vol. 22, no. 8

American

Civil Liberties'

Union

Volume XX

`Number 8

San Francisco, California, September, 1957

Charges that a social worker was refused an appointment

as Field Probation Officer in Contra Costa County because

she is married to a Negro will be heard by the Superior Court

. that county in Martinez on September 16.

- Social Worker

Petitioner in the suit is Patricia Gaines, 26. of 1403 Allston

Way, Berkeley, who now works

for the Alameda County Welfare

_ Department as a social worker.

Her husband, William, is a dep-

uty probation officer in Alameda

`County.

The suit requests issuance of

an order requiring John W. Davis,

County Probation Officer, to ap-

point Mrs. Gaines to the post for

which she applied. Incidentally,

Davis is now president of the Cal-

ifornia Probation and Parole As-

sociation.

Well Qualified

Last March Davis frankly told

Mrs. Gaines, and the ACLU, that

she was well qualified for the job,

but that he could not appoint her

to the post because her husband

was a Negro. Mr. Davis explained

that some members of his proba-

tion committee felt it was unwise

to appoint Mrs. Gaines. Because

the other two candidates were not

- qualified, Mr. Davis said he had .

decided not to fill the post.

Ten days before the suit was

filed on June 24, however, Davis

claims he notified the Civil Serv-

ice Commission that he intended

to appoint one of the two women

5 Spanish Sailors

Seek Asylum

Five Spanish sailors. seeking

political asylum from Franco

Spain were granted a stay of de-

portation on August 13 by the

U. S. Court of Appeals in San

Francisco.

The men deserted ion two

Spanish destroyers at San Diego

last July 6. While on lawful shore

leave, the seamen fled to Tijuana

and surrendered to Mexican po- -

lice, formally requesting political

asylum.

ACLU Intervenes

Mexican officials turned the

sailors over to U. S. Navy offi-

cials, who were in the process of

returning the men to their ships

when the Southern California

branch of the ACLU through its

counsel, A. L. Wirin, obtained a

temporary restraining order

blocking their return. By stipula-

tion of counsel, the men were

turned over to the U. S. Immigra-

tion Service.

Counsel for the men argued be-

fore Judge Thurmond Clarke in

Los Angeles that since the men

were on lawful shore leave in the

U. S., they technically deserted

when they entered Mexico, and a

1902 U. S.-Spanish treaty requir-

ing that deserting sailors be re-

turned home did not apply to

them. Judge Clarke did not

agree. His adverse decision was

then appealed to the-Court of Ap-

peals in San Francisco, which has

ow granted a stay of deporta-

Bon because it feels there is suf-

ficient merit to the appeal to jus-

tify a full-scale hearing.

Seven in Mexico

Seven other Spanish sailors

made their way to Mexico City

and have been granted political

asylum. The Mexican government

is willing to grant asylum to the

five who are being detained in

this country.

Oral arguments in the case are

not expected to be heard for sev-

eral months.

whom he had previously stated

was unqualified, and that her ap-

pointment became effective on

July 2.

Volunteer Counsel

The petition in the case was

prepared by Mrs. Fay Stender, a

volunteer attorney for the ACLU. (c)

Also associated as attorneys for

the petitioner are Albert M. Ben-

dich, ACLU Staff Counsel, and

volunteer ACLU counsel Robert

L. Condon of Condon, Dolgin and

_ Page in Martinez.

Legal Steno

Wanted!

The ACLU has an opening

for an experienced legal ste-

nographer who can use an

IBM electric typewriter. The

salary is $350 per month. The

hours are 9 to 5 and no Satur-

day work. a

Any person who is qualified

should telephone Ernest Besig

or Albert M. Bendich at the

| ACLU office, EXbrook 2-4692,

for an appointment.

"Jim Grady' Cited

For Contempt

. The House of Representatives

on August 23 voted a contempt

citation against Louis Earl Hart-

man, 42, of 2139 Stuart St., Berke-

ley, former KCBS_ broadcaster.

Hartman used the name Jim

Grady on the air.

Hartman refused to answer the

questions of a subcommittee of

the House Committee on Un-.

American Activities when that

committee held hearings in San

Francisco last June. Hartman

rested on the First Amendment

and the Supreme Court decision

in the Watkins case in refusing to

answer the committee's questions.

The citation will now be turned

over to the local U. S. Attorney

for possible oe

Police "Bugging

Of Private

Property B

The California Supreme Court

on August 6 called a halt to Los

Angeles Police Chief William H.

Parker's lawless planting of dic-

"tographs on private property. By

a 5 to 2 vote, the court granted

an injunction to A. L. Wirin,

counsel for the Southern Califor-

nia Branch of the ACLU, suing

as a Los Angeles taxpayer to pre-

vent the illegal expenditure of

public funds.

Chief Parker boldly told the

courts that consent of the " `own-

er, occupant, or lessee of the

premises' upon which installa-

tions were made was not sought

or obtained `when there is reason

to believe that... knowledge on

the part of such person may or

will destroy the value of an in-

stallation as an aid in the appre-

hension of criminals and the pre-

vention or detection of crime'."

In other words, Parker planted

dictographs wherever he wished.

The Supreme Court decided

that Chief Parker "has author-

ized and directed dictograph sur-

veillance in violation of the pro-

visions of the United States Con-

_ stitution and the California Con-

stitution." The Fourth Amend-

ment to the Federal Constitution,

it may be recalled, provides that

"The right of the people to be

secure in their persons, houses,

papers, and effects, against un-

reasonable searches and seizures,

shall not be violated, and no war-

rants shall issue, but upon prob-

able cause, supported by oath or

affirmation, and particularly de-

scribing the place to be searched,

and the persons or things to be

seized."

canned"

`Obscene' Books Trial

The defense won a partial victory in the second round of

what has become known as the ``Howl" "obscene books" trial.

On August 22, San Francisco Municipal Judge Clayton Horn,

sitting without a jury, which had been waived by the defense,

-indicated that charges against Shigeyoshi:Murao, 31, book

store clerk, would be dismissed

, for lack of evidence and that the

publication "The Miscellaneous

Man" will be ruled out as evi-

dence against the remaining de-

fendant, Lawrence Ferlinghetti,

38, proprietor of the City Lights

. Pocket Book Shop, 261 Columbus

Ave, San Francisco.

No Evidence

Charges against Murao will be

Bendich Named

As Staff Couneil

The American Civil Liberties

Union of Northern California last

month: announced the appointment

of Albert M. Bendich (pronounced

Ben-dick) of San Jose as its staff

counsel. On August 7, Bendich

succeeded Lawrence Speiser, who

returned to the private practice of

law on August 1.

