vol. 12, no. 2

`Amer!

Civil Liberties

- Uni

"Fiernal vigilance is the price of liberty."

{ Vol. Xi.

SAN FRANCISCO, FEBRUARY, 1947

No. 2

Immigration Service Holds

-G. |. Wives Incommunicade

The, Civil Liberties Union of Northern Cali-

fornia protested without avail late last month to

the Central Office of the Immigration Service in

Philadelphia against the action of its District

Office in San Francisco in holding incommunicado

the alleged wives and children of Chinese G. Ls

who arrived from China in four ship loads on and

after January 17-900 of them as late as Janu-

ary 30. Hundreds of women and children are

being held under jail-like

conditions at the de-

tention quarters in the Appraisers Building in

San Francisco. ;

As we go to press, many of the immigrants

have been detained for two weeks without being

permitted to see their husbands or to communi-

cate with them in any way. Some of the husbands

came from considerable distances to escort their

- families to their homes and cannot afford to

remain in San Francisco for any extended period.

It is quite possible that many of the wives will

be held for many more weeks or even months

before the Immigration Service is able to conclude

hearings to determine the right of the immigrants

to enter the country. The Service admits it is

able to handle only fourteen hearings a day.

The difficulty stems from the fact that there

are no official marriage records in China and

the Immigration Service is fearful that many cf

the women are not actually the wives of the ex-

-gervice men. Of course, Mr. I. F. Wixon, the Dis-

trict Director, hastens to assure the Union that

tio. a Committees.

- is quoted as sa ying,

he has no evidence that these women are making

false claims, but since the husbands are witnesses

in the various proceedings, he wants to keep them

from their wives in order to prevent them from

_ getting together on their stories.

Mr. T. B. Shoemaker, Acting Commissioner of

Immigration, wired the Union on January 28

that the "Action of the San Francisco District

0x00B0

in refusing permission for alleged Chinese GI

wives and children to receive visits or messages

from their close relatives has been approved by

the Central Office." In a telephone conversation,

Mr. Shoemaker informed Ernest Besig, the

Union's local director, that as far as he was con-

cerned he would not even permit the GI wives to

see attorneys. :

The Union has now requested Washington to

intervene in the problem. California Senators and

jJocal Congressmen have been urged to come to

whe aid of the service men. The Union has also

made representations to Attorney General Tom

c. Clark and to the Senate and House Immigra-

Aa editorial in the January 30 issue of the

San .Trancisco Chronicle accused the Immigra-

tion Setvice of using its force "as if it were a

private .uilitia in a totalitarian state." Said the

Chronicle; "The whole experience with the local

headquarters indicates that the detention of

foreigners hare, if often necessary, has been ad-

ministered with an unnecessary and intolerable

amount of cisoourtesy, runaround and grudging

performance of minimum duty. The district, in

short, is being run much as if it were a private

militia in a toi'alitarian state, unobliged to ob-

serve civil rights' Very closely and unaccountable

to anyone except jts own chain of command."

ae

Released School Time for Religious

Instruction Upheld by Ill. Sup. Court

According to press dispatches, the Illinois Su-

preme Court on January 22 upheld the constitu-

tionality of released school time for religious

instruction in the Champaign schools. The suit

was brought by Mrs. Vashti McCollum. The Court

i "We do not find anything

that would waricant us in finding there has been

any violation of State and Federal guaranties."

fh

a. . a wo % yr

euro

San Francisco

Against

In a case involving shocking police brutality,

Municipal Judge Matthew F. Brady of San Fran-

cisco on January 10 dismissed charges brought

against Alvin G. Sweetwyne, a colored man, by 2.

drunken special policeman. Sweetwyne, although

badly injured, had himself gone to the Central

Police Station to file charges against the officer

who had beaten him, but instead he was placed

under arrest and charged with disturbing the

peace, resisting an officer and "$1000 Vag." After

a trial in which Sweetwyne was ably defended

by attorney Francis McCarty, provided by the

Civil Liberties Union, Judge Brady declared, oL

am not satisfied to a moral certainty and beyond

a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty

of these charges, and the matter will be dis-

missed." The "$1000 Vag." charge was dismissed

previously on the motion of the Assistant Dis-

trict Attorney.

The Police Department took no action against

the special policeman, Leon A. Getchell, who

resides at 1871-45th St., San Francisco, until the

ACLU filed charges against him. After an in-

vestigation, the Department decided there was no

evidence to sustain the charges in view of an

absolute denial from Getchell and the testimony

of fellow officers that he was sober.

Further action against tne police officer ae-

pends upon whether the Union is able to locate

an important witness, Mr. J. O. Field, an em-

ployee of the Southern Pacific. Mr. Field was

reluctant to discuss the case with either side. He

insisted upon being subpoened, but indicated that

he had seen enough to cause him to complain to

the NAACP. Unfortunately, the subpoena could

Alcatraz Warden Won't Permit Convict

To Improve English to Lambast Prison

On February 10, Federal Judge Michael J.

Roche will consider the application of Alcatraz

prisoner Richard A. Numer for a writ of mandate

to compel Warden James A. Johnston to permit

him to enroll in a University of California exten-

sion course in English. According to the warden,

prisoners are encouraged to take such courses.

