vol. 7, no. 7

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“Eternal is the price of liberty.”


Vol. VII SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, JULY, 1942 No. 7


3 EVACUATION TEST CASES


Union Intervenes In San Francisco, Portland and Seattle Prosecutions:


Constitutional issues raised by the evacuation of Japanese-Americans from the Pacific Coast will be determined in three separate cases pending in the federal courts in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, respectively. The A.C.L.U.-has appeared in all three cases and will shortly file a fourth case in Los Angeles. A fifth case is reported in preparation in San Francisco by an attorney for certain Japanese-Americans now located in -a relocation center.


San Francisco Case


The San Francisco case involves 23-yearold Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu, who failed to evacuate from San Leandro on May 9. Korematsu was born in Oakland and graduated from the local high school. He worked in his families’ nursery after completing his schooling, and, when the draft came along, he was rejected as physically unfit because of stomach ulcers. Thereafter, in order to participate in the war effort, he trained himself to be a welder and worked in a shipyard until the Boiler Makers’ Union cancelled his membership because of his race. At the time he was arrested, he held a welding job in Berkeley.


There is no question of Korematsu’s loyalty to the United States. He cannot read or write Japanese and has a poor speaking knowledge of the language. He has never been outside the country and does NOT hold dual citizenship.


Romance Behind It


Romance was the cause of his present difficulties. General DeWitt’s evacuation order disrupted plans he had made to be married to a Caucasian girl. Fearing the reported opposition to Japanese in some of the Eastern states, he decided to remain here and hoped to escape detection by having a plastic operation performed on the bridge of his nose and by changing his name. These measures proved unavailing and he was arrested by the F.B.I. on May 30, placed in the San Francisco county jail, and charged with remaining in a military area from which all Japanese had been ordered to evacuate by May 9. The court set bail at $1000, which was posted by the A.C.L.U. on June 17.


Right to Bail Nullified


Although the bail was provided, Korematsu never was at liberty following his arrest. When an order for his release was served on the county jailer, the latter immediately telephoned the Military Police. Without warrants of any kind, and merely explaining that they had orders to take Korematsu into custody, a couple of Military Police transported him to the Tanforan Assembly Center. The practical effect of this action was to deny Korematsu his constitutional right to bail. Judge Welsh subsequently sanctioned this action and refused to release the bail, despite the fact that the defendant was in the hands of the Government. Instead, the bail was raised to $2500 when Korematsu declined to sign the useless bail bond. The unsigned bond was exonerated, and the defendant was ordered into the custody of the United States Marshal and again placed in the county jail. :


Will Be Argued July 13


A.C.L.U. attorneys have filed a demurrer which will be argued on July 13. The de- murrer not only attacks the constitutionality of the various orders, but also chal- lenges as ‘“‘uncertain and indefinite” the penal statute under which Korematsu was (Continued on Page 8, Col. 1)


THE WOLF AT THE DOOR!


Needless to say, the Japanese evacuation test case undertaken by the local branch of the Union will entail a severe drain on our reserve funds. It is not the practice of the Union to make special appeals for funds, and no special appeal will be sent to our membership at this time. Nevertheless, if there are any who want to contribute toward the expenses of this case, ANY CONTRIBUTION, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, WILL BE WELCOMED!


“RUGG-BEATING” TRIED IN SAN FRANCISCO BY PATRIOTEERS


“Rugg-beating’” came to San Francisco last month when patrioteers, led by the American Legion, Sons of the American Revolution, the Public Welfare Council, and the Pacific Advertising Association, demanded that six books, allegedly subversive, written by Prof. Harold Rugg of Columbia University, be removed from the schools. They have been in use here, from the seventh to the ninth grades, almost 20 years.


The matter is before the Board of Education on a recommendation by the Su- perintendent of Schools that the use of the books be discontinued. Labor and liberal groups have opposed the attempt of the patrioteers to dictate what books shall be used in the schools. They insist that a question of that kind should be decided by edu- cators. It is reported that the issue may be referred to a special committee represent- ing educators and the public.


