vol. 11, no. 4

AMERICAN

SEIVIL LIRERITES

UNIUN-NEWS (c)

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

FREE SPEECH

FREE CESS

FREE ASSEMBLAGE

Vol. XI.

SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL, 1946

No. 4

Renunciants Switch From

One Test Suit To Another

The three Tule Lake renunciants, who on

February 27, 1946, filed a test suit to secure

their release from detention, on March 27 dis-

missed their suit and joined the mass suit being

handled by Attorney Wayne M. Collins of San

Francisco, which has the full support of the

ACLU of Northern California and the indorse-

ment of the national office.

The reasons for the switch were that the

renunciants claimed they had received assur-

ances that if the suit were filed, they would not

be shipped out of Tule Lake but instead would

be released upon the filing of the suit. Without

explanation, however, the three suddenly found

themselves in a San Francisco jail. Thereupon

they decided not to stand by themselves but to

toss in their lot with the 1500 renunciants who

had previously filed suit.

Mr. Collins, new counsel for the three, tele-

phoned Washington and arranged with the

' Justice Department for the immediate release of

Yoshio Nogawa and the transfer to Crystal City,

Texas, internment center of Henry Mittwer and

Yukiye Teshiba. At some future time it is ex-

` pected that orders for the release of the two

_ will be forthcoming from the Justice Department.

_U.C. Charges Renunciants (c)

Non-Resident Fees

The University of California has ruled that

Nisei who renounced their U. S. citizenship must

pay a non-resident fee in order to register at

the university, even though their legal residence

is in California and despite the fact that they

have spent all of their lives here.

According to the university's regulations,

every alien student who has failed to make a

- valid declaration of intention to become a citizen

of the United States prior to the opening day of

the term during which he proposes to attend

the university is deemed to be a non-resident

student. According to the dictionary an alien is

"an unnaturalized foreign resident." The re-

nunciants are not foreigners; they are natives of

this country. If the renunciations are valid, the

most that can be said is that the renunciants are

stateless persons. :

In any event, after years of unbroken resi-

ence in the State of California, it seems rather

strange to classify them as "non-residents", who

are compelled to pay the $150 a term fee.

The ACLU is negotiating with officers of the

University in an attempt to secure a change in

the application of the non-resident regulations

as applied to renunciants.

CLU Supports Asylum for Three Soviet |

Refugees at Congressional Hearing

Political asylum for three Soviet citizens who

allegedly face execution if returned to Russia

was asked of the House Immigration Commit-

tee by the American Civil Liberties Union at

hearings on a private bill by Rep. Clare Luce on

March 19. Editor Varian Fry, of New York City,

presented the Union's plea for Rep. Luce's bill,

which would grant asylum to Paul Lougbine, Al-

exander Kalinin, and Leo Razwodsky, now held

at Ellis Island for deportation. The three Rus-

sians arrived in this country last year as stow-

aways from France, after being freed from Ger-

man prisoner of war camps by the American

Army. They fear execution if returned to Russia

because of opposition to the regime- Lougbine

was torpedoed while in the Russian Merchant Ma-

rine, wounded as a soldier in the battle of Stalin-

grad, and captured by the Germans near Smol-

ensk in 1943. None of them served in the German

army.

See eae a =e ee ees

Liberty Regained For Almost 3000 Nisei

tho

-Renounced Their Citizenship Under Duress

Almost three thousand persons of Japanese

ancestry, who renounced their United States

citizenship under duress and who faced removal

to Japan as dangerous enemy aliens, have been

restored to their liberty by the Justice Depart-

ment in consequence of so-called mitigation

hearings prompted by a mass habeas corpus -

proceeding pending in the U. S. District Court.

The number of releases is expected to mount

over the three thousand mark as the govern-

ment acts on the cases of renunciants formerly

detained at Bismarck, No. Dakota, as well as

those at Santa Fe, New Mexico.

When the Tule Lake center closed on March

28, after an almost four-year history of mis-

management, exactly 356 renunciants were

shipped to the Crystal City, Texas, alien intern-

ment camp. Release orders came through right

up to the time of the train's departure, and a

number of persons ordered released had to be

removed from the train. It is expected that some

of the 356 sent to Crystal City will be released

as additional orders are received. The score on

Tule Lake releases presently stands at 2792.

`None of those released, it should be noted, have

had their citizenship restored.

The renunciants detained at Bismarck were

all transferred to Santa Fe last month. After a

weeding out process at the latter camp, where

there are still other renunciants, we are informed

that those not released will be joined with the

Tule Lake group at Crystal City, Texas. The

releases at Santa Fe started to come through on

March 20 with 14 names.

In the meantime, legal proceedings filed in

behalf of the renunciants have been coming to a

head. As is noted below, the number of clients

in the mass habeas corpus and equity proceed-

ings filed by Wayne M. Collins of San Francisco

as private attorney for the group, has been in--

creased almost to the 1500 mark. The govern-

ment has agreed to file an answer by April 15,

and before then a motion will be made by the

government to strike from the petition in habeas

corpus, a letter signed by former Under Secre-

tary of the Interior Abe Fortas, which admits

`that after investigation it was determined that

80% of the renunciations resulted from duress.