But when the University, as is its custom,

asked Numer why he wanted to take the course,

he answered that he wanted to expose "the vile

conditions which have driven men insane and to

insane attempts to escape." Thereupon, the As-

sociate Warden E. J. Miller was very much an-

noyed and denied Numer permission to take the

course. In a letter to the Dnion, Warden John-

ston claimed Numer's statement "interests me

only because the time and manner of stating it

is but another display of disregard for proprieties.

_. Ido not think contumacious conduct should be

encouraged or countenanced."

We venture to say the Court will decide that

Mr. Numer has no legal right to take the course

of study, and that the Warden may permit some,

all, or none of his Alcatraz family to take exten-

sion courses. At the same time, it seems to us

that the Warden's office is entirely lacking in a

sense of humor when it cannot appreciate the

idea of a convict taking a course of English in

order to lambast the prison administration when

he is released.

We gather from our conversations with the

Warden that Numer is somewhat of a neurotic,

and the rather naive outburst in his statement to

the University would seem to support the war-

den's judgment. To our mind, that is all the more

reason why this matter should have been ignored.

Possibly Numer behaved like the average human

being who has been shut up in a prison for many.

years. We fail to see, however, how the iron

hand of discipline is of any value in such a petty

matter.-E.B.

Negro Victim Of Pol

ot out cf his car an

misses Charges

ice Brutality

not be served because Field suddenly left for Los:

Angeles where his mother had suffered a stroke,

and the Union's latest information is that he is

now in Texas. If Mr. Field becomes available, the

Union will file criminal charges against Getchell,

as well as charges before the Police Commission.

A. civil suit is also being considered. The facts in |

the case are as follows:

Alvin G. Sweetwyne, 31, iresides at 12 San An-

tonio Pl., San Francisco. He is married and the

father of four small children. During the past

five years he has been employed at the Naval

Air Station in Alameda as a metalsmith. Besides

his federal job, Sweetwyne also works as a free

lance photographer on Saturdays, Sundays and

evenings.

Late Sunday night, December 14, Sweetwyne

took some pictures in the Fillmore section of

San Francisco. While waiting to catch a street

car at his home, he noticed an automobile stand-

ing partially on the sidewalk' with its motor

racing. A police officer stood alongside the car

while another officer, Leon Getchell, stumbled

out and urinated on the sidewalk. Getchell then

climbed back into the car and, laughing uproar- "

iously, shone his spotlight on the second officer

as he retreated down the street. Getchell again

to stumbled to a nearhy hank

building, fruitlessly rattling the door and bang-

ing on the windows. Then, drawing his gun, he

lurched across the street and yelling "Halt, Halt!"

stopped a Negro pedestrian.

`Sweetwyne was about to take a picture of the

scene when Getchell pointed his gun at him and

(Continued on Page 3, Column 1)

TEST SUITS FILED ON BEHALF

OF JAPANESE ENEMY ALIENS

A petition for a writ of habeas corpus was

filed in the U. S. District Court in Philadelphia

on January 27 by Toshihide Toriye and 20 other

persons of Japanese ancestry who are detained

under "relaxed internment" at the Seabrook

Farms, New Jersey, by the Justice Department

as dangerous enemy aliens for ultimate removal

to Japan. A show cause order has issued which

is returnable on March 24.

A similar suit was scheduled to be filed in the

federal court in San Antonio, Texas, on behalf

of 14 more Japanese enemy aliens who are de-

tained at the Crystal City, Texas, internment

camp. The Japanese are all represented by at-

torneys Wayne M. Collins, George G. Olshausen

and Theodore Tamba of San Francisco.

Respondents in the Philadelphia suit are the

District Director of the Immigration and Naturali-

zation Service and Tom C. Clark, Attorney Gen-

eral of the United States.

While the Japanese Government surrendered

on August 10, 1945, practically a year and a half

ago, and V-J Day was proclaimed by the Presi-

dent on September 2, 1945, the President has

continued to exercise his powers under the Alien

Enemy Act of 1798. A brief which accompanies

the Philadelphia petition contends that, "If the

war is ended the Alien Enemy Act has expired

and no person can be removed to a foreign coun-

try under its authority."

The thirty-five enemy aliens have been interned

for almost five years. Many of them have wives

and children who are U. S. Citizens. The Justice

Department is also detaining as enemy aliens

370 Nisei who renounced their citizenship. How-

ever, these persons have filed suit in San Fran-

cisco claiming they renounced their citizenship

under duress. The case has been under submis-

sion to Judge A. F. St. Sure in San Francisco

for a couple of months.

Page 2

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Criticism Of Naval Policy

In Pacific Brings Action

Numerous criticisms of naval rule of Pacific

islands finally brought last month appointment

of a three-man civilian committee by Secretary

of the Navy James V. Forrestal. Its members

are: Ernest Martin Hopkins, president emeritus

of Dartmouth College, chairman, and former

Governor Maurice J. Tobin of Massachusetts and

Dr, Knowles A. Ryerson of the University of

California.

The committee has been asked by Secretary

Forrestal to submit recommendations on such

matters as the political, social and economic

status of the native inhabitans, and measures

to improve them, as well as an organic act for

establishing island governments and conferring

American citizenship. Samoa and Guam, long

held under navy rule, are the islands chiefly

involved.

The ACLU is preparing to join with other

agencies in backing a new bill in Congress to

give all native peoples a "Bill of Rights and U. S.

citizenship, with civilian rule." A similar measure

was introduced in the last Congress.