A.C.L.U. Notes | Progress In Handling Conscientious Objectors


Conflicts between conscientious objectors and the draft law have been considerably lessened recently, following changes in policy, it is noted in a circular from the Committee on Conscientious Objectors of the American Civil Liberties Union to in- terested organizations.


The Committee’s report listed the following favorable developments: (1) In the cases of pacifists in the 45-64 age group who refused to register, the government has announced that no such men would be © prosecuted for non-registration whether they identified themselves or not; (2) In the cases of men not recognized as con- scientious objectors and who refuse to answer induction notices, the Department of Justice has recently moved to place these men, upon conviction and wher willing, directly in Civilian Public Service Camps; (8) The system of reviews on appeal to the President has been greatly improved; (4) Men in the Civilian Public Service Camps are being released in groups for more active service in. public health, forest fire fighting and farming; (5) The special paroles for imprisoned conscientious objectors have been speeded up. The Committee notes a few remaining difficulties for which solutions are offered.


WPA PURGES ALLEGED RADICALS FROM | S. F. WRITERS PROJECT


Several persons have recently been dismissed from the ranks of the Writers Project in San Francisco because of alleged radicalism. These are the first WPA radical cases to come to our attention since Congress enacted a law in 1941 (re-enacted in 1942) prohibiting employment of aliens, Communists and members of any Nazi Bund organization. Under that law, an affidavit denying Communist or Bund connections was required of every person working on the WPA.


In effect, then, the present dismissals amount to a charge of perjury against the people involved. They are based on reports made by special investigators of the WPA who examined the several persons affected. Just what is contained in each report is not known.


All of the persons involved deny that they are Communists or Bundists. At least two of them have requested that they be furnished a copy of the charges filed against them, and that they be allowed a hearing at which they may have an opportunity to present evidence to controvert the charges. The requests for the hearings have been filed with Mr. William R. Lawson, State Administrator of the WPA.


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Union Reports On “The Bill of Rights In War"


Reviewing the state of civil liberties in war-time in its-annual report entitled, “The Bill of Rights In Wav’, issued on June 27, the A.C.L.U. cites what it calls “a remark- able war-time tolerance in the early months of the war” first broken by the “mounting “apprehension on the Pacific Coast over posgible sabotage by the Japanese population, aliens and citizens alike.” Concerning the ‘removal of the Japanese population, the re- port says that “no such invasion of the liberties of American citizens on the basis of ‘racial origin has ever before been undertaken in war or peace; and it is to be ex- “plained only by the sectional fears and ‘prejudices arising out of the extraordinary circumstances of the war’’.


First Sedition Prosecutions


‘The second tendency to’ break the “on ‘usual war-time tolerance’ came with a ‘sharp shift in government policy in March “as the result of “a national wave of hostility ... against any influence regarded as sympathetic with the enemy or opposed to the war”. The Union cites as the result the first sedition prosecutions authorized by Attorney General Biddle and the action of the Post Office Department against five publications alleged to violate the Espionage Act “


The Union then comments: ‘How far the “policy of the federal government, as rep- ‘resented by these cases, threatens to: de“velop into the type of prosecutions which “were so generally condemned in World “War I, is of course impossible to forecast. ‘But considering the fact that the opposition to the war is so slight, and the Ad- ministration so liberally inclined, it seems . unlikelv that repressive measures will be generally invoked.”


«The report pointed to “heartening. evi“dence of the administration’s determination - to resist pressures to curb civil rights” as -* shown in “‘its' refusal to approve any compulsory restraints on the rights of labor, with the consequent defeat of all anti-labor © “pills in Congress; in the reasonable applicatien of the censorship codes affecting the » press and radio; in the encouragement of . Measures to minimize race prejudice in de--fense industries; and in the prosecutions by Department of Justice of violators of min— ority rights, notably those of Negroes. and “ Jehovah’s Witnesses.”


The Public’s Attitude.