Bendich, 28, attended the Uni-

versity of California in Berkeley,

where he received his B. A., M. A.

and LL. B. degrees. He was ad-

mitted to the, practice of law in

California in December, 1955. Dur-

ing the past six months Bendich

has been practicing law in asso-

ciation with I. B. Padway, a labor

lawyer in San Jose.

Bendich is married and has one

child. After September 1, he will

move his home from San Jose to

Berkeley.

Court Rules Nudist

The U. S. Court of Appeals in

San Francisco on June 28 upheld

the decision of a Federal Judge

in Spokane, Washington, that

nudist magazines are obscene.

But a petition for a rehearing,

which is ordinarily decided rath-

er swiftly, has been pending be-

fore the court for more than a

month.

Mervin Mounce of Spokane,

Washington, former president of

the America Sunbathing Associa-

tion, said the magazines were im-

ported from Denmark, Norway

and Sweden to promote nudism.

If the lower court's order stands,

ten thousand magazines will be

destroyed.

Lis Ed

tainment: $3.50 per person.

invitations will be sent.

MARIN oes FAMOUS

The Marin Chapter invites all ACLUers and their friends to

another LIBERTY BALL on Saturday evening, September 28th

at the home and garden of Mr. and Mrs. -Erederick S. Coolidge,

#1 Buckeye Way, Kentfield, Marin county.

Marin Chapter announces a full program for this year's ball:

5 to 7 p.m. Wine Tasting Party, featuring a variety of the choice

California wines provided by Mayacamas Vineyards of Napa; 7 to

8 p.m. buffet supper; 8 to 9 p.m. entertainment; 9 p.m. folk sing-

ing and dancing, with the dancing continuing until midnight.

Members and guests are welcome for the whole program or

any part of it. Denation requested for buffet supper and enter-

The Marin Chapter urges that reservations be made as soon

as possible in order that they may know how many will want

supper. Please write ACLU, 229 Rosemont Ave., Mill Valley, or

Vee WAbash 4-4821 or 4-0497. (Send your checks!)

In addition, Marin members please volunteer to help out in

*"honing a Marin mailing list of non-members to whom printed

The Chapter is giving the proceeds of the ball to the ACLU

treasury to help finance our work. So, let's plan to attend, Septem-

ber 28th. There we will meet other friends of ACLU while being

_ assured a wonderful time by our Marin hosts.

The Liberty Ball committee is composed of Jim Chestnut as

chairman, Sali Lieberman and Anne Coolidge.

lagazines Obscene

_ The printed context of the

periodicals "was clean and have

no indecent, obscene or filthy

language," said District Judge

Sam M. Driver of Spokane. The

pictures are used solely to illus-

trate nudism. "Such pictures,"

said the lower court, "are obscene

to the average person."

In its June 28 decision, the

Court of Appeals agreed with

Judge Driver .that the standard

of obscenity "is the judgment

of the average, normal, reason-

able, prudent person of the com-

munity in which the publication

is circulated. If, at the time of

such circulation, considered as a

whole it offends the sense of pro-

priety, morality and decency of

such average person, it is within

the bar of the statute. Otherwise

it is not ... . Guided by the gen-

eral principles . .. the trier of

facts must draw the line as best

he can between art and porno-

graph-between what is permis-

sible and what is not." -0x00B0

On the petition for a rehearing,

counsel for Mounce. argued that

the court's test of obscenity ig-

hores recent Supreme Court de-

cisions that the material must'

appeal to pene interest.

Seaton W. Manning

Flome from India

' Seaton W. Manning, executive

secretary of the San Francisco

Urban League and a member of

the ACLU's local board, returns

to San Francisco this month after

almost a year of lecturing in In-

dia.

Mr, and Mrs. Manning and their

`family are being welcomed home

by the board of directors of the

Urban League and a few friends

at a dinner on September 13.

dropped because Asst. District

Attorney Ralph MacIntosh stip-

ulated he had no evidence to

prove that Murao intended to

sell obscene publications. (Cali-

fornia law requires proof that the

defendant "wilfully and lewdly"

sold obseene matter.) The' prose-

cution failed to introduce evi- -

dence establishing that Murao

knew the contents of "Howl" or

that he knew what was in "The

Miscellaneous Man."

In fact, the prosecutor admitted

he had no evidence to prove that

either defendant knew the con-

tents of "The Miscellaneous

Man," and the defense declined

an invitation from MacIntosh to

make such an admission. Also,

in, answer to a question from

Judge Horn, the prosecutor

`agreed there was nothing about

the cover of "The Miscellaneous

Man" which disclosed any ob-

scene content. Under the cir-

cumstances, Judge Horn com-

mented that there was no further

reason to consider `The Miscel-

laneous van as an issue in the

case.

Inference Drawn

The charges against Ferling-

hetti, however, for selling "Howl"

are on a different footing. The

prosecutor pointed out that

"Howl" was not only stocked and

sold by The City Lights Pocket

Book Shop, but that the pookiet

was published by the bookshop,

which is owned by Ferlinghetti.

Consequently, he argued that

Ferlinghetti must have known of

its contents.

Outside of this evidence of al-

leged wrongdoing, little else was

introduced by the prosecutor. At

the first hearing on August 16,

two officers of the Juvenile Bu-

reau testified that each of them

had separately entered the City

Lights Pocket Bookshop; one of

them had asked for, received

and paid for a copy of "Howl

and Other Poems" by Allen Gins-

berg; the other had asked for, |

received and paid for a copy of

"The Miscellaneous Man," Num-

bers 11-12; the first officer had -

read "Howl;" the second had not

read "The Miscellaneous Man"

in its entirety. They had each.

been served by Shigeyoshi Murao,

the City Lights clerk, and no

other persons had been present.

Some time after the purchases,

it was testified, it was learned

that Lawrence Ferlinghetti was

the owner of the bookshop. That

was the prosecution evidence,-ex-

cept for the booklets themselves.

The August 16 hearing was con-

tinued at this point to allow

Judge Horn to read me publica-

tions.

Motion to Acquit

Judge Horn's decisions about

Murao and "The Miscellaneous

Man" were stated during argu-

ment of a defense motion to ac-

quit the defendants because the

prosecution failed to prove that

-Continued on Page 2

co e

In This issue...

ACLU Opposes Present:

Civil Rights Bill...... Page 3

A Slight Case of Obscenity

Se eee Page 2

Damage Suits Filed in 2

`Vag' Arrest Cases...

Oppose Census Questions

About Religion. ...... Page 4

`Water Hole' Wins Court Ban

on Police Harassment. . Page 4

A Slight Case of Obscenity Page 2

. Page 3

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION NEWS

Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California,

503 Market Street, San Francisco 5, California, EXbrook 2-4692.

Second Class mail privileges authorized at San Francisco, Calif.