Limited Mail Service

To Japan Resumed

First class mail service to Japan, including

business communications of a non-transactional

nature, was resumed last month for the first

time since hostilities ceased, according to an an-

nouncement by the Post Office which also stated

that the ban on exchange of similar business cor-

respondence with Germany had been lifted. Mail

service had previously been resumed to all zones

of occupied Germany April 1 after a six month

campaign by the American Civil Liberties Union

and other organizations to reestablish communi-

cations, It had been limited, however, to the ex-

change of private correspondence of a non-

commercial nature.

While commending the Post Office's action, :

the Union will continue to press for the remo-

val of restrictions on sending newspapers, perio-

dicals and books to and from Germany and

Japan. In a recent letter to the President, the

. ACLU declared that "the interest of American

people in framing or supporting intelligent fo-

-~ reign policy requires access to the material pub-

lished in foreign countries." While conceding that

censorship may have been necessary earlier in

the occupation, the letter declared that "demo-

eratic principles cannot be encouraged, save by

the widest possible dissemination of opinion with

the right of criticism of any or all governments.

If these occupied regions are to receive a train-

ing in democratic methods, debate and criticism

should be encouraged, not suppressed."

ANTI-INJUNCTION LAW |

UPHELD IN NEW JERSEY

The highest court in New Jersey, the Court

of Errors and Appeals, recently upheld the state

labor injunction law which had been declared un-

constitutional by Vice Chancellor Bigelow in a

case last March involving striking electrical

workers in Newark. The ACLU entered the case

as a friend of the court in support of the con-

tentions of the United Electrical Workers, CIO.

The vice-chancellor's decision was the only one

in many states with anti-injunction laws holding

such an act unconstitutional.

The court, however, upheld the vice-chancel-

lor's order against mass picketing, maintaining

that the restraints imposed permitted the strik-

ers adequately to make known the existence of

a strike. The ACLU, while not upholding mass

picketing that denies access to a struck plant,

contended that the order was far too sweeping.

Bill Limits Right of Calif. Policemen

To Join Or Contribute to Unions

Seven California Assemblymen, headed by

George R. Butters, a rancher of labor-hating

Brawley (Imperial Valley), have introduced legis-

lation, A.B. 460, making it a misdemeanor for

police officers to have any dealings with labor

organizations. Not only would police officers be

barred from joining, but they would also be pro-

hibited from contributing to the support of such

an organization. Ordinarily, legislation of this

type is limited to a prohibition against policemen

belonging to an organization asserting the right

the strike. The proposal reads, in part, as follows:

"Tt shall be unlawful for any peace officer to

organize or assist in organizing to join or agree

to join any labor organization or to financially

maintain or contribute to the support of such

organization."

`author of "Under Cover;

Union Finds 1946

International

In a review of civil liberties in 1946, released

by the national office of the American Civil Lib-

erties Union, the `most striking development of

the year" was listed as "the new international sig-

nificance of the treatment of racial and national

minorities by the United States." Citing the deci-

sions of the United Nations General Assembly

on racial issues and colonial peoples, the Union

held that the `forthcoming Congress would be

faced with changing American policy by bills for

the repeal of the oriental exclusion act, the

settlement of the future status of colonial Puerto

Rico and for the civil instead of naval govern-

ment of Pacific islands."

The Union added that the "treatment of the

Negro people will play an increasing role in the

moral position of the U. S. in international coun-

cils" and therefore made "more important than

ever the passage by Congress of anti-lynching -

laws, stronger civil rights laws, and a fair em-

ployment practices act." | ;

Recounting the sains of 1946, the Union cited

Supreme Court decisions banning racial segrega-

tion in inter-state buses, barring post-office cen-

sorship of the contents of second-class matter

in the ESQUIRE case, granting the admission of

alien pacifists to citizenship, and the affirmation

of the supremacy of civil over military authority

in Hawaii during the war. It cited as gains the

passage by Congress of laws admitting Filipinos

ignificance of Race

larked by

Relations

and East Indians to citizenship and setting up a

commission to settle the long-standing claims

of American Indians to compensation for lands

taken from them, Hailed also as advances were

the President's appointment of commissions on

amnesty for conscientious objectors and on the

strengthening of federal laws for protecting civil

rights.

Losses during the year were listed as the rise

in racial prejudice in Southern states with sev-

eral outbreaks of mob violence and increased

lynchings, the failure of the bill in Congress to

outlaw the poll tax in federal elections, the

growth of racial "ghettos" all over the country

through restrictive housing covenants, the in-

creased intrusion of religious practices in public

education contrary to Jaw, and the numerous

cases of censorship of books, plays and motion

pictures by local authorities.

The Union's statement concluded that "the

issues of the rights of racial minorities and of

trade unions and their members will doubtless

occupy primary attention in the months to come.

The new Congress will have the chance to write

a new chapter in applying the Bill of Rights to

the most vexed areas in our democracy. With |

democracy challenged throughout the world by

totalitarian concepts claivting better to advance 4 :

progress, the United States, as the strongest

democracy, faces an unparalleled obligation to

make good its professions."

BATTLE ON CENSORSHIP

OF FILMS LOOMS

Attack by the Catholic church authorities in

Los Angeles last month on David O. Selznick's

"Duel in the Sun," it is feared by spokesmen for

the moving picture industry, will give further

impetus to local censorship movements.

The controversy is highlighted by the battle

over recommendations last month by the New

York Board of Regents for legislation to amend

New York's anti-obscenity laws which now en-

able the Board to act on film advertising in

periodicals but not on billboards and posters.

Morris L. Ernst, counsel for the ACLU, de-

clared that any attempt by the legislature to

grant greater powers to the Regents would be

unconstitutional. "No official should have the

power to ban a work," he asserted, "without pre-

liminary jury conviction for violation of obscen-

ity laws." :

The censorship fight came out in the open

with the Board's recent ruling that Howard

Hughes' film, "The Outlaw," can be played any-

where in New York state except the metropoli-

tan area where legal skirmishes with New York

City License Commissioner Benjamin Fielding,

continue in the courts. To counteract adverse

action in the future, the ACLU is preparing to

introduce legislation in Albany which would de-

prive the Commissioner of a right to move

against movie theatres before securing prelimin-

ary convictions.

The ACLU opposes any power of control by

state or city officialdom without court convic-

tions. .

Propose Commission to Investigate

Racial Discrimination in State

Senator Jack B. Tenney of Los Angeles has

introduced S.B. 80 in the State Legislature, creat-

ing a Commission on Political and Economic

Equality which would "Investigate conditions in-

volving discrimination against any racial or

minority group in the political or economic -

field." In general, the powers of the commission

would be limited to investigation and education.

Thirty thousand dollars would be appropriated

to carry out the provisions of the act, with $7500

per annum being paid to an Executive Secretary

appointed by the Governor. The nine commis-

sioners would serve without compensation.

BOOK NOTES

THE PLOTTERS, by John Roy Carlson,

" continuing his expo-

sure of the pro-fascist agencies in the U.S. with

some excursions into Communism, to which Mr.

Carlson is equally opposed, but as a lesser threat

to democracy. The book is a well-documented

source of light on most phases of American reac-

tion. E. P. Dutton, New York ($3.50).

THE CONSTITUTION AND CIVIL RIGHTS,

by Milton R. Konvitz of the Cornell faculty; an

invaluable analysis of federal and state civil

rights laws, with an appendix covering half the

book with all existing and proposed laws affect-

ing segregation, discrimination, civil rights and

fair employment. Columbia Univ. Press. ($3.00).

Supt. Pressures Teachers To

Remove Names From Petition

An issue involving the right of petition has

arisen in the Oakland public schools. On De-

cember 12, the Alameda County Federation of

Teachers circulated petitions among the Oakland

teachers urging the Board of Education "to re-

duce the retirement age in the local retirement

plan to age sixty with full benefit."

The petitions were well supported and finally -

sent to the Secretary of the Board of Education.

Thereafter, the Superintendent of Schools sent a

circular letter to the teachers protesting that the

petitions were highly irregular and that the

matter should have been taken up with him or

with the California Teachers' Association Coun-

cil, which the Federation looks upon as a com-

pany union.

While insisting that "None of the foregoing

should be interpreted as forbidding anyone to sign

a petition or send a letter in the manner sug-

gested by the Federation," all of the petitions

were returned to the principals of the various -

schools for the purpose of having teachers re-

move their names. In his letter of transmittal,

Supt. W. R. Odell, stated:

-"T am returning herewith the petitions from

your school sent to Mr. Munck (the Board secre-

tary). These I believe were circulated and for-

warded before my communication of December

17 was received.

"Since that time a number of teachers have

called asking that their names be removed from

the petitions. On that basis I think that you or

whoever was responsible for circulating the peti-

_tions in your school might wish to reconsider the

matter or at least give an opportunity to those

x the group who wish their names removed to

O SO.

"Tf, after further consideration there are some

who wish the petitions presented, they of course

will be taken by me to the Board."

It would seem that if any teachers wanted

their names removed from the petition they

could have gone to the Board secretary and

asked to have them removed or written him to

that effect. The question is being referred to the

meeting of the ACLU's Executive Committee on

February 6.

18-Year-Old Defacer of Synagogues

- Arrested in San Francisco

An 18-year-old boy, the product of a broken-

home, who was impressed by the writings of the

Ku Klux Klan and the preachings of Gerald L. K.

Smith, was arrested last month for defacing the

walls of two San Francisco synagogues with the

insignia of the Klan and Georgia's anti-Semitic

Columbians, Incorporated. The boy was caught

after he was heard talking approvingly of the

Columbians' program.

The boy has not been sent to jail. Instead he

has been placed on probation and an attempt

will be made to re-educate him.

e

- te os

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Page 3

CHARGES AGAINST VICTIM OF

POLICE BRUTALITY DISMISSED

| (Continued from Page 1, Column 3)

said `You come here, too." The other man was

released with a warning but for half an hour

Getchell punctuated his questioning of Sweet-

wyne with blows to the jaw and demands that

Sweetwyne "reach" as he thrust a gun at him.

Sweetwyne claims he showed Getchell his draft

card and driver's license, and then Getchell took

his Alameda Air Base employee's badge which

bears Sweetwyne's picture, number, signature,

etc. Getchell claimed Sweetwyne was lying bhe-

cause "Niggers" don't do the kind of work he

claimed he did. At this time, the two men were

in a dark spot at O'Farrell and Fillmore Streets,

and whenever anybody went by Getchell would

wave them on. It appears Field was one of the

_ persons who was waved on, but he apparently

crossed the street and watched the proceedings.

Sweetwyne finally managed to get around the

corner to Johnson's cafeteria at 1515 Fillmore

Street with the officer hanging on to him. Sweet-

_wyne refused the officer's demands that he go

outside again. He testified, "If you wish to arrest

-me, if you call another officer or cali the wagon,

I will submit to arrest, but I dare not go outside

in the dark because you want to beat up on me

again, and I don't think I can stand any more

beating." At that Getchell drew his club and said,

"Are you going outside?" When Sweetwyne re-

fused, Getchell hit him over the head, opening a

deep cut in his forehead that later required three

stitches.

Getchell refused to call an ambulance, but said

he'd call the wagon. He disappeared in the back

of the restaurant and some bystanders helped

Sweetwyne to a cab. Instead of driving to the

emergency hospital, he drove to the Central

Police Station where he complained against

Getchell. The police said they would have to

investigate and after about half an hour Sweet-

wynhe was driven to the Central Emergency Hos-

pital where his wound was attended to. Then he

was driven to the Northern Station where he

again sought to place charges against Getchell.

Finally, Getchell came in at about six o'clock in

civilian dress but still reeking from liquor. He

placed the various charges against Sweetwyne

and then escorted him to the tank. On the way

he patted Sweetwyne on the back and said, "From

the information we have, I see you may be a

pretty good boy. Play along with me and I'll see

if I can recover your photographic equipment."

The equipment Sweetwyne lost was worth more

_ than $200.

Sweetwyne was finally bailed out by his wife

and was sent to the ACLU by a reporter at the

San Francisco Chronicle where he had taken his

complaint.

Getchell has been a patrol special officer since

April 1, 1946. While he comes under the jurisdic-

tion of the Police Commission, he is in business

for himself and his earnings depend upon the

. humber of customers he can secure. There are 61

of such patrol special officers in San Francisco,

besides 12 assistants.

Once a beat is assigned to a patrol special

officer by the Commission, he has a property

interest in it which he can sell to someone else,

so long as the Police Commission finds the suc-

cessor is physically fit and has a good record.

Some beats pay very handsomely. It is reported .

that there are three in the City where the income

is $1000 a month-more than the Chief of Police

is paid.

These officers are really glorified watchmen.

They are required to make arrests if they witness

violations of the law, but by and large they prefer

not to make arrests. They get their own cus-

tomers, and, according to reports, there is a cer-

tain amount of intimidation that often enters

into it. They charge what the trrafic will bear,

and no accounting is made to anyone except the

Tax Collector (we hope). Moreover, no public -

agency has a list of a patrol special oficer's

customers.

The whole business is a good racket that is

overdue for elimination or. close regulation.

580 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES BARRED FROM

JOBS ON DISLOYALTY CHARGES

The U. S. Civil Service Commission announced

last month that during the past three years 580

Federal appointees had been ruled ineligible on

loyalty grounds. Of the 580, the Commission

reported, 317 were alleged Communists or sup-

porters of Communism, 263 were pro-Japanese,

pro-Nazi, or pro-Fascist, "or otherwise of ques-

tionable loyalty."

Proposed Law Would Bar Gerald

Smith From Use of Civic Centers

Assemblyman Ralph C, Dills of Compton has:

introduced in the State Legislature "By Request,"

A.B. 190, which is aimed at preventing the Rev.

Gerald L. K. Smith and persons of his stripe

from using civic centers for their meetings. The

bill provides that, "Any use, by any individual,

society, group, or organization which has as its

object, or as one of its objects, or is affiliated

with any group, society, or organization which

has as its object or one of its objects, the dis-

crimination against any person or group of per-

sons because of race, color, creed, or religion shall

not be granted, permitted, or suffered."

This bill runs contrary to the opinion of the

State Supreme Court handed down on June 26

last which held that once public schools are

opened as meeting places, school boards may not

refuse their use to persons whose convictions and

affiliations they do not tolerate. Consequently,

the so-called Tenney amendments to the Civic

Center Act, prohibiting the use of schools as

meeting places by persons or groups advocating

the violent overthrow of the government or by

"subversive elements," was held to be in viola-

tion of the guarantee of free speech under the

14th Amendment to the Constitution.

The bill by Mr. Dills is patterned after the

Tenney amendments which were held to be un-

constitutional. It would seem to make no differ-

ence whether the prohibition is aimed at "sub-

versives" or race and religious bigots, because,

as Justice Traynor declared in his brilliant opin-

ion, "The convictions or affiliations of one who

requests the use of a school as a forum is of no

more concern to the school administrator than

to a superintendent of parks or streets if the

forum is the green or the market place. .. . It

is true that the state need not open the doors of

a school building as a forum and may at any

time choose to close them. Once it opens the

doors, however, it cannot demand tickets of ad-

mission in the form of convictions and affilia-

tions that it deems acceptable."'

Mr. Dills informed the Union that he had re-

ceived an opinion from the Legislative Counsel

upholding the constitutionality of his bill some-

time last June but apparently before the State

Supreme Court had spoken. The Union has just

furnished Mr. Dills with a copy of the court's

opinion and has asked him whether he intends

to press the bill in the light of opinion.

WITCH HUNTING

Identical bills have been introduced in

State Senate and Assembly providing that,

"Any teacher in the public schools or any

state-supported educational institution who

advocates, or is a member of an organiza-

tion which advocates, overthrow of the

Government of the United States or of the

State by force, violence, or other unlawful

means shall be dismissed."

The proposal is sponsored by Sen. Jack

B. Tenney of Los Angeles and the members

of his Committee on Un-American Activi-

ties, In the Assembly, the bill, A.B. 65, was _

introduced by Messrs, Thompson and

Dickey, while in the Senate, Sen. Tenney

heads a list of 11 senators on what is known

as S.B. 97.

The Legislature has appropriated $8000

for the Tenney Committee to print its re-

port. That brings the Committee's expendi-

tures to $78,067,

Union Asks Clerics to Express Views

On Broadcasting by Atheists

The volume of mail from listeners who wrote

the FCC and station KQW, San Francisco, to

condemn or support the right of a radio station

to permit atheists to talk on the air has snow-

balled since the station granted time on Novem-

ber 17 to Robert Harold Scott to express his

views, following an FCC order.

To determine the stand of prominent clergy4

men regarding the Federal Communications Com-

mission's pointed reprimand to three California

radio stations which denied broadcast time to

Mr. Scott last July, the ACLU has invited priests,

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Rev. John Haynes Holmes, chairman of the

Board of Directors of the ACLU, in a letter to

Clifford J. Durr of The Federal Communications

Commission, declared:

"This case cuts right to the heart of the whole

issue of civil liberties. In any free society, an

atheist has the same rights as a theist or hu-

manist. If an atheist is to be denied a hearing,

then all minority groups in religion are instantly

placed in jeopardy. This California heretic must

be vindicated and guaranteed his every right

under the Bill of Rights."

g

y Area Union Charged

ith Race Discrimination

The ACLU of Northern California is investi-

gating the case of Zenichi Kambara, 31, of 1624

Oregon St., Berkeley, who on January 27 was

"pulled" from his job as a "wrapper" at General

Interiors Consolidated in Oakland by Mrs. Rose

White, business representative of the Venetian

Blind Workers Union, Local 2565, an affiliate of

the Carpenters Union. The employer and the

employee both charge racial discrimination on

the part of the Union.

The Union enjoys a closed shop in the venetian

blind industry. Under the existing contract, "In

the filling of vacancies or new positions, the Em-

ployer agrees to give preference of employment

to members of the Union." ae

Last July, the employer claims the Union was

unable to furnish him with workers so he was

compelled to do his own hiring. At that time,

Kambara was employed as a "wrapper." For

seven months the Union's representative collected

$3 a month (regular dues is $2 a month) from

Kambara and gave him a receipt for his money.

The ACLU is informed that the Union's By- 3

Laws limit permits to a period of three months,

after which the employee is required to join the

Union and pay the initiation fee which is around

$20. This is the first time in the industry, accord-

hg to the employer, that a permit man has not

been allowed membership after three months.

On January 23, the Union's business repre-

sentative wrote the employer that Kambara was

"put to work in your shop without notice to the

officials" of the Union, and "without affording

the unemployed members of that Union an op-

portunity to go to work." The Union claimed it

had unemployed members when Kambara went

to work and that it still has unemployed mem-

bers. Therefore, the employer was requested to

discharge Kambara and to replace him with an -

unemployed member of the Union. On the other

hand, the employer claims the Union is still un- |

able to supply the industry's demands for labor.

_There is no substantial basis to the Union's

claim that Kambara was put to work without

notice to the officials of the Union. Obviously, -

when the business agent took Kambara's dues of

$3 a month she had notice that he was employed.

It is also claimed by the Union that Kambara had

_ not been granted a permit to work, because no

document in the nature of a permit was actually

given to him. On the other hand, Kambara was

treated no differently than any other workers

who receive permits from the Union. They never

receive any documents except receipts for their

dues. Also, it is noteworthy that General Inter-

iors has other employees working on so-called

permits who came after Kambara, but the Union

has not sought to discharge them.

The ACLU discussed the matter with Mrs.

Rose White, the Union's representative, and

while she denied there was any racial discrimina-

tion against Kambara, the conversation eventual-

ly got around to the question whether Ernest

Besig, the ACLU director, would like to live next

door to colored people. Efforts are being made

to discuss the issue with the International Repre- -

sentative of the Carpenters Union. The matter

will come before the ACLU's Executive Commit-

tee on February 6.

A couple of years ago the State Supreme-Court

in the Marin Ship case decided that the Boiler-

makers Union could not have a closed shop and a

closed union at the same time. In that case,

Negroes were refused membership in the Union

and were placed in "auxiliaries" which enjoyed

virtually no benefits of membership in the Union.

RIGHT TO GRITIGIZE POLICE UPHELD

BY NEW YORK MAGISTRATE

A private citizen's right to protest the conduct

of police officers believed abusing their authority

was upheld by New York City Magistrate Peter

A. Abeles Jan. 6 when he dismissed charges of

disorderly conduct against the Reverend Ashton

Jones. A well known Southern pacifist, Jones

had remonstrated with a policeman he had seen

beating a Negro and was himself arrested after

he had demanded the officer's badge number. The

judge's decision came after an all day court

battle in which Theodore Diamond and Allen

Glass, representing the ACLU, defended Jones'

right to free speech.

In an effort to back up the charges against

Jones, the police called four witnesses who told

conflicting stories and ascribed acts of violence

to Jones which were not credited by the Court.

ACLU counsel viewed the decision as helping to

establish the security of the private citizen

against arbitrary police action.

Page 4

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

=

American Civil Liberties Union-News

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

Calif., by the American Civil Liberties Union

of Northern California. -

Phone: EXbrook 1816

FEERRNEST BESIG ....... --c---c-cc-cececseterscorstessretn consents Editor

- Bntered as second-class matter, July 81, 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.

U.S. Supreme Court

Decides 3 C.O. (c)

`Conscientious objection to war figured in three

recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, with one fav-

orable, and two adverse to the contentions made

by the appellants.

The convictions of two Jehovah's Witnesses

by federal circuit courts, in one case for leaving

a civilian public service camp, and in the other,

for refusal to report to camp as ordered by the

draft board, were reversed, with the Court unan-

151- "gap

imously holding that proper trials had been de-.

nied to both when the lower courts refused to

permit them to challenge their draft classifica-

tions. Speaking for the Court, Justice Rutledge

ruled that persons directed to civilian camps

could not be deprived of the right to defend

themselves on the ground that their classifica-

tion was not valid. There are `obvious and im-

portant differences,' the Court asserted, "`be-

tween selectees ordered to military duty and men

directed to CPS camps." The reversal frees both

Jehovah's Witnesses from five year sentences.

The. Court denied the appeal of a Los Angeles

Socialist, Herman Berman, which would have

called for interpretation of the ruling which

grants exemption to men who are CO's "by rea-

son of religious training or belief." Berman had

been sentenced to three and a half years' im-

prisonment for refusing induction after his draft

board rejected his claim of conscientious objec-

tion to war on humanitarian grounds. The U. S.

Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco, in

sustaining the conviction, declared that "no

matter how pure and admirable (his) standard

- may be, his philosophy and morals and social

policy without the concept of deity cannot be

said to be religion." In challenging the lower

court's decision and asking the high court to re-

view, the ACLU, in a brief amicus signed by

Ernest Angell, Julien Cornell and Osmond Fraen-

kel all of New York City, pointed out the con-

tradictory interpretations of the phrase "reli-

gious training and belief" 7ario

by Selective Service Boards and Circuit Courts

of Appeals. Berman will now be obliged to serve

the, sentence.

--_In the third case, the high court reversed the

decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals at New

York to release two theological students from

military service on the ground that the local

draft boards had placed undue weight and se-

erecy on the report of an advisory theological

panel. The panel had held that the defendants

"attendance at the seminary had been motivated

by a desire to secure a basis for exemption"'

under the selective service act. Justice William

O. Douglas, for the court, said: "We do not

think that the use of the theological panel per

se infected the whole administrative proceeding

and rendered it so unfair as to be nugatory."

The students will be obliged to enter the army.

PUBLIC FAVORS RELEASE OF

"OBJECTORS" FROM PRISON

The Gallup Poll announced late last month

that the great majority of American voters now

favor the release from prison of conscientious

objectors convicted under the draft law. The

question, presented in the poll was as follows:

"During the war, some conscientious objectors

_were sent to prison for refusing to serve in any

way in the armed forces. Do you think these

men should now be let out of prison?"

Sixty-nine percent of the voters favored re-

lease of the more than 300 men still in prison,

while twenty-three percent were opposed. Hight

percent had no opinion on the question. Two out

of every three service men favored release of the

objectors.

FINAL VOTE ON PROP. 15

The final vote on Proposition No. 15, ratifying

amendments to the Alien Land Law, was 797 067

in favor of the proposal with 1,143,780 against

it. Thirty-two of California's 58 counties opposed

the measure, while support for it came mostly

from the smaller counties, except San Diego,

where the vote went 5 to 4 in its favor.

held at various times -

President's Draft Amnesty

Beard Meets This Month

President Truman's special amnesty board to

consider the cases of 11,000 violators of the

Selective Service Act is scheduled to meet this

month. Chairman of the Board is former Su-

preme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts. The other

two members of the Board are Willis Smith of

North Carolina, former president of the Ameri-

can Bar Association and James.F. O'Neill of New

Hampshire, former vice-chairman of the Ameri-

ean Legion's Americanism Committee.

The President's action climaxes a long cam-

- paign for release of the remaining conscientious

objectors from prison and the restoration of

civil rights to all the 5000 convicted. The desig-

nation of all violators of the act was evidently

made by the President, according to the ACLU,

to include men not officially held to be con-

scientious objectors but whose resistance was

based on moral grounds. Among them are Puerto

Rican Nationalists who refused to fight for "the

imperialist United States," Negroes who refused

to serve in a Jim Crow army, Indians who claim-

ed exemption by ancient treaties, and Japanese-

Americans who refused to serve while confined

in concentration camps. /

In making the. announcement the President

said: "Freedom of conscience is basic to our

American tradition of individual liberty. Acting

under the powers granted the President by the

Constitution, I have today issued an executive

order creating the President's Amnesty Board.

This Board will examine the cases of all persons

convicted under the Selective Training and Serv-

ice Act of 1940 and will recommend those per-

sons it deems deserving of executive clemency."

It is assumed in view of the large number of

men involved that action will be recommended

by categories so that all men similarly convicted

for taking the same position will be pardoned

as a group.