Once the government's answer is filed, Mr.

Collins will file various motions that will lead to

a determination of the numerous legal issues

involved in the case.

In addition to the mass suits, which have the

full support of the ACLU of Northern California,

a suit was recently filed on behalf of only three

renunciants by Los Angeles counsel appearing

for the National Office of the ACLU. This suit

differs from the one filed by Wayne M. Collins

in that it fails to charge duress by the govern-

ment, particularly the War Relocation Authority

and the Justice Department. The case is on the

calendar of U. 8S. District Judge Louis Goodman

of San Francisco on April 1, and will undoubtedly

be put over beyond that time: Unfortunately, the

three renunciants have been lodged in the Immi-

gration Service detention quarters in downtown

`San Francisco, which is nothing more than a

jail. Apparently, the law prohibits bail in alien

enemy cases, but the Justice Department could.

grant paroles. Incidentlly, Wayne Collins has

urged the government to parole all of the renun-

ciants, who are held for removal to Japan, pend-

ing determination of the court cases. It is

expected that this group will ultimately number "

under 500.

Thus far no renunciants have been forcibly

removed to Japan. The fanatically pro-Japanese

group left voluntarily, and in addition some

renunciants accompanied their alien parents,

who desired to return to Japan.

During the past month, 247 Tule Lake renun-

`ciants sought release from detention by adding

their names to the list of 1002 Japanese who

filed petitions for writs of habeas corpus in the

U. S. District Court last November. The same

247, as well as 171 Japanese at the Bismarck,

No. Dakota, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, intern-

ment camps, have also joined a pending suit

seeking cancellation of their renunciations of

citizenship, and an injunction to restrain the

Justice Department from carrying out its an-

nounced plan of deporting them to Japan as

enemy aliens. The new group contains 62 boys

and girls who are under 21 years of age.

At the same time, Wayne M. Collins, private

attorney for the group, filed amendments to the

original complaint making further charges that

he Japanese in question are the victims of

`duress by the government and seditious groups. d

_ Attached to the new compiaini is a pnoio- ~

`static copy of a letter signed by former Under

Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Abe

Fortas, which declares that certain "virulently

pro-Japanese nationalist organizations" at Tule

Lake "resorted to intimidation, threats of vio-

lence and actual violence in coercing residents to

join the organizations and participate in their

demonstrations. It was primarily due to the

pressure of the organizations that over 80 per

cent of the citizens eligible to do so applied for

(Continued on Page 4, Col. 2)

Tule Lake Deportation Cases

Released On Bond Or Parole

The Government has released 26 alien Japa-

nese who were held at the Tule Lake Center for

deportation to Japan. Six were released on $500

bond while the remainder were released on

parole. -

A number of the cases were complicated by

the fact that the Government was also detaining

the aliens under the Alien Enemy Act. Until the

Government agreed to dismiss the alien enemy

charges, the Japanese could not secure their re-

lease on the deportation charges.

The local branch of the Union is handling

more than 40 Japanese deportation cases. Most

of them are of the hardship variety, involving

citizen wives and children. Some of the aliens

entered as treaty merchants, others as visitors,

and some as students. Because of the hardship

elements in their cases, however, the Govern-

ment has thus far stayed deportation proceed-

ings. Legislation has been introduced in Congress

which would grant relief in hardship cases and

it is felt that the Justice Department will follow

its customary course and stay deportations while

the legislation is pending. If the aliens were not

Japanese, they could secure relief under existing

laws.

The 200 Japanese deportation cases through- (c)

out the country also involve a number of single

men who in most cases have been resident here

for almost 20 years. Very little can be done for

these men except possibly to delay their de-

parture until conditions become more stabilized

in Japan. The Immigration Service has indicated

that it may try to deport some of them the

latter part of April, and it may then become

necessary to institute legal proceedings in their

behalf. 7

Page 2

High Court Urged To Outlaw

Jim Crow Travel Restrictions

The U. S. Supreme Court was asked to declare |

state laws providing racial segregation in inter-

state travel.unconstitutional in.a brief by the

American Civil Liberties Union supporting the

appeal of Irene Morgan heard March 25. Miss

Morgan appealed through the National Associa-

tion for the Advancement of Colored People

against a decision of the Virginia Supreme Court

last year upholding her conviction under state

law providing racial segregation on buses. The

ACLU asked the Supreme Court to abandon as

unconstitutional its traditional ruling that segre-

gation is legal so long as there is no difference

in the accomodations provided for the two races.

On the brief for the ACLU were Gregory

Hankin, former Public Utilities Comissioner for

the District of Columbia; Victor Rotnem, form-

er Chief Civil Rights Section of the U. S. Depart-

ment of Justice; and Arthur Garfield Hays and

Osmond K. Fraenkel, counsel for the ACLU.

The brief advances the novel argument that

segregation itself is a-form of discrimination re-

gardless of the accomodations provided. It

points out that the term "white" and ``colored"

are used by many person as terms of value, hav-

ing the same meaning as "superior" and "in-

ferior'; and therefore when there is segregation

members of the colored race are exposed to abuse

and humiliation.

"Segregation is the very thing that makes the

service unequal and discriminatory, by far more

so than differences in the comfort of the seats,

the amount of congestion, etc." the ACLU says.

`Many persons would much rather submit to phy-

sical discomfort than to abuse because of their

race, which is treated as if it were a social stig-

ma. If, as a part of a transportation service,

some passengers are enabled to ride in comfort,

while others are subjected to discomfort, there is

discrimination; and it is of little importance

whether the discomfort arises from a hard seat

or from being stamped with the label of infer-

iority."

The ACLU also attacks the Virginia law as an

unconstitutional interference by a state with in-

terstate commerce, and because it gives to bus

- drivers charged with maintaining segregation un-

constitutional powers over the conduct of their |

- passengers.

recently appointed governor of the Virgin Is-

lands, and Thurgood Marshall, both as counsel

for the NAACP. The Workers Defense League

also filed a brief supporting the appeal.

Attempted Ban On "Uncle

Tom" In Troy, N. Y., Falls Flat

Efforts of local groups in Troy, N. Y. to ban

the presentation of a musical version of `Uncle

Tom's Cabin" scheduled for that city on March

21 fell flat when Mayor John J. Ahern indicated

to the American Civil Liberties Union that a li-

cense would be granted to Germania Hall where

the performance was to take place. The ACLU

wrote the Mayor urging him not to give in to

local pressure groups who wanted the perform-

ance banned on the ground that it portrays the

Negro in a derogatory manner.

Mayor Ahern replied that the hall in question

was not licensed for theatrical performances, but

that a license would be issued on application. He

said that since "the controversy first arose dif-

ficulties have been straightened out and the local

branch of the National Association for the Ad-

vancement of Colored People have put their

_ stamp of approval on the production. Please be

`assured that the city of Troy has no desire to

place any censorship upon the stage for any rea-

son whatever."

An outburst of censorship against the same

production of `Uncle Tom's Cabin" attracted na-

tion-wide attention last September and Octber.

One ban in Bridgeport, Conn., was revoked by

order of Mayor Jasper McLevy, and another

threatened ban in Springfield, Illinois was re-

strained by federal injunction. While local

branches of the National Association for the Ad-

vancement of Colored People were reported ac-

tive in some of the earlier attempts to ban the

production, the national office later issued a

statement condemning any ban as unjustified

censorship.

GENERAL DEWITT DEFENDANT IN $3500

SUIT FILED BY EXCLUDED CITIZEN

`General John L. DeWitt, who ordered the

mass exclusion of Japanese from the Pacific

Coast and who declared that "A Jap's a Jap",

is being sued for $3500 damages by Homer

Wilcox, San Diego director of Mankind United,

who was forcibly excluded from the Pacific Coast

area on the orders of General DeWitt. The case

is now on trial in the U. S. District Court in

Los Angeles.

Miss Morgan's appeal was argued'

-before the Supreme Court by William H. Hastie,' -

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Morris L. Ernst Depicts A Vanishing Market |

Place Of Thought In "The First Freedom"

Morris L. Ernst, one of the national counsel

of the ACLU, has just published a book, THE

FIRST FREEDOM (McMillan), which we have

not read, but which has received highly lauda-

tory reviews by E. B. White in THE NEW

YORKER and Norman Thomas in the Socialist

CALL. -

"It is,' says Norman Thomas, "much the best

book the author has written, and one of the most

important books of recent months. Mr. Ernst

examines realistically the state of freedom of

speech and expression in the United States. He

realizes that it is not alone governments which

restrict the. free flow of ideas. A similar result

can be achieved by the increasing monopolization

of the great means of communication: the press,

the radio and the movies.

`Tt will surprise and I hope shock most Ameri-

cans to learn how few men control the flow of

ideas. Five giant companies control the two

billion dollar motion picture industry. Four great

networks come close to controlling the radio.

Before the war they had ninety-five percent of

all night time broadcasting power.

Mr. Ernst tells us that `one hundred and

forty-four advertisers account for ninety-seven

percent of all the network income.' Eleven ad-

vertisers contribute about fifty percent of this

income and a dozen advertising agents create

the radio programs which bring in one half of

the income of the networks. `One third of all

radio stations are interlocked with newspapers.'

The press is scarcely better. `Ten states have

not a single city with competing daily papers.'

There were twenty-six hundred papers in 1910

and only eighteen hundred in 1940.

`Mr. Ernst makes a convincing presentation

of the perils this situation brings to-democracy.

He offers a number of well thought out remedies

but mostly his argument is a plea for `diversity

of ownership' as the sovereign cure. This, the

Government should intervene to maintain, or

rather to restore.

"I believe in diversity of ownership, but have

some doubt how effectively it can be created

CLU Intervenes On Picketing

In Pitts., Phila., New York

Representatives of the American Civil Liber-

ties Union in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania have been

instructed to support in the Pennsylvania Su-

preme Court the refusal of Judge Smart of the

local Court of Common Pleas to issue an injunc-

tion forbidding mass picketing in the Westing-

house strike. The judge held on February 28 that

the mass picketing complained of did not amount

to seizure of the plant, and therefore could not be

enjoined. Apparently non-strikers are permitted

access through picket lines. The company ap-

pealed.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held on

February 13 on an appeal involving an injunction

against the Pittsburg local of theC.I.O. Steel-

workers Union that mass picketing could be en-

joined as constituting seizure where the picketing

blocked access to the plant.

In Philadelphia ACLU attorney William Wool-

ston intervened in a hearing on February 28 of

ten General Electric pickets and union officals

charged with conspiracy to violate a mass picket-

ing injunction. In a memorandum to the local

court the ACLU limited itself to pointing out that

the defendants were entitled to a jury trial under

Pennsylvania law. The law provides such trials

for contempt of court "not committed in the

presence of the court." The jury trials were

granted by Judge Bluett.

In New York an invitation from the New York

CIO Council for the ACLU to participate in a

mass meeting on March 6 to "mobilize" against

violation of civil liberty on picket lines in New

York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere

was answered with a statement that the ACLU

was ready to join any "well-considered move to

oppose police brutality or unreasonable injunc-

tions against picketing." The ACLU pointed out,

`however, that the tactics of some unions in bar-

ring access to struck plants, `invite the very ex-

cesses which you condemn."

The ACLU declined to participate in debate at

the meeting on the ground that trade union pol-

icy "is not properly our concern." A letter to the

CIO Council declared that "it is a matter of re-

gret to us that union leaders in many instances .

did not so regulate picketing as to avoid the con-

sequences of a refusal to accord the right of ac-

cess to non-strikers. It has been a matter of

equal regret that some courts went far beyond

the implications of our position to prohibit mass

picketing altogether."

with satisfaction to the public, and more doubt

that mere diversity of ownership will substan-

tially improve the flow of facts and opinions

under the profit system, especially since the

general interests of advertisers is so uniformily

a class interest.

"In radio, for example, I have far more hope

of what may be done by requiring every radio

station to give a portion of its good listening

time to a balanced presentation of public issues

-a proposal which Mr. Ernst also supports-

than of what will be accomplished by mere

diversity of capitalist ownership by men greedy

for all they can extract from advertisers. But

again I say the book is one to be read and

pondered." ;

Mr. White rates THE FIRST FREEDOM as

"an exceptionally valuable and exciting book".

He believes that "Mr. Ernst is essentially right,

fundamentally sound, and that he proves his _

case..The controlling fact in the free flow of

thought is not diversity of opinion, it is diversity

of the sources of opinion-that is, diversity of

ownership. A radio network presenting a forum

discussion, a newspaper allowing a columnist to

disagree with an editorial writer, provide not a

real diversity but merely an apparent one. They

exhibit liberality but not diversity. A newspaper

with enough money in the till to provide its sub-

seribers with the Top Thinkers (the Winchells,

the Lippmanns, the Thompsons) is perform-

ing a service to its readers and is perpetuating

the American ideal of freely conflicting views

and news, but in a private economy the owner's

shadow falls the whole length of his domain.

The vital question, in the long run, is not how

many reports and commentators we have, it is

how many owners of reporters and commentators

we have. There are probably a lot more words

written and spoken in America today than ever.

before, and on more subjects; but if it is true,

as this book suggests, that these words and

ideas are flowing through fewer channels, then

our first freedom has been diminished, not |

enlarged."

High Court Hears Appeal For

Naturalization Of Pacifists

The U. S. Supreme Court is urged to declare

pacifists eligible for naturlization as American

citizens in a brief by the American Civil Liber-

ties Union supporting an appeal heard recently.

Signed by former Democratic presidential candi-

date John W. Davis, among others, the brief

supports the appeal of James Louis Girouard,

Canadian Seventh Day Adventist, who was re-

fused citizenship by the Circuit Court of Appeals |

in Boston in 1943, though he had indicated that

he was willing to accept non-combatant service

in the army. oe

The question of his eligibility revolves around

the meaning of the oath required of all prospec-

tive citizens to "support and defend" the United

States. In cases fifteen years ago the U. S.

Supreme Court by a series of 5 to4 decisions held

that Congress intended the oath to mean a wil-

lingness to bear arms. John W. Davis was the

ane counsel to present the case for the pac-

ifists.

The Civil Liberties Union urges the Supreme

Court to reverse its earlier decision. It points

out that substantially the same oath has been

freely taken by innumerable lawyers, civil serv-

ice employees, and public officials who had con-

scientious scruples against war.

held that the oath may be taken by conscientious

objectors, and it has been administered by the

army to thousands of conscientious objectors

serving as non-combatants in this war.

The ACLU also points out that Congress can

hardly have intended the oath to bar pacifists

from citizenship since a 1942 amendment to the

`naturalization law. specifically extends easier na-

tralization procedures to all who served in the

armed forces, including non-combatant conscien-

tious objectors. The court is reminded that the

American tradition of freedom from discrimina-

tion on religious grounds dictates that religious

pacifists not be excluded from citizenship.

Signing the Supreme Court brief for the

ACLU in addition to Mr. Davis, are Ernest An-

gell, Julien Cornell, Charles B. Finch, and Osmond

K. Fraenkel, all New York attorneys. Girouard

is represented in his appeal by former U. S. At-

torney General Homer Cummings.