ERNEST BESIG .. . Editor

`Subscription Rates-One Dollar and Fifty Cents a Year

Fifteen Cents Per Copy

Unwanted Intervention

The American Civil Liberties Union, California version,

hesitates not when it sees a chance to share in headlines de-

voted to anything in or out of its line.

The latest demonstration of the alacrity with which it

rushes` into printers ink is its butting into the action being

brought by the State of California to stop the distribution of

scandal magazines. The Union filed a brief with the United

States Court of Appeals siding with the vendors of the objec-

tionable publications.

It demands of the court that it reject the contention of the

State that the public sale of lewd, obscene or libelous matter

is against the public weal.

The grounds for the Union's concern? Censorship, it says,

stemming from the argument that the magazines have a right

to continue unlimited circulation until the last word has been

heard in the trial now under way in Los Angeles in the

matter.

That is as sensible as asking a judge to keep firemen away

from a fire until the court has found out how it started. Which

is about as sensible as most of the Union's activities-Edi-

torial, Oakland Tribune, August 16, 1957.

Retraction Demanded -

On August 20, 1957, the ACLU advised the Oakland Trib-

une of specific statements in the editorial which it regarded

as untrue and demanded a retraction. Following are a few

paragraphs from that letter:

As a matter of fact, the ACLU has had no connection

whatsoever with the current criminal libel prosecution against

Confidential magazine in Los Angeles. Its sole interest thus

far has been in the State Attorney General's efforts to prevent

the distribution in this state by threats and intimidation of

the June, 1957 issue of said magazine.

We have never suggested that the State is compelled to

await the conclusion of its present Los Angeles prosecution

before it may prosecute for other alleged unlawful acts by the

publishers of Confidential. Each new issue of the magazine

could conceivably result in a new prosecution. But the ques-

tion of obscenity, in the final analysis, is one for the courts

and not for the State Attorney General and Clarence Linn.

They may prosecute because they believe a publication that

is being circulated is obscene but they have no right to pre-

_ vent publication and distribution of printed matter by threats

and intimidation because they are afraid it may be obscene.

We dont' say that a judge should keep firemen away from

a fire until the court has found out how it started. What we

do say, however, is that the Government has no right to act

until a wrong has been committed. It may not assume that

because one issue of a magazine contained unlawful matter

that future issues will also contain such objectionable matter.

. If, on the basis of such an assumption, it attempts to prevent

distribution of printed matter through threats and intimida-

tion, it is violating freedom of the press by prior censorship.

The Individual and FBI Files

The Senate has before it another version of the adminis-

tration's measure designed to spell out the procedures for

applying the Supreme Court's ruling in the Jencks case. This

affirmed the right ofan accused to see certain FBI reports

which bear on testimony offered against him.

The Supreme Court laid down certain broad principles

with which most people will-agree.

First, the precept which epitomizes the Bill of Rights:

"The interest of the United States in a criminal prosecution

. . is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be

done. ..."

Second, if the government bases a prosecution on a report

made to it, the accused shall be allowed to use the same report

as a-basis for his defense.

The court also did some delimiting on its own of the use

that can be made of this right: The accused*may demand to

see only "specific documents"; he may not engage in "any

broad or blind fishing expedition." And these documents can

only be previous statements or reports of statements of an

informant whom the prosecution is placing upon the witness

stand. :

But. who shall determine which documents are relevant

and what would constitute a "broad or blind fishing expedi-

tion'? The court says the trial judge may not withhold docu-

ments on grounds of irrelevancy without hearing the defense

after its inspection of them. And the burden of determining

what disclosures might damage the public interest is one the

Justice Department may not shift to the trial judge.

Here is a course that must be most carefully charted. The

first draft of the Senate bill, it is said, would have denied an

accused in an income-tax case access to his own records, of

which the government, as is usual, might have taken

possession. .

The compromise version would have the government turn

over to the defense the prior statements of a witness who has"

already testified if it deems the entire statement relevant. If

it deems only portions relevant, then it must give the entire

report to the trial judge for his detefmination. This solution

may stand up under thorough debate. But Congress should

give it this test Editorial, Christian Science Monitor, August

16, 1957.

`Obscene' Books

Trial Scheduled

For September 5

Continued from Page 1-

the defendants had "wilfully and

lewdly" sold the publications in

question. In support of its mo-

tion, the defense also argued that

the booklets were not "obscene"

because the test recently ap-

proved by the U. S. Supreme

Court is not whether vulgar words

appear in the publication but

whether, taken as a whole, its

dominant theme appeals to the

prurient interest of the average

member of the community.

Judge Horn indicated that he

agreed with this definition of ob-

scenity and would apply the Su-

preme Court test in making his

decision. He also indicated he

was sensitive to the distinction,

stressed by the Supreme Court,

between obscenity which is not

protected by the First Amend-

ment, and speech and writings,

in the words of the Supreme

Court, which have a redeeming

social importance. In this con-

nection Judge Horn said that the

present case illustrated for him

the reasons why freedom of the

press should be "stringently pro-

tected." Nevertheless, he de-

clined to rule on the motion for

acquittal before the defense sub-

mitted its case.

Literary Experts Allowed

Judge Horn ruled that he

would permit literary experts to

testify on the merits of "Howl,"

on the relationship of the alleged-

ly vulgar expressions to the de-

velopment of, the main theme, on

the meaning of the main theme,

and so on, excluding: only the

question whether the booklet is

actually "obscene." He also ruled

`that he would accept reviews of

"Howl" by literary critics.

J. W. Ehrlich, well-known San

Francisco attorney: who volun-

teered to handle the case without

fee, did an excellent job in argu-

ing the motion to acquit the de-

fendants. Associated with him as

defense counsel are Albert M.

Bendich, ACLU staff counsel,

and Lawrence Speiser, former

ACLU staff counsel.

Bendich is now arranging for

the appearance of witnesses at

the next hearing which is sched-

uled for Thursday, September 5,

at 2 p.m. in the Hall of Justice

on Kearney Street. Previous

hearings have drawn large audi-

ences. :

MacPhee Failed

In connection with the current

prosecution, it should be remem-

bered that Chester R. MacPhee,

San Francisco Collector of Cus-

toms, on March 21 seized as ob-

scene 519 copies of "Howl" des-

tined for Lawrence Ferlinghetti,

and that a month before he seized

as obscene 32 copies of `The Mis-

cellaneous Man," destined for

the publisher, William J. Mar-

golis of Berkeley. Both publica-

tions were printed in England.

When U. S. Attorney Lloyd H.

Burke declined to bring legal pro-

ceedings to destroy the booklets

Mr. MacPhee had no choice but

to release them.

Ferlinghetti and Murao are

each at liberty on $500 bond post-

ed by the ACLU of Northern

California.