Summarizing the public attitude toward “civil liberties, the A.C.L.U. asserts it “‘con- tinues on the whole favorable to criticism “of the conduct of the war, to the discussion of war and peace aims, and to the rights of minorities. Hostility is expressed of course to influences construed as favorable to the enemy; and a tendency has grown to so construe anti-British sentiment, and to less “degree anti-Semitism and anti-Communism. “Former isolationist leaders and publications, however, vigorous in support of the “war, tend to be suspect and their motives attacked when they are critical. But no ap“preciable demand for repression is heard -from any influential quarter, though the public is in a mood to accept without ques tion any repressive move by the govern"Surveying the issues decided by the U.S Supreme Court, the summary found that the “record for the year on the whole constituted a setback to civil liberties.”


Pe Record of Congress


Examining the record of Congress, the report found that “no legislation hostile to. civil liberties passed, though much was threatened, chiefly directed against labor -- and aliens. Nor was any legislation extending civil liberties adopted.” The report criticized the activities of the Dies Committee as being ‘‘adverse to civil liberties, since S the Committee’s hostilities to liberalism . tends to encourage repressive measures and so has already resulted directly or indirectly in the discharge of many federal employees


will alleged ‘subversive’-—meaning Communist—connections.


“Witnesses”? Chief Victims


Other items noted in the tendencies of the year were the comparatively few cases


Honorable Discharge Sought For C. O. Held By Army


Last year the Civil Liberties Union intervened successfully in the case of Archie Gallatin, San Diego school teacher and conscientious objector, who was court-mar- tialed for refusing ‘‘to put on his uniform and fall out to help clean the barracks for inspection.” Gallatin’s local draft board had classified him as non-combatant (1-AO), but refused to recognize his claim to work of national importance under civilian direction. Once the matter was investigated by the Selective Service System, Gal- latin, in due course, was given an honorable discharge from the Army.


Now, a similar case has arisen involving one Morris C. Graves of Seattle. Graves is about 32-years of age, stands six feet four inches, and, according to ““Time”’ magazine for February 2, 1942, is a very capable young artist. Indeed, an exhibition of his— pictures will appear at the San Francisco Museum beginning July 8. As might be expected, Mr. Graves’ painting has kept him more or less divorced from . many of the problems of every-day living. He has been doing his work in a cabin in the woods and has neglected to inform himself about draft law procedures. Nevertheless, he registered as a conscientious objector and his Board recognized his claims, except that they classified him as a noncombatant: Unfortunately, the notice of classification never reached Mr. Graves— . possibly it went astray in the mails. Consequently, no appeal was taken from the Board’s ruling in the time allowed by the regulations. Since Mr. Graves refused to place himself under Army orders, a difficult situation has been created.


Mr. Graves expected his board to call him for a hearing, and they had asstred him he would be given such a hearing. The Board had numerous opportunities to advise Mr. Graves of his rights, and the way to exert them, but it never troubled itself to do so. After all, the average draft board is not particularly friendly or helpful to conscientious objectors.


Mr. Graves did receive his ‘Induction Notice” and appeared at the proper place thinking that he was going to receive a physical examination before being granted a hearing. Finally discovering what it was all about, he refused to take the oath of induction, left the building, returned to his home and telephoned his draft board clerk as to where he could be found. Thus in‘formed, the Military Police had no trouble picking him up that evening and took him to Fort Lewis. There he received numerous ineffective pep talks from officers and chaplains. But, at the first opportunity he took ‘‘French leave” from the camp. At the instance of his attorney, however, he surrendered at Fort Lewis with the understanding that a writ of habeas corpus would, in due course, be sought to test the legal issues involved in his case. While his attorney was being assured that he. was getting along fine at Camp Lewis, he’‘was already on his way, under guard, to Camp Roberts in California.


At Berkeley, while his escort was playing penny ante, he stepped from the train and came to San Francisco. Following a brief illness, he reported his difficulties to the Civil Liberties Union where it was suggested that he first surrender to the military and that an appeal then be made to the Selective Service System for an honorable discharge from the Army, and reclassification by his board as a conscientious objector to perform work of national importance under civilian direction.


Mr. Graves surrendered himself at Camp Lewis and was again transferred to Camp Roberts, this time without escort. It is anticipated that he will refuse to obey orders and consequently be court-martialed as in the Gallatin case. In the meantime, a summary of the case has been submitted to the Selective Service System with a request for an immediate investigation. The matter has also been ‘called to the attention of the National Service Board for Religious Objectors, which has agreed to cooperate in seeking a solution of the problem.