The United

States Civil Service Commission has specifically

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Page 3

~

Terrorist Sentenced

To One Year In Jail

Last month Robert Franklin Hailey was sen-

tenced to the Alameda County Jail for one year

for terrorizing two Japanese American families

near Centerville last September. While the court

- could have sentenced Hailey to San Quentin, it

elected to send him to county jail on misde-

meanor charges. Possibly, the court took into

consideration the fact that Hailey's younger

brother had been tortured by Japanese on Luzon.

Terrorism against returned Japanese which

went on for almost nine months has now entirely

subsided and California has returned to its usual

practices of race prejudice. It is noteworthy that

despite more than a score of shootings, number-

less homes burned and destroyed and property

damaged through vandalism, not one person has

been sent to San Quentin prison for his lawless

acts. In fact, there have been only four prosecu-

tions and three convictions. In one case, the

`sentence was suspended and in another the sen-

tence was merely thirty days.

The ACLU, which offered a reward of a thou-

sand dollars in each case for information leading

to the arrest and conviction of terrorists and

their final imprisonment in a state prison, has

not paid out one cent on its reward offer. After

the offer was made and widely circulated, how-

ever, the terrorism speedily subsided. Of par-

ticular help in the situation was the cooperation

of the army which sent speakers to the rural

communities to tell of the exploits of the Nisei

- in the armed services during the war.

Restrictions on German Mail

Service Listed by War Dept.

Announcements by the Allied Control Council

in Berlin and the U. S. State Department here |

that "restricted" mail service to Germany will be

reestablished April 1 or soon thereafter are am-

plified in a letter from the U. 8S. War Department

to the American Civil Liberties Union. Adjutant

.General Edward F. Witsell wrote that "initially

this service will probably be limited to post cards

for personal messages only, with letter service

following as soon as the censorship organizations

of the other Allied powers are able to handle it.

- Parcel service will not be established: until it is

seen how well the German postal system is able

to handle the post card and letter service."

As to the exact date of reopening, the War

Department letter says that the Department "has

good reason to believe that this service will be-

gin in the near future. The question is high on

the agenda of the Control Council in Berlin, and

unless unforseen difficulties arise there, there is

nothing here that stands in the way of reopening

of this service." The letter concludes with the

statement that "as yet details for the reestablish-

ment of mail service to Japan have not been

worked out." The American Civil Liberties Union

has been pressing various government depart-

ments since last fall for resumption of full serv-

ice to Germany and Japan.

Truman Urged To Back

Puerto Rican Legislature

President Truman is urged to support bills

passed by the Puerto Rican legislature over Gov.

Tugwell's veto, providing for a plebescite on the

Island's future political status and for expressing

choice of nominees for the governorship, in a let-

ter from the American Civil Liberties Union on

March 15. The bills for choice of nominees and

- for giving Puerto Ricans a chance to express pre-

ferences as between independence, statehood, and

dominion status, are now before the President

who has 90 days to approve or reject Gov. Tug-

well's veto.

The letter signed by Arthur Garfield Hays,

one-time chairman of a commission that investi-

gated civil liberties in Puerto Rico, recognizes

that Congress has the last say on Puerto Rico,

but urges the President not to support Tugwell's

veto, on the ground that an advisory vote by

Puerto Ricans would be "helpful to Congress in

_- saving time and debate on a decision too long

delayed."'

The letter notes that Governor Tugwell was

"obliged" to veto the bills as usurping the powers

of Congress and the President, but suggests that

the President himself "might well take another

view. The encouragement of self-determination

by Puerto Rico is not only of vast consequence.-to

our future relations with the people of the island,

but to our relations to the whole Good Neighbor

policy in South America, which our anomalous

administration of Puerto Rico has seriously com-

promised." Early settlement of the Puerto Rican

question is also seen as important "in order to

throw America's weight on the side of enlight-

ened colonial policy in the UNO."

merican Achvitic: Committee

Revealed As "Embryo Gestapo"

A description of the aims of the House

Un-American Committee sent to the American

`Civil Liberties Union by committee member Rep.

Karl E. Mundt, reveals the committee to be an

"embyro Gestapo, and a danger to American

life,' according to a reply by ACLU Board chair-

man John Haynes Holmes. Rep. Mundt replied

to ACLU queries about the Committee's investi-

gation of various radio commentators' scripts.

Said Rep. Mundt: "It is the policy of our

Committee to have our staff read and examine

all manner of books, magazines, newspapers, and

periodicals written from either extreme left or

extreme right. Sometime ago, we added the ex-

amination of radio broadcasts to these studies.

When we ask for a specific script it may result

from one of three causes:

"(1) Some member .of Congress or some

other responsible citizen may have written to us

calling attention to some alleged Un-Americanism

appearing in such a broadcast. The record in this

connection is that well over 90% of these allega-

tions prove completely groudless.

""(2) We may be checking on an entirely dif-

ferent newscaster in his handling of a particular

news item or propaganda plug. Frequently, our

staff in such cases asks a large number of news-

casters for their scripts: on a particular day in

order that we can determine whether the broad-

casts being questioned deviate from the factual

contents of the news story in support of some

pernicious propaganda line.

"(3) Occasionally we ask for a particular

script in order to have before us in written. form.

a program which one of our staff has audited

and on which he desires to make an additional

study."

Mr. Mundt states that "we have never per-

secuted anybody and we do not expect to. In |

fact, in the radio field, we have never released a

story of any .kind questioning the motives or

broadcasts of any speaker."

Replying, Dr. Holmes said he felt the work

`of the Committee was itself a "lamentable ex-

ample of Un-Americanism. People in this country

are supposed to be free to speak and publish their

opinions and ideas without supervision, investi-

-gation, check-ups, and witch-hunting. Your Com-

mittee is an embryo Gestapo, concerning itself

with matters which are not properly the concern

of the government, and thus a danger to our

American life. It creates an atmosphere of fear, -

suspicion, distrust, and ill-will.

"It raises first and last the fundamental ques-

tion by what legal or moral right any group of

citizens, officially or otherwise, undertakes to

investigate and pass judgement upon the utter-

ances of their fellow citizens. This is liberty as I

like to believe we understand it in this country.

Is there danger in such liberty? Of course there

is! But the danger is far less than the danger

involved in the activities of your Committee, and

protection against such danger lies in the healthy

processes of free discussion in the free life of a

free people."

Martin Resolution For World

Outlawry Of Draft Supported

Support for a Congressional resolution by

Rep. Joseph A. Martin urging President Truman

and the State-Department to work for an inter-

national agreement outlawing conscription was

given by the American Civil Liberties Union

last month. Representation at scheduled hear-

ings on the bill was asked in a letter expressing

ACLU support, sent to Rep. Andrew J. May,

chairman of the House Military Affairs Commit-

tee. The ACLU said it agreed `in principle' with

_Martin's proposal to work for an international

agreement "before the United States adopts

compulsory, peace-time military service."

The ACLU said that it had "constantly urged

on the Congress from the beginning of the de-

bate on peace-time conscription that a decision be

deferred until the needs of the country for na-

tional defense in the light of post-war commit-

ments be made clear.' Pointing out that all

forms of compulsory service are "inevitably"

hostile to personal liberty, the ACL said it was

willing to support conscription "where there were

grave over-riding considerations, as in war time.

But we see no such necessity now."

Rep. Martin's resolution was seen as being "in ~

line with our view of the desirability of delaying

action until international arrangements, on which

American policy in part depends, have been ex-

plored. So soon after the greatest of all wars it

is inconceivable that we should now be preparing

for another in the immediate future, and it is ob-

viously time to determine the relations of Ameri-

can defense policy to the policies of other

nations." :

ACLU Supports Move to Indemnify

Victims of Hawaiian Martial Law

Support for a bill to permit residents of

Hawaii imprisoned under war-time martial law

in Hawaii to sue for damages was offered by the

American Civil Liberties Union to J. R. Farring-

ton, Hawaiian Delegate in the House of Repre-

sentatives. The ACLU told Rep. Farrington that

it supported any measures to indemnify residents

of Hawaii fined or imprisoned by military

courts, which the U. S. Supreme Court held to

be unconstitutional in a 6 to 2 decision in Feb-

ruary.

Meanwhile in Hawaii at least two suits against

the Army have already been initiated, accord-

ing to press reports. Alfred B. M. Smith, natur-

alized German-born resident of Honolulu sued

five high Army Generals on February 12 for $50,-

000 damages resulting from his imprisonment

from December 7, 1941 to July 31, 1943. In his

complaint Smith states that he was never in-

formed of any specific charges against him, and

that he was never "brought before any court or

tribunal of competent jurisdiction or charged

with any offense." Another complainant, Joseph

P. Petrowski, is suing for $10,000.

If the complainants win their suits it is ex-

pected that Congress will reimburse the generals

for any damages assessed.

PERSONNEL BOARD WILL DROP CHARGES

AGAINST SOME DISMISSED NISEI -

In April of 1942, the State Personnel Board

filed charges against some 200 state employees.

As a result, several weeks before they were

excluded from California, they were suspended -

from their jobs. Last month Wilmer Morse,

deputy attorney general and legal representative (c)

of the Personnel Board, announced that charges

against most of the Japanese will be dropped.

A United Press dispatch of March 20, 1946,

declares that "Exceptions will be in cases where

subversive activity or disloyalty can be proved."

Many of the Japanese against whom charges -

were filed failed to defend themselves and con-

sequently lost their jobs by default. A consider-

able number, however, secured counsel who has

insisted upon the Japanese being paid up to the

time of the mass exclusion.

Needless to say, the charges against the J apa-

nese were fantastic. The complaints were couched

in extravagant language and in effect charged

disloyalty solely because the employees were of

Japanese ancestry.

Executive Committee

American Givil Liberties Union

of Northern California.

Sara Bard Field

Honorary Member

Rt. Rev. Edw. L. Parsons

Chairman

Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn

_ Helen Salz

Vice-Chairman

Joseph S. Thompson

Secretary-Treasurer

Ernest Besig

Director -

Philip Adams

John H. Brill

H, C. Carrasco

Wayne M. Collins

James J. Cronin, Jr.

Rev. Oscar F. Green

Morris M. Grupp

Margaret C. Hayes

Prof. Ernest R. Hilgard

Ruth Kingman

Ralph N. Kleps

Dr. Edgar A. Lowther

Mrs. Bruce 2orter

Clarence E. Rust

Rabbi Irving F. Reichert

Dr. Howard Thurman

Kathleen Drew Tolman

Page 4

AMERICAN CiVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

American Civil Liberties Union-News

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

Calif., by the American Civil Liberties Union =

of Northern California.

Phone: EXbrook 1816-

ERNEST BESIG . ..Wditor-

Entered as second-class matter, Tily 31, 1941, at the

Post Office at San Francisco, California,

under the Act of March 3, 1879.

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year.

Ten Cents per Copy. 151- gys

Excerpts From Supreme

Court Martial Law Decision

The text of the U. S. Supreme Court's opinion

in the important Hawaiian martial law case de:

`cided February 25, reached us too late to print

any substantial part of the decision in the March

issue of the NEWS. Following are significant

portions of the various opinions that were filed.

The majority opinion by Justice Hugo L. Black

held that "military trials of civilians charged

with crime, especially when not made subject to

judicial review, are obviously contrary to our

political traditions and our institutions. Our sys-

tem of government is clearly the antithesis of

total military rule, and the founders. of the

country are not likely to have contemplated

complete military dominance within a territory (c)

made part of this country and not recently taken

from- the enemy.'

He added that "when Congress passed the

- Hawaiian Organic Act and authorized the

establishment of `martial law' it had in mind and

did not wish to exceed the boundaries between

military and civilian power, in which our people

have always believed, which responsible military

and executive officers have always heeded, and

which had become part of our political philos-

ophy and institutions."

Chief Justice Stone and Justice Murphy wrote

separate concurring opinions, while Justice Bur-

ton wrote the dissent supported by Justice

Frankfurter. Justice Burton :-maintained that

conditions in Hawaii were like those of "a battle-

field under actual invasion" and that the army

was therefore justified in taking extraordinary

measures. This view contradicted the principle

advanced by the Civil Liberties Union at the

. hearing that military tribunals are not legal "so

long as the civil courts are open and function-

ie

Mr. Justice Murphy was of the opinion that

the military trials were also forbidden by the

"Bill of Rights. "Indeed," said he, "the un-

constitutionality of the usurpation of civil power

by the military is so great in this instance as to

warrant this court's complete and outright repu-

diation of the action...

"The final reason advanced relates to the

testimony of military leaders that Hawaii is

said to have a `heterogeneous population with all

sorts of affinities and loyalties which are alien

in many cases to the philosophy of life of the

American Government,' one-third of the civilian

population being of Japanese descent. The court

below observed that `Governmental and military

problems alike were complicated by the presence

in the Territory of tens of thousands of citizens

of Japanese ancestry besides large numbers of

aliens of the same race. Obviously the presence

of so many inhabitants of doubtful loyalty posed

a continuing threat to the public security. Among

these people the personnel of clandestine land-

ing parties might mingle freely, without de-

tection. Thus was afforded ideal cover for the

activities of the saboteur and the spy... . To

function in criminal matters the civilian courts

must assemble juries; and citizens of Japanese

extraction could not lawfully be excluded from

jury panels on the score of race-even in cases

of offenses involving the military security of the

Territory. Indeed the mere assembling of juries

and the carrying on of protracted criminal trials

might well constitute an invitation to disorder

as well as an interference with the vital business

of the moment.' The Government adds that

many of the military personnel stationed in

Hawaii were unaccustomed to living in such a

community and that `potential problems' created

in Hawaii by racially mixed juries in criminal

cases have heretofore been recognized: `although,

on the whole, it has been found that members

of such mixed juries have not acted on a racial

basis.'

"The implication apparently is that persons

of Japanese descent, including those of American

background and training, are of such doubtful

loyalty as a group as to constitute a menace

justifying the denial of the procedural rights of

all accused persons in Hawaii. It is also implied

that persons of Japanese descent are unfit for

jury duty in Hawaii and that the problems aris-

ing when they serve on juries are so great as

Liberty Regained For Almost 3000 Nisei Who

-Renounced Their Citizenship Under Dures

(Continued from Page 1, Col. 3)

`renunciation of citizenship this past winter.

When Department of Justice representatives

arrived at Tule Lake to conduct hearings on

applications, the organizations stepped up their

demonstrations and their pressures on the appli-

cants. Undoubtedly many of the applicants were

in the grip of the emotional hysteria created by

these organizations, or actually acting under

fear of violence, in confirming their desire to

renounce their citizenship during the hearings.

The general uniformity of the answers given

indicated that the applicants were well coached."

' The complaint charges that responsibility for

the renunciations rests with the War Relocation

Authority, which was in charge of the Tule Lake

center "for its failure and refusal to take pre-

cautionary measure to prevent such rule of

terror and to protect the plaintiffs from harm

and to safeguard their rights as American

citizens." -

The complaint also charges that 8000 Japanese

have been repatriated, including the "organizers,

leaders and active members of the pro-Japanese

nationalistic pressure groups', and that those

who remain confined in this country are merely

the innocent victims of these groups.

The allegations of governmental duress include

charges that the Japanese at Bismarck and

Santa Fe have been denied the right to counsel

in that their attorney has not been allowed to

confer with them privately. A copy of the protest

filed with the Attorney General by Wayne M.

Collins against interference with "the right. of

privileged communications existing between an

attorney and his clients', is attached to the

complaint.

A similar interference with the right to coun-

sel is charged against officials of the War Relo-

cation Authority at Tule Lake, who, it is claimed,

have on numerous occasions made recordings of

the long distance telephone calls between the

plaintiffs and their attorney.

"As part of the Government's systematic pro-

gram of duress in which it held the plaintiffs',

the complaint alleges that a "Stockade" was

maintained by the War Relocation Authority at

Tule Lake where hundreds of persons have from

time to time been held incommunicado `without

accusation of crime and wrong-doing" and with-

out hearings or the assistance of counsel.

The War Relocation Authority is also charged

with maintaining at the Tule Lake center "for

the past four years a slavery and peonage

system" under which the Caucasian employees

of the W.R.A. "deliberately exploited persons of

Japanese ancestry confined" at the camp, for

their personal benefit.

The complaint concludes by alleging that the

Army in revoking its mass exclusion orders and

individual exclusion orders made a finding that

none of the persons now detained are "hostile or

dangerous to the security of the United States."

Thus far no renunciants have been forcibly

removed to Japan. The fanatically pro-Japanese

group left voluntarily, and in addition some re-

nunciants accompanied their alien parents, who

desired to return to Japan.

During the past month, 247 Tule Lake renun-

ciants sought release from detention by adding

their names to the list of 1002 Japanese who

filed petitions for writs of habeas corpus in the

U.S. District Court last November.

to warrant dispensing with the entire jury

system in Hawaii if the military so desires. The

lack of any factual or logical basis for such im-

plications is clear. It is a known fact that there

have been no recorded acts of sabotage, espion-

age or fifth column activities by persons of

Japanese descent in Hawaii either on or sub-

sequent to December 7,.1941. There was thus no

security reason for excluding them from juries,

even making the false assumption that it was

impossible to separate the loyal from the dis-

loyal. And if there were problems arising from

the use of racially mixed juries, elimination of

all jury trials was hardly a reasonable or sen-

sible answer to those problems. Especially de-

plorable, however, is this use of the iniquitous

doctrine of racism to justify the imposition of

military trials. Racism has no place whatever in

our civilization. The Constitution as well as the

conscience of mankind disclaims its use for any

purpose, military or otherwise. It can only result,

as it does in this instance, in striking individual

rights and in aggravating rather than solving

the problems toward which it is directed. It

renders impotent the ideal of the dignity of the

human personality, destroying something of

what is noble in our way of life. We must there-

fore reject it completely wherever it arises in

the course of a legal proceeding."

COLUMBIA RACE RIOT PROMPTS CLARK

TO ORDER DEFENSE OF CIVIL LIBERTIES

Attorney General Tom C, Clark last month in

a directive issued to all U. S. attorneys ordered

that special attention be given to the protection

of the civil liberies of all Americans regardless

of race or color.

The directive grew out of the race riot at

Columbia, Tenn., where three Negroes held in

jail were fatally shot by police officers and two

other persons lost their lives in the course of the

general rioting. e

The N.A.A.C.P., supported by the A.C.L.U.,

has demanded protection for the Negroes and

prosecution of those responsible for the killings.

On March 21 Attorney General Clark called

for a grand jury investigation to determine

whether civil liberties had been violated.

The Attorney General's directive sent to the

U. 8. Attorneys follows:

"The civil rights of minorities in this country

were never under greater threat than at this

time. It is my purpose to protect human rights

and civil liberties, wherever they are infringed,

to the full extent and intent of the Constitution

and of `statuory provisions.

"We have come thus far in the unsettled post-

war period without great disorder. However,

symptoms of increasing intolerance have been

noted recently.

"It is my desire that you immediately devote

special attention and investigation to protection

of all Americans in their civil liberties, regard-

less of race or color. Special attention should be

paid to laxity or inefficiency of peace officers

of any category.

"IT am seeking to determine the causes of po-

tential disorders, no matter how minor they may

seem. In these days of rapid transmission of in-

formation, an outbreak in one locality might

well inspire a similar condition in another. I

desire that you acquaint peace and law enforce-

ment officers, prosecutors, and local govern-

mental authorities with the fact that every re-

source at my command will be used to prevent

such outbreaks, and that when and if they oc-

cur every effort will be made to prosecute those

responsible. Agents of the Federal Bureau of

Investigation will be used unsparingly to effect (c)

this end."

ACLU OPPOSES PETRILLO'S BANS

AND PENDING BILL TO CURB THEM

The Congressional bill aimed at James C. Pe- |

trillo, president of the American Federation of

Musicians, for his ban on foreign and amateur

musical broadcasts, "contains unwarranted limi-

tations on trade union rights," the American Civ-

il Liberties Union told conferees of the House

and Senate scheduled to adjust two versions of -

the bill. The ACLU held that if the bill were

"confined solely to the protection of the right of

American audiences. to hear amateur musical

programs and foreign musical broadcasts, it

might merit our support." It added that it "is

imperative that a clear distinction be made bhe-

tween the valid exercise of the rights of a union 0x00B0

-which the bill denies-and the public's right

to hear."

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