Booksellers Protest

Recently, 21 San Francisco

booksellers petitioned Mayor

George Christopher to "use all

the power of your office" to end

police censorship of books. Re-

ferring to the arrest of Ferling-

hetti, the booksellers' petition

said, "This sort of censorship has

no place in a democratic society"

and "is harmful to San Fran-

cisco's reputation as a center of

culture and enlightenment."

Book dealer Paul Elder is quot-

ed as saying that the city's book-

store owners and managers de-

cided to appeal to the Mayor be-

eause they resent "this capri-

cious and irresponsible action by

the police."

The Philanderer

A SI

Last April 20, "The New

Yorker" carried an article by the.

English publisher Frederic " J.

Warburg about his prosecution

on obscenity charges in 1954 for

publishing Stanley Kauffmann's

novel, "The Philanderer." It is

entitled, "A Slight Case of Ob-

. scenity."

In view of the pending "Howl"

obscenity trial, Mr. Justice Sta-

ble's summation to the jury, as

told by Mr. Warburg, may be of

interest:

Near the outset of his summa-

tion, the judge disclosed to the

jury that sex is. essential to pro-

creation, and hence to the con-

tinued existence of the human

race. He said this was not his

fault, or the fault of the members

of the jury, or (by implication)

of the author or publisher of

"The Philanderer." The fault, if

there was one, he declared, would

have to be attributed to the Cre-

ator of life, so the jury might just

as well overlook it. Indeed, he

went so far as to suggest that the

important role assigned to sex

was nothing to worry about, and

should be accepted without dis-

may by all decent, law-abiding

people. From this solid begin-

ning, he went on by degrees to

make some sound remarks about

the function of literature, with

particular reference to the novel.

He considered it reasonable that

a novelist writing in the twen-

tieth century should hold up a

mirror to the society of his own

day, precisely as the great Vic-

torians - Thackeray, Dickens,

Trollope, and others-held it up

to the society of the nineteenth

century. An American novel

could be expected, he thought to

give a picture of contemporary

America, and in his view "The

Philanderer" might well "depict

the lives of people living today

in New York" and "portray their

speech and their attitude in gen-

eral towards this particular as-

pect of life." And he asked ben-

evolently, "If we are going to

read novels about how things go

in New York, it would not be of

much assistance, would it, if, con-

trary to the fact, we were led to

suppose that in New York no un-

married woman of teen age has

disabused her mind of the idea

that babies are brought by storks

or are sometimes found in cab-

bage patches or under gooseberry

bushes?"

By this time, the prosecutor

must have been feeling that the

sooner the court adjourned for

lunch the better. But the judge

had another rod in pickle for him

before we were given a break. He

had already asked implacably,

"Are we going to take our lit-

erary standards as being the

level of something that is suit-

able for a fourteen - year - old

school girl? Or do we go even

further back than that, and are

we to be reduced to the sort of

books one reads as a child in the

Membership Drive

Reached 85% of Goals

Returns from the Spring Mem-

bership Drive have continued to

dribble in since the last report

was made on June 20.

On August 23, exactly 507 new

members had been secured, or 85

per cent of the membership goal

of 600, and $4320.55, or 86 per

cent of the monetary goal of

$5000.

The paid-up membership is now

over 3700, besides 148 separate

subscribers to the "News." A

year ago, the paid-up membership

stood at slightly more than 3500.

Special Funds Appeal

Contributions to the ACLU's

Special Funds Appeal sent out

last June thus far total $3493.48.

ight Case

Of Obscenity

nursery?" And to these rhetor-

ical questions he had given the

simple answer, "Of course not."

Now, turning to the issue of

whether, as the Crown had con-

tended, books like "The Philan- -

derer" would poison the minds

of teen-agers, he said, "But is it

really books that put ideas into

young heads, or is it Nature?"

The court then adjourned, and

my wife and I went out to lunch

together. I was comparatvely op-

timistic. At least some of the

jurors, I assured her, would real-

ize that "The Philanderer'" was

a serious work, and not a mere

piece of nastiness; perhaps they

would convince the unbelievers,

if there were any, that I.was not

the stuff of which pornography-

mongers are made. When the ses-

sion resumed, the judge took up

this thought almost as if he'd

been lunching at our table. "You

may agree that it is a good book,

or a bad book, or a moderate

book," he told the jury. "It is at

least a book. It is the creation

of a human mind." I could have

embraced him, it was so precisely

what I felt.

Soon after this,

Mr. Justice

Stable stopped. i

Speiser In

Private Practice

Lawrence Speiser, first staff

counsel of the ACLU of Northern

California, resigned his post on

August 1 in order to devote his

entire time to the practice of law

in San Francisco in association

with the firm of Haet, Domin-

guez, Speiser and Williams.

Started in 1952

Speiser came to work for the

ACLU in October, 1952, at the

height of the loyalty and security

hysteria and his work thereafter

was largely in the loyalty and se-

curity fields. He filed the Union's

church and veterans' tax exemp-

tion loyalty oath test cases, now

pending before the U. S. Supreme

Court, besides handling the John

Mass, Schuyten and Wolstenholme

cases, involving the dismissal of

teachers and a librarian for re-

fusing to testify' before Federal

and State legislative investigat-

ing committees. These cases are'

still pending.

Speiser successfully handled

two Gwinn rider cases, testing

the validity of a loyalty test for

residents of public housing*proj-

ects, as well as the so-called

Berkeley sidewalk table case, aris-

ing out of the City Council's re-

_ fusal to issue a permit for a side-

walk table for the distribution of

`literature concerning the Rosen-

berg case. He represented nu-

merous persons before local hear-

ings of the House Committee on

Un-American Activities, and he

won five out of six Naval Reserve

officers' security cases.

Atheist Case

Shortly after coming to the AC-

LU, Speiser successfully handled

the Plywacki case involving re-

fusal of citizenship to an avowed

atheist, and he was equally suc-

cessful in citizenship cases of pa-

cifists and persons whose peti-

tions for citizenship had been long

delayed because of alleged politi-

cal associations.

Professor John Henry Merry-

man, chairman of the board, and

Ernest Besig, executive director,

spoke for the board and the union

in praising Speiser's work and in

expressing regret at his resigna-

tion. `"He was an able and emi-

nently successful civil liberties

advocate," said Prof. Merryman,

"well liked by persons inside and

outside the ACLU. The ACLU

wishes him success in his new

venture."

ACLU NEWS

September, 1957

Page 2

Present

Rights

LI

After adoption by the Senate of the jury trial amendment, |

Civil

the American Civil Liberties Union urged defeat of the civil

rights bill in identical letters, signed by its executive director

Patrick Murphy Malin, to Speaker Rayburn and House Minor-

ity Leader Martin. Text of letter follows:

"As you know, the American

Civil Liberties Union has whole-

heartedly supported H.R. 6127,

`to provide means of further se-

curing and protecting the civil

rights of persons within the juris-

diction of the United States.'

And, even in the drastically

amended form in which it was

tonight voted by the Senate, there

are still provisions in which we

believe. But there is one change

which seems to us so serious that

we now urge the defeat of the

whole bill in its present Senate

form, because we think that to

enact it would be, on balance, not

even a small step forward, but in

reality a drift backward.

"We realize that all those inter-

ested in advancing civil rights,

Congressmen and Senators, as

well as some of our fellow-organ-

izations, must, in confronting such

a hard decision, have many con-

siderations in mind. And we our-

selves do not have an all-or-noth-

ing attitude toward civil rights

legislation; we even have sought

to make clear our understanding

that honest and reasonable men

could differ on the jury-trial ques-

tion. But, as the one organization

whose sole specialization is civil

liberties, whose membership is

drawn from many groups, and

whose work is nonpartisan, the

American Civil Liberties Union

feels that added voting protection

without jury-trial restriction is of

such transcendent importance

_that we must urge the defeat of (c)

the whole bill in its present Sen-

ate form, to avoid betraying the

future of Negro Americans and

indeed the future of our democ-

racy as a whole.

"The requirement of jury trial

in all criminal contempt proceed-

ings would jeopardize normal goy-

ernmental operation in various

important fields-for example,

labor relations, communications,

and pure food and drugs. And

if such requirement were limited

to vote-protection, it would be

more than ever offensive, because

the fundamental right of a citizen

to vote would thus be condemned

to continue in lower status than

government policy in economic

matters.

"This is not the place to repeat

other technical arguments. But

our basic reasoning can be simply

stated: (1) Real access to the

ballot is the indispensable key to

many doors now locked against

equal protection of the laws. (2)

Some real success must be

achieved in the next attempt of

the federal government to carry

out its responsibility to protect

the voting rights of all the people

who are citizens of the United

States as well as of their several

states. (3) The vote-protection

- provisions of the bill in its pres-

ent Senate form would; if enact-

ed, lead to popular complacency

and to bitter disillusionment over

its actual ineffectiveness. (4) On

the other hand, refusal to enact

such a bad bill would be a neces-

sary shock contributing to the

creation of sufficient demand, in

the near future, for something

worth passing.

"Our people at home, and our

friends and enemies abroad, right-

ly judge the sincerity and suc-

cess of our free society and dem-

- ocratic government in plain and

simple terms. The plainest and

simplest obligation of a democ-

racy is real protection of the right

to vote without personal danger.

We have reached a moment in

history when nothing less than

such reality will count." :

Brief Attacks Use

Of Lie Detector

Evidence

The Kentucky Civil Liberties

Union has filed a friend of the

court brief calling for the rever-

sal of a conviction based on lie

detector evidence.

The brief said that failure to

reverse this decision would leave

the "continuing temptation for

prosecutors and trial judges to

resort to this easy and superfi-

cially appealing method of prose- -

cuting and trying criminal cases."

The defendant, Herman Col-

bert, was convicted of robbing a

liquor store in Louisville, Ky., on

February 4,-1956 and sentenced

to life imprisonment. The store.

keeper testified that he recog-

nized Colbert as one of the rob-

bers and that he later picked him

out of a police line-up. But the

basis for the conviction was ap-

parently the results of the lie -

detector test showing Colbert

"guilty."

The ACLU affiliate's

charged:

(1) Lie detector evidence is in-

herently too unreliable for use in

criminal trials; (2) Defendants

frequently think such tests are

infallible and agree innocently to

be bound by their findings as evi-

dence, contrary to public policy;

and (3) The defendant may have

been forced to take the lie detec-

tor test in this case, violating his

constitutional privilege against

self-incrimination.

"We think it is clear that the

use of such evidence is wrong in

principle . . . we think this court

should forbid the use of lie de-

tectors even for investigative

purposes without the subject's

consent,' the ACLU brief as-

serted.

The document was filed in the

Court of Appeals of Kentucky,

the state's highest court.

In an appendix, the brief lists

thirty-one court decisions from

seventeen states disapproving

use of lie detector evidence.

brief

Helen Salz

Philip Adams

Theodore Baer

Prof. James R. Caldwell

William K. Coblentz

Rabbi Alvin |. Fine

John M. Fowle

Laurent B. Frantz

`Howard Friedman

Rev. Oscar F. Green

Zora Cheever Gross

Alice G. Heyneman

J. Richard Johnston

Prof. Van D. Kennedy

Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union

of Northern California

CHAIRMAN: Prof. John Henry Merryman

VICE-CHAIRMEN: Dr. Alexander Meiklejhon

SECRETARY-TREASURER: William M. Roth

t1ONORARY TREASURER: Joseph M. Thompson

HONORARY MEMBER: Sara Bard Field

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Ernest Besig

Prof. Theodore J. Kreps |

Rev. F. Danford Lion

Seaton W. Manning

Dr. John Henry Merryman

Rev. Robert W. Moon -

Rt. Rev. Edward L. Parsons

Clarence E. Rust

Theodosia B. Stewart

Stephen Thiermann

GENERAL COUNSEL

Wayne M. Collins

STAFF COUNSEL

Albert M. Bendich -

Brief Notes

A

No August "News"

Because of personnel changes,

coupled with vacations, the

"News" omitted publication of its

August issue.

23rd Anniversary

On September 15 the. ACLU of

Northern California will cele-

brate its 23rd anniversary. Dr.

Alexander Meiklejohn and Helen

Salz are the sole survivors of the

original Board of Directors.

Annual Meeting

`The annual membership meet-

ing of the ACLU of Northern

California will be held some time

in October. A definite announce-

ment will appear in the October

"News."

Weigel Volunteers

Stanley A. Weigel, distinguished

San Francisco attorney and a

member of the Union's National

Committee, is now handling the

appeals in the local church tax

exemption loyalty oath cases as a

volunteer attorney. Appeals of

the San Leandro Methodist

Church and the First Unitarian

Church of Berkeley are pending

before the U. S. Supreme Court.

Weigel will be remembered as

successful counsel for the non-

signers in the University of Cali-

fornia loyalty oath controversy.

Two similar Southern Califor-

nia church cases, also under AC-

LU_ sponsorship, are likewise

pending before the U. S. Supreme

Court. Two local veterans' tax

exemption loyalty oath cases,

also on appeal to the U. S. Su-

preme Court, will continue to be

handled for the ACLU by Law-

- rence Speiser, the Union's for-

mer staff counsel.

Malin Visit

Patrick M. Malin, the Union's

national director, stopped off in

San Francisco on July 23, in the

course of a Pacific Coast trip, and

met with available members of

the local board of directors at

the Press and Union League Club

the following noon.

$200 Marin Donation

The lively Marin Chapter of the

ACLU recently contributed $200

to the branch treasury. The

money represents the profit from

the Norman Thomas meeting held

at the Kent Estate last May 28.

Peiping Calling

On July 11, L. J. Clarke, libra-

rian of the San Francisco Public

Library, advised the ACLU that

"After due deliberation, the Li-

brary Commission of the San

Francisco Public Library have

agreed to accept the material re-

ceived from Peiping, China, and

to include it in the collection of

this library." The unsolicited

shipment had been withheld from

the public for one year, while the -

Library sought to determine

whether the material was "sub-

versive.' The matter was re-

vealed last May in the reports of

the California Un-American Ac-

tivities Committee. It congratu-

lated the library board and libra-

rian "for having been so alert in

this instance." ,The Library re-

ceived many protests, including

one from the ACLU.

Honorary Degree

Last month Prof. Theodore J.

Kreps of Stanford University and

a member of the Union's local

board of directors, received an

honorary LL.D. degree from the

University of Colorado. Follow-

ing a speaking trip, he will re-

turn home on October 1.

Malin on KPFA

FM Station KPFA in Berkeley

(94.1) will carry Byron Bryant's

tape-recorded interview of Pat-

rick M, Malin, ACLU national ex-

ecutive director, on two occasions

in September. The first broadcast

is at 8:45 p.m. on Monday evening,

September 2, while the second

broadcast will take place Satur-

day, September 14, at 7 p.m.

Damage

Suits

Filed In 2. `Wag'

Arrest Cases

The ACLU campaign against

unlawful vagrancy arrests in San

Francisco culminated last July in

the filing of two damage suits

against San Francisco police offi-

cers for alleged false arrests.

Williams Case

In the first case Alex Williams,

now a student, who lives at 527

Third Street, was arrested last

December 4 by Police Officer Da-

vid Dillon, who was dressed in

plain clothes, as he was leaving

a restaurant early in the morning

on his way to work. The com-

plaint alleges that Williams "was

acting in a quiet, peaceable and

law-abiding manner, and he had

not committed any offense, either

a misdemeanor or felony, in or

out of the presence of the offi-

cer.

Williams was taken to the

Southern Station and booked as

a "$1000 Vag." After spending

the night in jail he was taken be-

fore the Municipal Court in the

morning, where the District At-

torney dismissed the complaint

for lack of evidence. He seeks

$20,000 in damages against the

pole.

Himphill Case

The second case arose early in

the morning of last April 1,

when Garfield L. Himphill, a U.

S. mail clerk, who lives at 924

Fulton Street, was walking along

Market Street in San Francisco .

with a companion. An automobile

drew up alongside of them and

two men in plain clothes got: out

and searched the pair. Without

explanation, they were put into

the car and driven to a police

station, and later transferred to

the City Prison.

After being held a couple of

hours, Himphill was finally al-

lowed to call a bail bondsman,

who informed him that he was

being held on vagrancy charges.

The bondsman posted a $100 bond

which cost Himphill $20.

Lack of Evidence

When Himphill appeared for

arraignment in the Municipal

Court, the District Attorney

moved to have the complaint dis-

missed for lack of evidence. The

complaint against his companion,

who had not made bail, was also

dismissed. Himphill lost half a

day's pay because of his court ap-

pearance.

The named defendants in the

$10,000 suit are officers N. Pedri-

ni and W. Brazil, besides Francis

J. Ahern, Chief of Police.

The complaints in both suits

were prepared by volunteer AC-

LU Attorney Mrs. Fay Stender of

Berkeley.

2

ACLU Opposes State

Department Plan for Press

The American Civil Liberties

Union has expressed its disagree-

ment with the compromise for-

mula suggested by Secretary of

State Dulles to allow some Amer-

ican reporters to enter Commu-

nist China. ;

The Union's views were trans-

mitted in a letter to Secretary

Dulles:

"While we welcome the Depart-

ment of State's willingness to de-

part from its previous adamant

policy of barring all travel by

American reporters to Commu-

nist China, we do not agree with

the compromise formula," the

civil liberties spokesman wrote.

"The limited coverage suggest-

Ask Probe of

Marine Corps

Brutality Charges

The American Civil Liberties

Union has called for a Congres-

sional investigation of sworn

charges by a large group of for--

mer Marines that brutal training

tactics were a widespread prac-

tice at the Marine Corps Parris

Island base. /

The civil liberties organization

released a special report based

on the sworn statements of 124

ex-Marines stationed at the base

from January 1 to May 1, 1956.

The report said that `an over-

whelming majority" of the for-

mer recruits swore that instances

of maltreatment by Marine drill

instructors "were a daily sight at

Parris Island." The statement

came from men who were all dis-

charged under honorable condi-

tions and were made in reply to

a. questionnaire circulated by

Mrs. Alma Coughlin of Alexan-

dria, Va. Mrs. Coughlin is the

mother of Jerry L. Thomas, one

of the six Marine recruits who

died on April 8, 1956 on the

night march into the Parris Is-

land swamp ordered by Sergeant

Matthew McKeon. .

The Union's request for a Con-

gressional inquiry was contained

in a letter sent with the report to

the House and Senate Armed

Services Committees and other

members of Congress. The letter

was signed by Ernest Angell,

ACLU Board chairman; Judge J. .

Waties Waring, chairman of the

" ed means, in effect, that the De-

partment still retains the power

to restrict reporters who may

wish to visit Communist China

and thus denies to their publica-

tions and their readers the news

these correspondents collect. The

Department may not be pursuing

a policy of favoritism... , but the

practical implementation of your

plan would be to favor one re-

porter or publication over others.

The spirit of the First Amend-

- ment guarantee of press freedom

would certainly seem to exclude

any such arrangement," Malin

continued. "In this connection,

we are delighted to note the first

reaction of the newspaper and

radio-tv officials..., that no re-

strictions short of military neces-

sity should be placed on news-

men's right to travel."

The ACLU letter emphasized

that the controversy over the ad-

mission of American reporters to

Communist China should not be

regarded only as a fight for free-

dom of the press, but also in-

volves "the principle of individu-

al freedom of movement.

"This principle has been clear-

ly woven into our fabric of hu-

`man liberty, a principle which

our courts have growingly recog- ~

nized. This is a key point in the

William Worthy passport case

and we intend to press this issue

in order to obtain a clear-cut rul-

ing that freedom of individual

travel is a civil liberty which may

not be whittled down or with-

drawn by government edict."

ACLU's Due _ Process-Equality

Committee; and Patrick Murphy

Malin, the ACLU's executive di-

rector.

The letter asserted that the

ACLU concluded on the basis of

the sworn statements that "whol-

ly undemocratic and unnecessa-

-rily brutal and cruel training tac-

tics were practiced" at the base.

It' added that despite the previ-

ous Congressional testimony of

Marine Commandant General

Randolph McCall Pate that

abuses in training procedures

have been corrected, "there is

need for a full and open airing

of these conditions". . .

ACLU NEWS

September, 1957

Page 3

After further study, the American Civil Liberties Union

has reversed its stand on asking anyone questions about his

religion or religious affiliation in the 1960 official census.

Last summer the Union had strongly opposed the inclusion

_ of questions concerning attendance at church or synagogue

and belief in God, but did not

object to the proposed question

`about religious affilation. The

civil liberties group asserted

then, "If it is a reasonable use of

government money and man-

power to determine the number

of persons in a family who attend

school, or to discover how many

Americans own refrigerators, it

would seem equally proper to de-

termine the extent of church

membership."

Further Study

However, after further study

and discussion by the Union's

Board of Directors, the ACLU

now feels it would be contrary

to the First Amendment to ask

anyone questions about religion

or membership in a religious

body. The ACLU's new position

was explained in a letter from

Louis Joughin, assistant director,

to Robert W. Burgess, director of

the Bureau of the Census.

The ACLU pointed out that as

the census law now stands, re-

fusal to answer any question is

punishable by fine or imprison-

ment. However, the ACLU con-

tinued, even if the law is changed 0x00B0

to make the response voluntary,

it would still include a constitu-

tional abridgment.

Reasons for Position

Given as the reasons for the

ACLU position were the First

Amendment provisions that

"Cofigress shall make no law ..

prohibiting the free exercise .

af religion; and (2) eee

shall make no law respecting the

establishment of religion . .."

With respect to the first pro-

vision, the ACLU said even a

"factual inquiry, when made by "

a government official, might for

some persons under some cir-

cumstances be an infringement

upon the freedom (of religion)."

In the second case, the ACLU

explained, assembling of infor-

mation about religious beliefs

would aid "some or all religious -

bodies and thus breach the `wall

of separation' between church.

and state."

The ACLU letter concluded

that the group's "only concern

. is with the constitutional lim-

its upon the exercise of, govern-

ment authority. The government

should of course not be hostile

to religion or to religious bodies

and we have no such feeling our-

selves."

Census Bureau Reply

| The Census Bureau` director

_ has replied to the ACLU, empha-

sizing that the question about re:

ligion would not be included to

aid religious bodies but to pro-

vide general information of use

to non-religious groups. "Actu-

ally," Burgess wrote, "we have

had requests for the inclusion of

information on religion from

The first right of a citizen

Is the right

To be responsible.

many groups, including business,

social welfare, education, re-

search, housing and planning

groups, and have reason to be-

lieve that this information would

be widely used. In view of the

`prospective wide use, I think that

these data are not in a category

different from that of other data

- which we publish and which are

' intensively used by religious or-

ganizations.

_ "The fact that the basic census

law provides for a census of re-

ligious bodies seems to indicate

that the Congress for a long time

has favored the provision of some

information in this general

area."

"Voluntary Answer"

In a response to this comment,

the ACLU noted that while the

basic census law provides for a

census of religious bodies, an-

other section of the same law

"recognizes that such question-

ing, even of religious bodies, may

invdlve an unconstitutional eva-

sion, by providing for a volunta-

ry answer. And the questioning

of individuals is even more trou-

blesome."

The ACLU soiiod its view

that the mere asking of the ques-

tion about religion by any gov-

ernment official is a contradic-

tion of the First Amendment,

and "In such a contradiction it is .

not the use or usefulness of re-

plies about. individual belief or

church body membership which

is the heart of the matter, but

the right of the government even

to inquire for however good a

purpose."

Anti-Censorship

Gains Scored

In Michigan

Book publishers have won sig-

nificant victories over official

pre-censorship activities in two

Michigan communities.

in St Clair' (Bort Huron)

County, the prosecutor has been

enjoined permanently from fur-

ther ordering wholesalers of pa-

perbound books to refuse to sell

any volume `on the "disapproved

list" of the National Organization

for Decent Literature.

In Detroit, the police commis-

- sioner has agreed to discontinue

his department's six-year prac-

tice of censoring paperbound

books and magazines before their

distribution, according to a pub-

lisher's attorney.

St. Clair Prosecutor Wilbur V.

Hamm agreed to an injunction at

a pre-trial hearing before Fed-

eral Judge Thomas P. Thornton

in Detroit.

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ditor...

Sherwood Case

Editor:

I was William Sherwood's

friend and attorney. I therefore.

read with more than ordinary in-

terest the comments`of Malcolm

W. Roemer on Sherwood's un-

timely death (ACLU News, July,

1957).

Mr. Roemer, it is clear from his

letter, is no common mortal, sub-

ject to human frailties. From a

godlike eminence he gazes with

disdain upon the travail of per-

sons like William Sherwood who,

because of "cowardice," `"infantil-

ism" and "morbid egocentricity,"

traits foreign to the nature of Mr.

Roemer, falter beneath the at-

tack of the Un-American Activi-

ties Committee. Being myself-

unlike Mr. Roemer- uncertain

how I would react to strain of the

kind to which Sherwood was sub-

jected, I can only envy the seren-

ity with which Mr. Roemer con-

templates the fate of lesser men

than he.

Equally compelling of admira-

tion is Mr. Roemer's swift and.

confident psychological evalua-

tion of Sherwood, an evaluation

which, since it is `independent of

knowledge of the deceased or of

his circumstances, reflects a qual-

ity of insight far above the aver-

age.

Standing in the shadow cast by

a person with such extraordinary |

attributes, it is with diffidence

that I venture an estimate based

on nothing more than close ac-

quaintance with Sherwood, his

life and his work. Sherwood was

no coward, but a man of courage

and great sensitivity. He be

lieved sincerely that (as he said

in his undelivered statement to

the Committee):

"Because of the pattern cre-

ated by the Un-American Activ-

ities Committee...no one can

` do scientific work in the Unit-

ed States today without becom-

ing enmeshed in the deadly

web of `loyalty' oaths and other

tests of political reliability."

He, died convinced that the.

limelight of the Committee meant

the end of his beloved scientific

work.

That Sherwood overestimated

the disastrous effect on his ca-

reer of the Committee's televised

spectacular must, I think, be con-

ceded. Had he lived another 480x00B0

hours he might have received sav-

ing reassurance from the Su-

preme Court's Watkins and Swee-

zy decisions. But an error in

judgment, committed under tre-

mendous emotional stress, is not

cowardice, although it may be in-

comprehensible to one who, like

Mr. Roemer, prides himself on

freedom from "incongruence of

word and action" and other forms

of merely human fallibility.

Mr. Roemer, guessing shrewd-

ly at the limitations of Sher-

wood's a capabilities, puts

i

the word "brilliant" in quota-

tion marks. Others, qualified by

scientific eminence and knowl-

edge of Sherwood's contributions,

considered him one of the most

promising workers in the increas-

ingly important field of the bio-

chemistry of schizophrenia and

cancer, that strangely coupled

pair of mental and physical oppo-

sites. Whether Mr. Roemer or

the scientists who worked. with

Sherwood are right will be deter-

mined by(R) Time, which will also,

I trust, lessen the sorrow of those

who loved Bill Sherwood and

mourn his loss to humanity.-

Bertram Edises.

Finance Commitee

Editor:

As a faithful reader of the

News, I was distressed to find

some quite inaccurate specula-

tions about the Joint Finance

`Committee in the June article

headed "Washington ACLU De-

Integrates." As Chairman of that

committee, I would like to try to

set the record straight; but I

should make it clear that this let-

ter expresses my personal views.

-I have not consulted with the

other members of the committee.

I suspect that, when I circulate

your article to them, they will be

as astonished as I was to read

that the committee is "controlled |

by the national office."

Your explanation of this con-

clusion was as follows:

"While the three representa-

tives of the national office on

this committee are in common

agreement, the three persons

- representing the small, medium

_ sized and large affiliates, re-

spectively, do not have common

problems and do not see eye to

eye. -As a result, the commit-

tee is controlled by, the nation-

al organization."

These are plausible guesses;

but they lack foundation in fact.

First, there are three representa-

tives of the national board on

the committee. One of them, the

writer, is also chairman of an

affiliate board, and has made af-

filiate relationships one of his

major concerns on the national

board. The other two national

board members are strong-mind-

ed persons of great experience.

The three affiliate representa-

tives are equally vigorous in their

views. While the six of us often

"do not see eye to eye" in discus-

sion, we have achieved remark-

able agreement in our conclu-

sions. On reviewing the five re-

ports that the committee has

made, I find that there has been

only one negative vote of impor-

tance; that was by an affiliate

representative, in an interim re-

port of January 17, 1957; and he

concurred in the subsequent fi-

nal report of January 25.

Of course the affiliate repre-

sentatives strive to present the

views of the various groups of af-

filiates; but I think it is fair to

say that all the members of the

committe feel that they have a

special responsibility toward the

whole organization.

If your article meant to convey

that the committee is controlled

by the national staff, as distinct

from the national board of direc-

tors, this is also an inaccurate

speculation. Of course, the com-

mittee invites the recommenda-

tions of the national executive;

but it does not always. follow

them. There have been others

since. However, the national of-

fice staff has cheerfully acqui-

esced in every major decision of

the committee as approved by the

national board. ;

I would like to comment also

on some of the substantive rec-

ommendations of the committee,

since your article may have given

-a misleading impression about

`them;, but I will conclude with

the observation that all the mem-

bers of the committee are aware

that much needs'to be done to

put national-affiliate finances on

a stable basis, and that it wel-

comes advice and comment. It

has been a hard-working and con-

scientious group, and deserves at

least to have its recommendations

fairly reported. - Ralph S. Brown,

Jr.

Editor's Note: The com-

ments about the Joint Finance

Committee were not based on

"speculations" but on informa-

tion received from other affil-

iates.

Idaho Adopts

Anti-Comic Bill

The Idaho legislature has

passed and the state's governor

has signed an anti-comic book

bill despite warnings from many

attorneys that it is "plainly un-

constitutional". Both senators

and representatives voted over-

whelmingly in favor of the

measure.

Under the bill's terms, persons

or firms may be fined and im-

prisoned for selling to minors or

distributing or possessing "pub-

lieations, specifically including

but not limited to comic books,

which are devoted to crime, ter-

ror, physical violence or flagrant

flouting of sex. :

"Tt is found," the bill states,

"that such publications are a con-

tribtting factor to juvenile crime

and a basic factor in impairing

the ethical and moral develop- .

ment of our youth."

The law makes clear, however,

that it does not apply "to those

pictures or factual accounts of

crime, terror, physical violence,

or flagrant flouting of sex which

are part of the ordinary and gen-

eral dissemination of news, nor

to legitimate historical accounts

of crime or crimes". -

Water Hole Wins Court E

On San Francisco Police Harassment

The proprietors of a "water

hole" in San Francisco's Tender-

loin district were granted a pre-

liminary injunction against police

harassment last month.

Superior Judge John B. Moli-

nari signed an order directing

Police Chief Frank Ahern and his

men not to harass the 50-42 Ma-

son Club, owned by Ray and Betty

Jean Jacob, or to blacken its rep-

utation.

Non-Alcoholic Drinks

"Water holes,' so called be-

cause they serve only non-alco-

holic drinks, have been a special

target of Chief Ahern since

around the first of the year. He

said he had received complaints

that patrons at such establish-

ments had been fleeced by B-girls,

and he vowed to Dut them out of

business.

Ahern's fecumiame was to place

two uniformed officers at the

door of every water hole. If pa-

trons had the courage to brave

these officers they were stopped

and warned that the establish-

ment sold only non-alcoholic bev-

0x00B0

erages and that it was a

joint."

Patrons "Vagged"

If the person nevertheless en-

tered, an officer would later re-

quest his identification and take

down his name and address. Some-

times patrons were "vagged" or

arrested as drunks. Some `of those

arrested would be taken around

the corner and released.

Ernest Besig, local director of

the ACLU, investigated the mat-

ter and was subjected to police

questioning. A protest to Chief

Ahern fell on deaf ears.

Police Ridicule Forbidden

Among other things, Molinari's

"gyp

injunction forbids policemen to

ridicule customers for spending

money at the Club, to advise cus-

tomers "they are being gyped" or

that the Jacob's employees "are

ex-convicts or prostitutes," or to

advise customers in the street

they might get arrested if they

go inside. While policemen may

still inspect the establishment,

they may remain no "longer than

their duties reasonably require."

Acting Police Chief Thomas

Cahill claimed the injunction ap-

plies to a situation that no longer ~

exists. "We had trouble there last

spring and special men were as-

signed to the so-called `water

holes'," he said. `Now officers

only make passing calls there."

Mid-Town Has Troubles

That is not true at the Mid-

Town "water hole," 105 Third

St. For months now two police

officers have been stationed on

the premises during the entire

time it is open, according to Eliz-

abeth Brookfield, the present pro-

prietor. ACLU investigation con-

firmed Miss Brookfield's claim,

at least on the occasion the prem-

ises were Visited. Miss Brookfield

may seek an injunction against

the police.

Last December there were 16

"water holes" in San Francisco.

Lawless police action has reduced

their number to two.

ACLU NEWS

September, 1957

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