SUPREME COURT RULES DEFENSE COUNSEL NOT OBLIGATORY


Smith Betts, of Baltimore, Md., serving a seven-year sentence for robbery, lost an ap- peal to the U. S. Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that he had no counsel at the time of his conviction. The Baltimore judge had ruled that he would grant counsel to indigents only in the case of rape or murder.


The Maryland Civil Liberties Committce of the American Civil Liberties Union carried the case to the high court, maintaining that the conviction was a violation of the Fourteenth. Amendment.


ASHER’S X-RAY LOSES SECONDCLASS MAILING PRIVILEGES


Meeting the same fate as the Philadelphia “Herold” and ‘Social Justice,’ under the war-time Espionage Act, the weekly newspaper, “X-Ray,” published in Muncie, Ind., by Court Asher, last month was deprived of its second-class mail permit by Postmaster General Frank C. Walker.


Mr. Walker upheld government charges before a three-man hearing board that the publication engaged in a “sustained and systematic attack on the war effort and public morale.”


reported involving Communists, the many cases involving Jehovah’s Witnesses, ‘“‘the minority most subject to interference and. attack’”’, and the growing insistence of Ne- groes on their rights. The report commented that ‘‘cast upon the larger world stage of exploitation of the darker races in the colonies of the democracies, their cause | in the United States is taking on a new significance in the conduct and aims of the war’.


JUSTICE CARTER’S INTERVENTION ENDS ATTACKS ON “WITNESSES” | IN TEHAMA COUNTY


Through the intervention of Justice Jesse -W. Carter of the State Supreme Court, at- tacks upon Jehovah’s Witnesses in Tehama County have apparently been ended. Since last December repeated attacks have been made upon the Witnesses as they distributed literature in the town of Corning. The matter came to a head when Aleck Bangle sought to swear out a battery warrant against Henry Gumble.


No lower court judge would issue the warrant, and after the Grand Jury refused to proceed against the local Justice of the Peace for failing to perform his duty, the attacks upon the Witnesses were renewed. At this point Justice Carter wrote to Super- ior Court Judge Gans in Red Bluff. After an interchange of letters, Judge Gans got in touch with officials and local business men in Corning and demanded that attacks upon the Witnesses cease or there would be prosecutions.


The local district attorney, Claire Engle, also indicated that the rights of the Wit- nesses must be respected otherwise prosecutions would result. Since then, an inci- dent occurred on June 10 when a group of school children bombarded the Witnesses’ ears with rotten eggs. Although no harm was done, the matter was immediately called to the attention of Judge Gans and the Probation Officer was sent to Corning to apprehend the culprits and bring them before the Juvenile Court. While the children were never caught, there have been no more attacks upon the Witnesses. Justice Carter is of the opinion that the situation in Tehama County is now in hand and that there will be no further need for outside authorities to intervene.


Three Evacuation Test Cases


(Continued from Page 1, Gol. 2).


arrested. Enacted by Congress on March 21, 1942, the statute makes it a misde-meanor punishable by one year in prison, . $5000. fine, or both, to violate any restrictions of a military zone.


Intervention in the case was Hibhorced by the local Executive Committee of the A.C.L.U. at the June meeting with only one dissenting vote. Certain members who had previously opposed the initiation of a test case took the view that since the case had arisen it was our duty to intervene so long -as civil liberties issues were at stake. Cer tain others felt that while our intervention in the course of the evacuation would have been unwarranted, since the evacuation ‘was now an accomplished fact we ought to have the courts examine the constitutional issues in order to determine just where we stand.


Seattle and Portland Cases


In Seattle, Frank L. Walters, attorney for the Union, has asked for the dismissal of charges against Gordon Hirabayashi, 24-year-old senior at the University of Washington, who refused to obey the evacuation orders on the ground that it denies to thousands of American citizens of Japanese descent “‘on a wholesale basis without due process of law the civil liberties which are theirs.” Hirabayashi is reported to be a Quaker.


A separate test of the constitutionality of the West Coast curfew law is being made in the case of Minoru Yasui, a 25-year-old Japanese-American lawyer born in Hood River, Ore. The Union lent its support to Mr. Yasui after he walked in a Portland, Ore., police station and offered himself to the police in order to test the regulations. The Federal Court at Portland has asked law firms in the city to file briefs on the - constitutionality of the law, noting the grave issues involved.


EVACUATED JAPANESE VIRTUAL PRISONERS —


Any doubt that SAN Gncne evacuees from — the Pacific Coast would be treated as any- ‘thing else but. prisoners was removed on May 19 when General J. L. DeWitt issued -- an order (known. as Civilian Restrictive idee No. 1), providing, in part, as folOWS:


All persons of Japanese ancestry, both — -alien and non-alien, “are required to re- main within the bounds of Assembly Centers, Reception Centers or Relocation Cen-. ters at all times unless specifically authorized to leave...’ Anyone who fails to abide by the order is threatened with proseabide by the order is threatened ve prosecution.


Under Quaker auspices, some prodicion will apparently be made for college stu‘dents to attend Eastern universities, and evacuees will be released temporarily for - agricultural work. A move is also on foot by some of the churches for the resettlement of small groups and families outside of the Relocation Centers.


In the meantime, Senate opposition has developed against a bill by Senator Stewart (D., Tenn.) to place all Japanese in concentration camps for the duration of the tee.


PERSO NNEL. BOARD FILES ADDITIONAL CHARGES AGAINST ITS JAPANESE EMPLOYEES |


.. In Sacramento, the State Personnel Board has filed a supplementary complaint in its dismissal action against 88 civil service employees of Japanese descent. The supple- mentary complaint not only charges that the Japanese are not citizens of the United States, but that they are physically unable to perform any service to the state by rea- son of their evacuation by the Army. The Japanese are represented by James C. Purcell, San Francisco attorney.


'Page 3


"Supreme Court | Decision Whittles Down Freedom of the Press


-. The American Civil Uiberties Tien has requested the American Newspaper Publishers Association to join in seeking a rehearing of the Jehovah’s Witnesses case, in which the Supreme Court recently decided that municipalities have the right to tax canvassers who seek contributions while distributing pamphlets.


The Union pointed out to the newspapers that the high court opinion in the 5-4 deci- sion was a blow to freedom of the press and could have serious consequences. to the rights of all newspaper publishers. The “Times” Sees the Danger The New York Times, noting the issues involved, editorialized:


“If those of us who belong to the larger “groups do not defend the rights of persons with whom we disagree, and whom we may actually detest, we are confessing that we hold our own rights on sufferance, or by our numbers, or by our political or other power.


“Tt seems to us that the majority opinion in this instance lends itself to the whittling down of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of the press. To Chief Justice Stone, it seemed that ‘if the present taxes, laid in small communities upon peripatetic religious propagandists are to be sustained, a way has been found for the effective suppression of speech and press and religion despite constitutional guarantees.’ ”


Roger Baldwin, director of the A. C: L. U., announced that the Union would support the Witnesses in seeking a rehearing, and would also seek to enlist the American Bar Ae ee Commenting on the deci sion, the Union said:


“Under it any community can exact any license fee it desires for the distribution in public places of newspapers and periodicals. Previously the only licenses sustained by the courts have concerned newsstands sand the regulation of child labor by news- ‘boys.


Incapable of Fair Enforcement


“The decision, in making a distinction between the free distribution and sale of non- commercial literature on the streets and house-to-house, creates a situation incapable of fair enforcement by law, for the decision not only covered sales of literature ‘but also asking for contributions toward the cost of literature given away. One can imagine what the police will do in communities hostile to Jehovah’s Witnesses even if they seek to distribute their literature wholly free of charge. The police will maintain that contributions were. made even if that was not the fact in order to obstruct unpopular religious propaganda. “The Supreme Court three years ago laid down the wholesome principle that freedom of the press demands that literature should be freely distributed in public places and house-to-house without a license. The ‘court more recently restricted that freedom by setting up a distinction between noncommercial and commercial literature. The court has now gone further by permitting licenses for the sale of literature of any kind. Obviously the decision is so far-reaching that every effort to get a rehearing py the Ee Upeem Court is justified.’’