The board will not exercize any power over

men still in prison who are being released under

a liberalized parole system. All men are automa-

tically paroled, whatever their sentences, after

serving twelve months, the period now fixed for

army service of draftees. On December 15, De-

partment of Justice reports showed 435 J ehovah's

Witnesses still in prison with 50 slated for De-

cember release, and 45 conscientious objectors,

of whom 12 were due out in December. | :

The campaign for amnesty has been conducted

by the Committee for Amnesty, headed by the

Rev. A. J. Muste, in which the ACLU is repre-

`sented. It has been marked by persistent day-

and-night picketing of the Department of Justice

by several objectors and by picketing demonstra-

tions at the White House. The campaign has had

wide support in the press and among non-paci-

fists, with opposition coming only from oldline

veterans' agencies.

SCORE NEW YORK CITY JUDGES

FOR EXCESSIVE BAIL

Protests that the practice of New York city

magistrates in fixing "absurdly high bail or "no

bail at all" violated individual liberty were sent

Jan. 9 to Chief Magistrate Edgar Bromberg,

judges of the General Sessions Municipal Courts,

county district attorneys and Mayor William

O'Dwyer by the N. Y. City Civil Liberties Com-

mittee. Governor Dewey's attention was invited

to the Committee's charge that "prohibitive

bail" constituted a denial of civil liberties.

Citing recent instances where bail has been

set at $250,000 for two material witnesses in

the murder of Scottoriggio, 2 Republican Party

campaign worker, and at $150,000 for a defend-

ant indicted on narcotics charges, the Committee

declared that "to require bail in this amount is |

tantamount to no bail at all and makes a mock-

ery of the Constitution, The right to bail is fun-

damental to our whole concept of individual

liberty and is not something that is to be re-

stricted only to `nice' people."

GLENDORA, CAL., C.O. TRIALS

- DELAYED TO MARCH 11

The government's often delayed trial of sixty

conscientious objectors for striking at the Glen-

dora, Cal., civilian public service camp was post-

poned until March 11 after being scheduled to

start January 3. The strike began on August 21

in protest against payless labor, lack of relief

for dependents of C.O.'s, inconsequential work,

and control of C.P.S. camps by military per-

sonnel. By the time the case will be heard be-

fore Judge Pierson M. Hall in the U.S. Court

in Los Angeles, the indictments will be almost

a year old,

`

PRESIDENT'S CIVIL RIGHTS

`OB

REACH THOUSANDS

Figures released last month for the first time.

by the U.S, Department of Justice show that the

total number of violators of the Selective Service

Act sent to prison up to December 26, 1946, was

11,551. It is estimated that in addition 3,000

more were placed on probation.

Of those sent to prison about one thousand

were classified by the Bureau of Prisons as con-

scientious objectors; about 4,500 were Jehovah's

Witnesses, asking for 4 D classifications as min-

isters. About 150 more' were found to be Puerto

Rican nationalists, Japanese-Americans, Negroes

resisting a Jim Crow army and American In-

dians claiming treaty rights.

Of the remaining six thousand prisoners, 1,109

accepted non-combatant service in the armed

forces and as such their civil rights were re-

stored by Presidential order.

"These figures," according to the ACLU, "show

that about five thousand men sent to prison

were convicted of violating the Selective Service

Act who raised no issue of conscience and whose

rights have not been restored. There may pos- -

sibly be among them some objectors on con-

scientious grounds ignorant of making claims.

It is not known how many of the 3,000 placed on

probation were conscientious objectors."

The Presidential directions for the Amnesty

Board are obviously intended to restore the (c)

rights of citizenship to all men convicted who (c)

resisted induction on grounds of conscience, -

whatever its basis, the American Civil Liberties

Union declared in a memorandum sent on Jan-

uary 20th to former Supreme Court Justice

Owen J. Roberts, president of the Amnesty

Board. |

"The practical argument," states the memo-

-randum which gives a breakdown of the figures

issued by the Department of Justice, "that dis-

tinctions cannot be fairly made between men '

who claimed conscientious scruples and others

who did not, may have merit; but it deserves

acceptance only if it can be shown that no other

method than a general amnesty to all violators

(with specific exceptions of obvious criminal

motivation) will fairly reach all men of `con-

science."

COMMITTEE CHARTS COURSE _

President Truman, condemning "a tendency

in this country" toward revival of bigotry and -

intolerance at the first meeting of his Commit-

tee on Civil Rights on January 9, called for le-

gislation to implement the Bill of Rights and

protect the civil rights of citizens-in "those local

areas from which federal enforcement agen

have been excluded." The President told his

fifteen-member committee "I want the Attorney

General to know just exactly how far he can go

legally."

Stressing the President's recommendations,

Charles E, Wilson, president of General Electric

Company, chairman of the group, asked for

suggestions by ail groups and individuals in-

terested in civil liberties. Mr. Wilson stated that

the immediate task of the committee "in its

very broad inquiry into the civil rights problem"

is to review existing civil rghts statutes, with a

view to strengthening them.

In line with this policy, the American Civil

Liberties Union has in preparation drafts which

will be submitted to the President's Committee

for action. Members of the President's Commit-

- tee include Morris Ernst, general counsel of the

ACLU, and Dr. Frank P. Graham, vice-chairman

of its National Committee.

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San Francisco 5, Calif.

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