vol. 14, no. 2

American

Civil

Union-News

Liberties

Free Assemb

Free Speec! :

lage

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Vol. XIV

SAN FRANCISCO, FEBRUARY, 1949

No. 2

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Tenney Promises Reforms

In "Red Hunt' Procedures

Senator Jack B. Tenney has promised to reform

his red hunting State Senate Committee on un-

American Activities, according to a story in the

January 19 issue of the San Francisco News

written by its star political reporter, Mary Ellen

Leary.

"The chief point on which the senator agreed

his committee has erred," says Miss Leary, "is

in smearing persons who have never been formal-

ly charged with any wrong-doing or tracked

down by his committee, but have been named

haphazardly for `questionable' alliances on which

they have never had a chance to testify.

""Names that some witnesses brought out, or

names that appeared on letterheads, or names

that just popped into testimony have sometimes

been smeared in public opinion because they came

out in our report, Senator Tenney is quoted as

saying.

" "We have gotten the largest amount of criti-

cism for this. I personally think it's a meritorious

eriticism, | oS

Hereafter, the committee plans to make a very

careful separation of its "report,'' which contains

opinions and judgments which the committee

forms on persons related to un-Americanism, and

the testimony offered on which that report is

based. "We're going to ignore the whoie letter

head brigade of Communist fronts," Sen. Tenney

is reported as saying.

All persons named in testimony hereafter will

have a transcript of such testimony sent to them

and a chance to put their reply in the record.

The Tenney committee does not intend to per-

mit cross-examination because the senator con-

siders Communists "would abuse the privilege."

As for granting a witness the right to consult

- eounsel when before his committee, Senator Ten-

ney says that is followed now.

oo

Suits Filed to Stop Summary

Removal of 2 Issei to Japan

Writs of habeas corpus were filed in the

federal court in San Francisco on January 13

in behalf of two Issei who were taken into

custody by the Immigration Service for removal

to Japan as "dangerous enemy aliens." The

petitions will not be heard until March 7. In the

meantime, Judge Michael J. Roche has ordered

the men freed pending a final determination of

their cases so that they may return to their

homes.

The suits were brought by Frank Y. Miyazawa,

Seattle business man, and Makio Kobayashi, Og-

den laundrymen. The men are represented by at-

torneys Wayne M. Collins, George Olshausen and

Theodore Tamba of San Francisco.

The Government is proceeding under the Alien

Enemy Act of 1797, which permits the President

to arrest and summarily deport enemy aliens

during wartime. Last year, the U. S. Supreme

Court, in a 5 to 4 decision, held that the operation

of the Act does not end with the cessation of

hostilities.

Kobayashi has resided in this country since

August 21, 1919. Miyazawa has resided here

since February 9, 1909.

The two men are the last of a group of 59

Japanese long-time legal residents of the United

States, who were interned during the war. Mr.

Collins negotiated the release of 20 men (many

with families) who had been interned for six

years. The removal of the remaining 39 was

stayed by the filing of a habeas corpus suit in the

federal court in Philadelphia. Thereafter, the

Government released another dozen internees,

and the remaining 27 were paroled into the cus-

tody of Mr. Collins while the Philadelphia case

was pending on appeal. Last fall, the Justice

Department finally ordered the release of all but

Kobayashi and Miyazawa, and the Philadelphia

suit was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.

A Survey of Proposals Affecting Civil

Liberties Introduced in the Cal. Legislature

Civil liberties bills at the current session of

the California Legislature fall into three catego-

ries - red-hunting bills, race relations measures

and a miscellaneous group of proposals. The

good bills are essentially in the racial field.

This survey does not undertake to cover the

bills introduced during the last week of the first

session of the Legislature which has adjourned

until March. Since there is a veritable deluge of

bills introduced during the last week of the first

session, the following article can only give about

half of the picture at this point.

Also, in submitting this information, it should

be borne in mind that the Union's Executive Com-

mittee has not had an opportunity to pass upon

the various measures, so any opinions expressed

are merely those of the writer of this article.

Alleged Racial Discrimination

By Draft Board Probed

The ACLU of Northern California is trying to

find out whether the Placer County Selective

Board at Auburn, California, is engaging in racial

discrimination in making its draft calls. Thus

far, nine men have been inducted into the Army

from that Board, of whom eight were of Japanese

ancestry.

The State Director of the Selective Service

System, Col. K. H. Leitch, in response to the

Union's request for an investigation, declared,

"We have looked into the matter and find no

irregularities and no departure from the Regu-

lations." -

The Union requested a further examination of

the matter, in view of the fact that Placer County

does not have a preponderance of Japanese in its

population, and especially because Placer County

at one time had the reputation of being violently

anti-Japanese in its sentiments. The Union asked

to be supplied with the total registration of

the board as well as the number of Japanese

registrants.

Col. Charles F. Going, Deputy State Director

of Selective Service, late last month advised the

Union that `the total registration. for Local

Board No. 17 is two thousand four hundred sixty-

one, of whom nine have been inducted. Hight

were of Japanese ancestry and the ninth was not.

Of the one hundred forty-five registrants of

Japanese ancestry in that local board, seventeen

are in I-A, ninety-five are deferred or exempted,

twenty-four are unclassified, and as stated above,

eight were inducted and one other enlisted. The

local board so far has ordered forty-five regis-

trants for pre-induction physical examination, of

which twenty-one were of Japanese ancestry and

twenty-four were not.

"As stated in our previous correspondence,"

said Col. Going, `"`we see no evidence whatsoever

of the board's having acted arbitrarily or capri-

ciously. The explanation appears to lie in the fact

-that there was a preponderance of registrants

of Japanese ancestry in the older age groups from

which the board is bound to make its first selec-

tions."

Section 631.7 of the Selective Service regula-

tions provides that registrants shall be selected

and ordered to report for induction in the order

of their dates of birth, with the oldest being

selected first. The Board in question has seven

Nisei who were born in 1922, twenty-seven who

were born in 1923, twenty who were born in 1924,

and twenty-two who were korn in 1925.

General Lewis B. Hershey, national director of

the Selective Service System, has also been re-

quested to investigate the matter. On the basis

of the available information, it is still not clear

why eight out of nine of the board's inductees

were persons of Japanese ancestry, unless there

were practically no Caucasians in the 1922 and

1923 age groups who were subject to induction.

-and Stalin. ~

Senator Jack B. Tenney of Los Angeles, has

introduced his usual quota of red-hunting bills.

Heading the list, of course, is a resolution to

extend the life of the Senate Committee on un-

American Activities for another two years. This

year, however, he has asked for the fantastic

sum of $150,000 with which to finance the com-

mittee's operations-more than the Committee

has spent to this point since its creation on Janu-

ary 21, 1941. Mr. Tenney, no doubt, will be ready

to settle for $100,000, which would still be $5500

more than committee's of this type have cost

during the eight years of their existence.

Assemblyman Elliott and others have intro-

duced Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 6

lambasting the Tenney Committee and declaring

it to be a legislative policy to discontinue such

committees, and to refer matters of subversive

activities to law enforcement agencies.

Seven bills have been introduced on the sub-

ject of loyalty oaths and loyalty checks. A. B. 255

requires all public employees to take loyalty oaths.

Senator Tenney and ten of his supporters have

introduced S. B. 280 which would require public

employees to file an affidavit every year declar-

ing they were not Communists.

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 13 calls

upon members of the Legislature voluntarily to

file affidavits declaring that they are not Com-

munists, and under a proposed constitutional

amendment No. 14, introduced by Senator Tenney

and others, all public officials would be required

to take an oath that they were not Communists

and that they did `not openly or secretly sup-

port any organization which advocates, advises

or practices the political theories of Marx, Lenin

Assembly Constitutional Amend-

ment No. 32 proposed by Mr. Butters and others

is similar to that of Mr. Tenney's.

Another one of Senator Tenney's bills, S. B. 132,

would require all candidates for public office to

swear that they had not "at any time within the

five years next preceding the making of this

declaration, advocated, promulgated, taught or

practiced the communism of Marx, Lenin and

Stalin.

Finally, applicants for the State bar and law-

yers would be subject to a loyalty check and,

after a hearing, could be denied membership in

the State bar.

Another series of bills introduced by Senator

Tenney is also aimed at "subversive activities."

S. B. 129 defines what is communism and what

is a "communist." For example, anybody who

attended a meeting where communism was ad-

vocated would be a communist.

S. B. 1380 would make it a crime ``to teach com-

munism, nazism, fascism, or any other system or

plan of government ... with intent to indoctri-

nate any pupil..." If such a bill were adopted,

it would become mighty dangerous to mention

anything about these subjects in a classroom.

S. B. 297 would "require public records of at-

tendance to be had of secret meetings of organi-

(Continued on Page 3, Column 2)

;

Final Action in Nisei Citizenship `

Renunciation Cases Set for Feb. 25

Federal Judge Louis Goodman of San Fran-

cisco on January 25 granted the Justice Depart-

ment until February 25 in which to designate the

names of those Nisei renunciants it claims ``acted

freely and voluntarily" in renouncing their U. S.

citizenship. It seems highly improbable that

Judge Goodman will grant the Government a

further extension on February 25, but that he

will sign the final order restoring citizenship to

the Nisei who renounced under duress. Attorney

Wayne M. Collins of San Francisco represents

more than five thousand renunciants involved

in the case.

Page 2

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Union Urges D.A. to Prosecute

Brutal S.F. Police Officers

The ACLU last month urged District Attorney

Edmund G. Brown of San Francisco to file crim-

inal charges against two police officers who are

charged with brutally beating one Stewart Bring-

hurst. The officers have been suspended from

their jobs pending a hearing before the Police

Commission, which may result in disciplinary

action.

The police officers defended themselves by

stating that such "workings over" were a com-

mon practice on San Francisco's waterfront. This

led the Union to request "a broad investigation

into police practices in San Francisco." :

The Union's letter to District Attorney Brown

reminded him that the Union's Executive Com-

mittee had recently adopted a resolution `"pro-

testing the inaction of your office in alleged

police brutality cases. While we are not unmind-

ful that such cases present difficult problems for

the prosecutor," the letter went on to say, `"`we

are not convinced that your office has taken

proper action to end lawless enforcement of the

- law by police officers in San Francisco."

The District Attorney recently stated to Ernest

Besig, the Union's director, that there is no police

- brutality problem in San Francisco. The Union

contended that recent occurrences "would appear

to cast serious doubt upon the accuracy of your

conclusions."

In answering the letter, Mr. Brown gave as-

surances that his office would `not in the slight-

est degree tolerate police brutality." At the same

time, he suggested that the problem was properly

one for the Police Department. `"They are charged

' with the duty of investigating all crimes, whether

committed by policemen or anyone else. If they

fail to act, then this office is willing to move into

the picture."

In the present case, Mr. Brown stated, "I think

it is far wiser to await the outcome of the Police

Commission hearing, and if they fail to act we

can proceed by criminal complaint. I have sug-

gested such a procedure to the attorney for the

complaining witness. If he does not believe that

this course is advisable, I am quite willing to re-

_ consider."" My. Brown believes the hearing before

the Police Commission will be speedily disposed of.

In certain police brutality cases that arose last

fall, the Union brought the complainants to the

District Attorney's office. They were ready to

sign complaints but nothing was ever done despite

the urging of the Union. The same lack of inter-

est was shown by the District Attorney's office

in the case of Constantine Theodus, which arose

the latter part of September.

It appears to be a common practice for the

San Francisco Police Department to whitewash

police brutality cases. When cases arise, the

police conduct an investigation or "rinky do" as it

is known in the department, and the officers and

the department are thoroughly whitewashed.

-S.F. