow's behalf had expired without any Con-

gressional action during the last session of Con-

gress.

Survey of Proposals in the 1955 California

Legislature Affecting Civil Liberties

Anti-Civil Liberties Bills

~ LOYALTY ee

Fifth Amendment - . SS a

A.B. 1903, by Charles Edward Chapel, would

require revocation of the license of any person

licensed or registered under the Business and Pro-

fessions Code who invokes the privilege of the

Fifth Amendment "in any legislative, executive or

judicial proceeding of the Government of the Uni-

ted States or of this State or any political subdi-

vision thereof."

S.B. 1814, by Hugh Burns, would likewise re-

quire revocation of the license of any person

licensed or registered under the Business and Pro-

fessions Code who invokes the privilege of the

Fifth Amendment. But, as in the cases of the Dil-

worth and Luckel Acts, the measure is limited

to legislative investigations in which questions are

asked about political opinions and associations

since September 10, 1948.

S.B. 875, by Nelson Dilworth, would extend the

present provisions of the Dilworth Act to require

employees of school districts to answer certain

political questions of legislative investigating com-

mittees covering the period from October 3, 1945

instead of September 10, 1948 as in the present

law. It would also require the answering of ques-

tions concerning "Present personal advocacy by

the employee of the support of a foreign govern-

ment against the United States in the event of

`hostilities,

Tax Exemption

A.B. 1215, by Harold K. Levering and 22 others,

provides that "No tax exemption otherwise appli-

cable to any property shall be allowed if the own-

er, lessee, or other person legally entitled to the

possession of the property knowingly and wilfully

permits it to be used by any individual or organi-

zation which advocates the overthrow of the Gov-

ernment of the United States or of the State of

California by force or violence or other unlawful

means or advocates the support of a foreign gov- (c)

ernment against the United States in the event -

of hostilities, and such advocacy is known to the

owner, lessee, or other person legally entitled to

the possession of the property." An organization

would be regarded as prima facie subversive if it

had gotten on the Attorney General's register of

"communist - action" and "communist - front''

groups.

Loyalty Oaths

A.B. 372, by Jack Schrade and ten others, sub-

stitutes the more stringent "Levering oath" for

the present oath required of candidates for public

office.

A.B. 3537, by Edward M. Gaffney, and S.B, 423,

by John F', Thompson and 23 others, are identical

bills which would require each member of a county

central committee to subscribe to the Levering

Act oath before he enters upon the duties of his

office. This oath, it may be recalled, requires a

declaration that the person is not persently and

has not been during the past five years a member

of a group advocating the violent overthrow of the

government, and that he won't join such a group

in the future.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION

Communists

A.B. 3629, by Edward M. Gaffney, declares the

Communist Party to be subversive and, therefore, =

ineligible to participate in any primary election.

A.B. 3628, by Edward M. Gaffney, specifically

outlaws the Communist Party from the ballot.

This is a gratuitous kind of action since it ig al-

ready virtually impossible for any minority party

to secure enough registrations or signatures on

petitions to get on the ballot.

In addition, the proposal makes it unlawful

"for that party or its officers, members, or agents

`to conduct any business on behalf of the party in

this state or to solicit any person to join or pay

dues to said party."

A.B. 3630, by Edward M. Gaffney, would re-

quire any officer responsible for preparing or

printing ballots to indicate that a candidate is a

Communist if that fact is known to him. The brief

proposal reads as follows: Whenever any candi-

date for any elective public office is known, by

the officer responsible for preparing or printing

the ballot, to be a member of the Communist

Party, said officer shall cause that fact to be

printed on the ballots and/or on literature mailed

- to voters to be used at the election for such public

office. Any person who violates this provision is

guilty of a misdemeanor."

UNREASONABLE SEARCH and SEIZURE

Wire-tapping

A.B. 612, by Charles E. Chapel and Seth J.

Johnson, would permit wire-tapping in cases of

"murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, burglary,

illegal sale of narcotics, or illegal transportation

of narcotics."' A district attorney would apply to

any judge of the superior court in his county for

permission to tap wires, while the Attorney Gen-

eral would apply to any Justice of the Supreme

Court. -

. The Los Angeles Times has already condemned

the bill editorially. "If the method became legal,"

said the Times, "nobody's wires would be safe

and the privacy of private affairs would be in-

vaded continually. We do not allow our police

to open and read mail, and telephone conversa-

tions should be equally confidential. Is it worth

while, in order to make more easy the pursuit of a

few criminals, to legalize a practice that could

readily be abused?"

CENSORSHIP

Comic Books

A.B. 183, by Frank G. Bonelli, would outlaw the

furnishing to any person under the age of 18

years "any illustrated crime comic book or maga-

zine in which there is prominently featured an

account of crime and which depicts, by the use of

drawings or photographs the commission or at-

tempted commission of the crimes of arson, as-

sault with caustic chemicals, assault with a deadly

weapon, burglary, kidnaping, mayhem, murder,

rape, robbery, theft, or voluntary manslaughter."

Newspapers are excepted.

A.B. 323, by Roscoe L. Patterson and 3 others,

would not only outlaw the furnishing of certain

comic books to "any minor" but so-called "tie-in",

sales by publishers as well. The proposal applies

to any "printed matter principally made up of

pictures and specifically including comic books,

devoted to the publication and exploitation of

real or fictional deeds of violent bloodshed, lust,

or immorality, or of horror, so massed as reason-

ably to tend to incite minors to violence or de-

praved or immoral acts against the person, or any

printed matter .. . , devoted to the publication

and exploitation of sex or of matter of indecent

character, which, for a minor, is obscene, lewd,

lascivious, filthy, indecent, or disgusting .. ."

SEPARATION OF CHURCH and STATE

Bible Reading in Public Schools

_S.B. 1152, by Nelson Dilworth, permits Bible

reading in the public schools. It requires the State

Board of Education to publish a syllabus of ma- -

terials "including selections from the Bible, which

shall be made available to all public schools."

The present proposal is more vague in its lan-

_ guage than past proposals. Such measures, while

silent on the version of the Bible to be used, have

generally specified that selections were to be read -

from both the Old and New Testaments and with-

out sectarian application. Also, no provision is

made to excuse children and teachers who have

conscientious objections.

DUE PROCESS

Public Trial

A.C.A. 42, by LeRoy E. Lyon, Jr., would grant

a court the power to deny a public trial to a per-

son accused of a "sex crime," a term which is not

defined. This is accomplished by amending the

Constitutional guarantee of a speedy public trial

to an accused, "except that if such party is ac-

cused of a sex crime, the court may exclude from

the courtroom all persons other than officers and

attaches of the court, the accused and the jury."

Bills In Support of Freedom

EQUAL RIGHTS FOR MINORITIES

Discrimination in Employment :

A.B. 971, by Byron Rumford, and 20 others,

A.B, 1868, by Augustus Hawkins, and,

S.B. 1765, by Richard Richards, would set up

a State F.E.P. law patterned after New York

legislation.

A.B. 2300, by Augustus Hawkins and 23 others,

would amend the Labor Code by permitting a

person denied a job because of race, religion, color,

national origin or ancestry to sue for damages.

S.B. 638, by- Richard Richards, eliminates refer:

ences to race in applications for public jobs, and

prohibits questions as to race in interviews.

A.B. 970, by Byron Rumford and 13 others, es-

tablishes a public policy, in the Education Code,

against racial and religious discrimination in the

hiring of teachers.

Discrimination in Education

A.B. 2043, by Byron Rumford and Augustus

Hawkins, and

S.B. 1766, by Richard Richards, are identical

Fair Education Practice proposals designed to

eliminate racial and religious discrimination in

California schools.

Discrimination in Selling Insurance

A.B. 1873, by Augustus Hawkins and Edward

E. Elliott, would prohibit racial discrimination in

the sale of automobile insurance.

General

(Continued on Page 4, Col. 2)

Page 4

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

MARCH, 1955

American Civil Liberties Union-News

Published monthly at 503 Market Street, San Francisco 5

Calif., by the American Civil Liberties Union

of Northern California.

Phone: EXbrook 2-3255

MRNE ST BESIG Editor

Entered as Second-class matter, July 31, 1941, at the

Post Office at San Francisco, California, :

under the Act of March 8, 1879.

Subscription Rates--One Dollar and Fifty Cents a Year.

Fifteen Cents per Copy - 151.

Constitution and -

By-Laws of A.C.L.U., Inc.

(Continued from Page 2, Col. 3)

out major difficulty of finance or personnel-at

least as often as every two years, and every second

time in a city other than New York where there is

a local affiliate. Voting shall be in accordance with

the procedure set forth above for the annual elec-

tion of Board members.

(b) Whenever the national staff deems any

question to be sufficiently important, it shall im-

mediately seek advice thereon from all National

Committee members and local affiliates, especially

by providing them as soon as possible with all

working papers supplied to Board members in con-

nection with meeting agenda items. In addition,

any National Committee member or locai affiliate

may take the initiative in raising any question and

offering advice thereon. Immediately on receiving

any question or advice from a National Committee

member or local affiliate, the national staff trans-

mit it to the Board or its appropriate committee or

agency, in the same manner as it treats any ques-

tion or advice received from a Board member,

(c) A mail referendum to the Corporation mem-.

bers on any action of the national Board of Direc-

tors shall be held on the request of any ten cor-

poration members, and shall be held without such

request in the case of action by the Board to sus-

pend or remove a corporation member, unless the

corporation member concerned requests otherwise.

Wherever the action submitted to referendum in-

cludes more than one part which the Board decides

is self-contained, each such part shall be submitted

separately. Voting shall be in accordance with the

procedure set forth above for the annual election

of Board members, and the national Board of

Directors shall then act in accordance with the

majority vote, except where it believes there are

vitally important reasons for not doing so-which

it shall explain to the corporation members. (c)

(d) Local affiliates shall act in accordance with

the policies of the Union. The purpose of this re-

quirement is to obtain general unity rather than

absolute uniformity.

11. Amendment of Constitution and By-Laws

Any three corporation members may propose

an amendment to this Constitution and By-Laws,

in writing, to any meeting of the national Board of

Directors, which shail then submit it to the cor-

poration members. Voting shall be in accordance

with the procedure set forth above for the annual

election of Board members. The national Board of

Directors shall then act in accordance with the

majority vote on the submitted amendment, except

where it believes there are vitally important rea-

sons for not doing so-which it shall-explain to

the corporation members.

Resolution Adopted by the Board of Directors and

National Committee of A.C.L.U, at Annual

Meeting of National Committee at Town

Hall, Monday, February 5, 1940

"While the American Civil Liberties Union does

not make any test of opinion on political or eco-

nomic questions a condition of membership, and

makes no distinction in defending the right to hold

and utter any opinions, the personnel of its gov-

erning committees and staff is properly subject to

the test of consistency in the defense of civil

liberties in all aspects and all places.

"That consistency is inevitably compromised by

persons who champion civil liberties in the United

States and yet who justify or tolerate the denial

of civil liberties by dictatorships abroad. Such a

dual position in these days, when issues are far

sharper and more profound, makes it desirable

that the Civil Liberties Union makes its position

unmistakably clear.

"The Board of Directors and the National Com-

mittee of the American Civil Liberties Union

therefore hold it inappropriate for any person to

serve on the governing committees of the Union

or on its staff, who is a member of any political

organization which supports totalitarian dictator-

ship in any country, or who by his public declara-

tions indicates his support of such a principle.

"Within this category we include organizations

in the United States supporting the totalitarian

governments of the Soviet Union and of the Fas-

cist and Nazi countries, (such as the Communist

Party, the German-American Bund and others;

as well as native organizations with obvious anti-

democratic objectives or practices."

Text of the Court's Opinion in Veteran's

Tax Exempiion Loyalty Oath Test Suit

Following is the complete text-of the unanimous

opinion of the Superior Court of Contra Costa county,

sitting en banc, in the suit filed by Lawrence Speiser,

ACLU Staff Counsel, against Justin A. Randall, Asses-

sor of the County of Contra Costa, and Maryellen Foley,

Assessor of the City of El Cerrito, handed down Feb-

ruary 9, 1955:

The plaintiff herein, a veteran of World War

II, with an honorable discharge, claimed a vet-

eran's real property exemption in the County of

Contra Costa and City of El Cerrito. The claim

was in the manner and form required by law

except that the plaintiff crossed out the loyalty

declaration as required by Section 32 of the Reve-

nue and Taxation Code. This is an action for decla-

ratory relief to determine the constitutionality of

the requirement for the filing of the loyalty

declaration.

Section 19, Article XX of the Constitution of the

State of California provides that no one who ad-

vocates the overthrow of the United States or the

State by force and violence or other unlawful

means or who advocates the support of a foreign

government against the United States in the event

of hostilities shall receive any exemption for any

tax imposed by the state, county, city or other

political subdivision. After the adoption of this

Article of the Constitution the Legislature adopted

Section 32 of the Revenue and Taxation Code

which reads in part as follows:

"Any statement, return or other document in

which is claimed any exemption, other than the

householder's exemption, from any property tax

imposed by this State, or any county, city or

county, city ... shall contain a declaration that

the person or organization making the statement,

return or other document does not advocate the

overthrow of the Government of the United States

or of the State of California by force or violence

or other unlawful means nor advocate the support

of a foreign government against the United States

in the event of hostilities."

This case presents the question of whether or

not the California constitutional provision and Sec-

tion 32 of the Revenue and Taxation Code are in

violation of the First and Fourteenth Amend-

ments to the Constitution of the United States.

The Fourteenth Amendment provides that no

state shall abridge the freedoms and immunities

of the citizens of the United States. One of the

freedoms is the freedom of speech guaranteed by

the First Amendment.

Freedom of speech is a great fundamental right

among free peoples. In the United States it has

been long established and has its roots deep in the

past. Our courts have zealously guarded this free-

dom. The right of free speech, however, is not un-_

restrained. Every sovereign state has a right to

maintain its existence and protect itself from vio-

lent overthrow. This right has been equally pro-

tected. When these rights come into conflict a

point must be established beyond which the right

of free speech will be suppressed and before which

it will be protected.

The limit of free speech has been the subject of

great concern by both the United States Supreme

Court and the Supreme Court of our own state.

A number of decisions have passed upon oaths

similar to the one in question. We find that the

guiding principle was established in a unanimous

decision by the Supreme Court in Sehenck vs.

United States, 249 U.S., 47, where Justice Holmes,

speaking for the Court, said:

"The question in every case is whether the

words are used in such circumstances and are of

such a nature as to create a clear and present

danger that they will bring about the substantive

evils that Congress has a right to prevent. It is a

question of proximity and degree."

In a later case the same Court said:

"What finally emerges from the clear and

present danger cases is a working principle that

the substantive evil must be extremely serious

Survey of State Legislation

Affecting Civil Liberties

(Continued from Page 3, Col. 3)

A.B. 2070, by Thomas A. Maloney, would estab-

lish a State Civil Rights Study Commission to

"study the need for any legislation to protect civil

rights and provide for the strengthening of the

internal security of the State."

ALIENS

Alien Land Law

A.B. 841 and A.B. 842, both by Edward E. El-

liott and 8 others, would repeal California's Alien

Land Law.

POLITICAL FREEDOM

Teachers

. A.B. 203, by Edward E. Elliott, would grant

school teachers the same right as other public -

employees to participate in political activities.

atid the degree of imminence extremely high be-

fore utterances can be punished." (Bridges vs.

California, 314 U.S. 252.) a

_The rule has. been applied in California by our

Supreme Court in a case in which almost the iden-

tical oath was involved and under analogous cir-

cumstances. This case is Danskin vs, San Diego

Unified School District, 28 Cal. 2d, 536. There a .

school board had adopted a regulation that as a-

prerequisite to the use of a school building for a

public meeting the person making the application

should subscribe to and file with the board an

oath essentially the same as the declaration now

under consideration. After reviewing the decisions

of the United States Supreme Court it held that

such a requirement was an abridgment of free

speech and assembly and therefore in violation

of the Amendments I and XIV of the Constitution

of the United States. The Court said:

"The state must be on the alert for any clear

and present danger to the community, sensitive

to the warning signals, the ambiance in which a

forum is planned and the atmosphere that enve-

lopes it. It cannot look with equanimity upon those

whose words or actions have already left in their

wake a trail of violence.

"Always it must distinguish, however, between

speech no matter how unorthodox that remains

on a theoretical plane and speech, no matter how

skillfully intoned, that creates a clear and present

danger to the community."

The Court then quoted the following language

from Schneiderman vs. United States, 320 US.,

118:

"There is a material difference between agita-

tion and exhortation calling for present violent

action which creates a clear and present danger

of public disorder or other substantive evil and

mere doctrinal justification or prediction of the

use of force under hypothetical conditions at some

indefinite future time-prediction that is not cal-

culated or intended to be presently acted upon,

thus leaving opportunity for general discussion

in the common process of thaught."' :

We believe that the principles laid down. there

are controlling here. In effect, the provisions in-

volved here require those who advocate doctrines _

`unacceptable to the rest of us to pay a larger tax

than those who refrain from expressing such doc- -

trines. We do not feel that this reasonably tends

to avert a clear and present danger to the state."

The petition also urges, and we think with some

merit, that there is an unreasonable classification

created by Section 32 of the Revenue and Taxation

Code. While the constitutional provision is broad

enough to cover all taxes, Section 32 of the Reve-

nue and Taxation Code requires the affidavit only

from those who claim tax exemptions on real

property. The largest group in this classification is

made up of veterans. On the other hand, however,

one, no matter how subversive his activities may

have been, is entitled without making such a decla-

ration to claim the same exemptions as others on

state, income and inheritance taxes as well as

other state and local taxes.

The petitioner is entitled to judgment as prayed

for.

_ Counsel for petitioner will prepare the necessary

findings and-judgment.

_ Dated: February 9, 1955.

(signed)

HAROLD JACOBY

HUGH H, DONOVAN

HOMER W. PATTERSON

NORMAN A. GREGG

WAKEFIELD TAYLOR

Judges of the Superior Court

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