Officials Convicted For Compelling ‘Witnesses” to Drink Castor oil


law-enforcement officers of Nicholas County, W. Va., by a jury in the U. S. District Court sitting in Charleston, W. Va. The two defendants, Martin: Louis Catlett, deputy sheriff of Nicholas County, and Bert Stewart, chief of police of the county seat at Richwood, were found guilty of failing to protect the civil rights of a group of. ‘Witnesses and forcing them to drink large quantities of castor oil.


The government charged that on June 29, 1940, the two men wrongfully detained nine members of the religious sect in an office in the Richwood City Hall. Four of the group were forced to drink from 8 to 16 ounces of castor oil and were kept tied | by ropes for six -hours. Then the entire group was marched through the town to the corporate limits and set free. They were threatened with shooting if they returned.


Conviction was asked under the civil: rights statute, which provides" maximum - penalties of a year in prison, 30, a ane : war. The measure has been favorably reor both.


ported by the Senate Immigration Commit—


MAYOR TOBIN VETOES BOSTON ORDINANCE AGAINST OUTOF-TOWN PAPERS


———— Following the protests of: Leveual local organizations, including the Massachusetts Civil Liberties Union, Mayor Maurice J. Tobin last week sent to the Boston. City Council his veto of an ordinance taxing newsboys who sell out-of-state newspapers. The. Union held that the bill was clearly | discriminatory and a restricticn on the constitutional rights of the freedom. of the press. After a conference with his corpora tion counsel, Mayor Tobin agreed that the ity.


What are. pelieved to be ae “iftirat ho convictions for attacks on Jehovah’s Wit- nesses were returned recently against two ‘trial in the fall.


bill could not stand a test of constitutionalstatute as “the most sweeping law against


“THREE SUPREME COURT “JUSTICES CHANGE MINDS ON COMPULSORY > ; F HAG 2 BALUTING


. More ‘ah ate ayede. ago, Chief J ant was the only dissenter in the famous case of Minersville School District vs. Gobitis, which held that boards may expel from school children who, on religious grounds, refuse to salute the flag. Last month: Justices Black, Douglas and Murphy declared : the case had been wrongly decided. ' Asserting that the decision in the eceat freedom of the press case, requiring licenses of persons selling religious literature, “suppresses or tends to suppress the free exercise of a religion practiced by a minority,” the three justices declared, the decision is a logical extension of the principl upon which the flag salute case rested. Since we joined in the opinion in the Gobitis case,’ ’ said the three J ustices, “we think this is an appropriate occasion to state that we now believe that it was also wrongly de- cided. Certainly our democratic form of | government, functioning under the ethics, of the Bill of Rights, has a high responsibility to accommodate itself to the religious views of minorities, however » ERDOpUIS or VCS Ces their views may be.”


MISSISSIPPI GAG LAW TO BE: TESTED IN STATE SUPREME COURT —


An appeal from the decsion of: he: ‘Cir: cuit Court at Tupelo, Miss., has been filed with the State Supreme Gourt to make a second test of the constitutionality of the Mississippi law recently enacted ‘which penalizes anyone professing “doctrines or teaching detrimental to public safety.”


The Circuit Court recently convicted Mr. and Mrs. Otto Mills, two of the more than 50 Jehovah’s Witnesses charged with -v10| lating the new statute.


The American Civil Liberties Union announced recently that they would file a brief on behalf of the defendants as a friend of the court when the case comes up for The Union described the free speech in recent American Ae,


“Page 4


‘American Civil Liberties Unions News


‘Published monthly at 216 Pine Street, San Francisco, Calif., by the Northern California Branch of The “American Civil Liberties Union.


Phone: EXbrook 1816 ERNEST BESIG Editor Entered as second-class matter, July 31, 1941, at the Post Office at San Francisco, California, — under the Act of March 3, 1879. Subscription Rates—Seventy-five Cents a Year. ‘Ten Cents per Copy.


OPEN FORUM


Are We Hindering the War Effort?


In response to a correspondent’s criticism of the A. C..L. U.’s intervention in the Korematsu Japanese evacuation case, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Ernest Besig, local director of the Union, submitted the following answer to the editor:


Your correspondent, John Colby Harvey, of Santa Rosa, asks two questions in your issue for June 22nd: First, What is this American Civil Liberties Union?; and, Second, Is it trying to hinder the country from winning the war by defending a Japanese-American who is being prosecuted for failing to abide by the evacuation orders?


First: The Union is the only national nonpartisan organization that defends civil liberties for all without distinction.


Second: We think we are not hindering the prosecution of the war by affording counsel in a case where grave civil liberties issues are at stake. Under the law, the de- fendant is entitled to be represented by counsel just the same as anybody else.. If such counsel does his duty, he cannot fail to raise such constitutional questions. as usurpation of legislative power by the executive and the military, the denial of due process of law, and the interference with the right of the people to be secure in their persons against unreasonable seizures. .


Also, when the penal statute involved. in this case was adopted by the Senate, it was condemned by Senator Taft as “probably the ‘sloppiest’? criminal law I have eyer read or seen anywhere.” He felt the statute was defective because the misdemeanor it created is not defined with any certainty or definiteness. Certainly, if the law is bad, it should not be allowed to stand and the sooner we are rid of it the better.


‘The Military has accomplished its purpose and no Japanese are outside Assembly Centers and Relocation Projects in the prohibited areas. Since the evacuation is an.accomplished fact, and the legal issues cannot be decided by the United States Supreme Court for from one to two years, it eannot be said that the test cases in any way interfere with the necessary defense plans of the Military. Moreover, some good may result from having the constitutional questions determined by the courts. After that we'll know where we stand.


Finally, three test cases have arisen on the ‘West Coast: one in San Francisco, an- other in Seattle and a third in Portland. In the latter case, a Japanese-American law. yer walked into a police station and offered himself to the police in order to test the curfew regulations. The Federal Court at Portland has asked several law firms in the city (including A. C. L. U. attorneys) to — file briefs on the constitutionality of the law, noting the grave issues involved. Thus, in one instance at least, the courts them- selves have welcomed the assistance of competent lawyers in determining the con- stitutional issues raised by the evacuation of citizens of Japanese extraction—Ernest Besig, Director.


MASSACHUSETTS CIVIL LIBERTIES. UNION BACKS PACIFIST TEACHER


Protesting the action of the Turner Falls, Mass. School Committee in failing to re- elect Carl Walz as a teacher because he is a conscientious objector, the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts has demanded a hearing on his dismissal. The Union is acting on the ground that the action of the Committee was in direct violation of school statutes and the Federal — Service Age


“White Man’s °s Country” Urged ‘By Webb in Japanese Ballot Case


Former Attorney General U.S. Webb appeared before the U. S. District Court on June 26, and declared, “This is a white man’s country, and is yet a white man’s government, if the laws be properly construed.” This statement was made in the course of arguments heard by Judge St. Sure, in the American Legion’s attempt to disfranchise Japanese-American voters in San Francisco. If General Webb had substituted the term Aryan for “white race”’ throughout his argument, it would have sounded exactly like a page out of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”’


General Webb admitted that under the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Wong Kim Ark, decided 44 years ago, persons of Japanese extraction, born in the U. S. are citizens of the U.S. He insisted, however, that under the Fourteenth Amendment, which declares ‘“‘All persons born in the U. S. and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the U.S.,” should read, ‘“‘All persons born in the U. 8S. of parents who are eligible to citizenship, etc.”’


To support his claim that this is a white man’s country, General Webb pointed to our naturalization laws which limit naturalization to white persons. He freely admitted that if the court found in his favor, not only Japanese, but other Asiatic peoples born in the U. 8. would be excluded from citizenship.


eee TERS the final point in his rather emotional argument, General Webb declared that it required no proof to show that the admission of Japanese to citizenship does not achieve the purposes of the Preamble to the Constitution. “It does not tend to insure domestic tranquility, the common defense nr ae general welfare,” said General


The City Attorney made little or no argument, merely resting his case on the Wong Kim ‘Ark decision and quoting from Judge Cardozo’ S Opinion in Morrison vs. California, 291 U. S. 82, that “A person of the Japanese race is a citizen of the U.S. if he was born in the U.S.”


In the course of his argument, General Webb made no reference to the point made in his petition for an injunction, that Japanese are ineligible for citizenship because the Government, of Japan also claims ne diction over them.


Before the argument, it was stipulated that a list of ninety Japanese had voted in the recent San Francisco Bond Election.


General Webb has five days, or until July 1, to submit a memorandum of citations at which time the case will stand submitted. No memorandum will be filed by the City Attorney’s Office. It is hard to see how Judge St. Sure can act otherwise than to dismiss the petition for an injunction.


CIVIL RIGHTS DEN IED JAPANESE IN ASSEMBLY CENTERS


» Any doubt that the Japanese evacuees were being denied civil liberties within :as- sembly centers ‘was. eliminated last month when five citizens of Japanese extraction were arrested and charged with holding an unauthorized meeting at Santa Anita Re- ception Center where Japanese was spoken.


Apparently, too, these same citizens are also denied the right of petition, because two of the five are charged with circulating a petition demanding publication of a Japanese language paper at the camp. The need for such a paper is apparent, since there are many Japanese who do not read English and unless they have the benefit of a Japanese newspaper and Japanese books they will be denied all reading material.


The Army’s action at Santa Anita deserves strong condemnation. We urge our membership to protest to the Attorney General and Secretary of War against any prosecutions in these cases.


NOTES ON JAPANESE EVACUATION ...


President Roosevelt last month asked Congress for an appropriation of $70,000,000 for the relocation of Japanese evacuated from the Pacific Coast.


During June, not only the California Methodist Conference, but that in Michigan as well; condemned the evacuation of citizens of Japanese extraction as discrimina. tory.


At least four Japanese have been convieted for violating either the evacuation orders or curfew regulations. Two received 6 month sentences, another one year. The fourth, a Japanese woman married to a Chinese, received a suspended sentence and was sent to the Tanforan Assembly Center.


More than 4,000 Japanese are in the United States Army, but no more Japanese are being accepted and those in Class 1-A are being reclassified 4-C, the class reserved for aliens ineligible for the WS: Army.


A. C. L. U. Adopts Policy | : On Civilian War Service


Following a deferenauvn eke by iil among members of the National Committee and the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union on the i issue of compulsory civilian service in war-time, theBoard:of the Union .adopted ‘on May 25 a resolution of policy by which to judge bills pending in Congress. Several such bills have been introduced in Congress, but no action on them has yet been indicated. The Board has already opposed the bill introduced by Senator Theodore G. Bilbo of ao providing for civilian mobilization


The resolution reads: “‘(1) The Unica States has a right to mobilize all persons subject to its jurisdiction for the purpose. of the prosecution of a war, whether for combatant or civilian service; (2) Such mobilization, however, is justified only if directly necessary to the prosecution of a war; (3) Sueh mobilization must be carried out on a fully democratic selective service basis similar to our present draft laws, and (4) Due provision must be EIS for conscientious objectors.”


The returns from the members of the National Committee and Board showed 53 in favor (two with qualifications), 23 opposed, 2 not voting, and 19 not heard from. Two years ago when military conscription was being debated, the Union took a similar position, holding that no issue of civil liberties was involved if the law recognized total exemption from service for con scientious objectors.


AMERICAN LEGION PROTECTS JAPANESE IN IOWA TOWN


When 200 irate citizens of Shenandoah, Iowa, forced a chicken hatchery to release four Japanese who were employed there, after a protest meeting outside the city hall, the Shenandoah American Legion condemned the “intolerance against innocent people’? and promised protection to four Japanese and their families. Legion action followed disclosure that one of the men, George J. Kinoshita, 24, was an American soldier on furlough. Kinoshita said he expected to be called back into service when his work was completed.


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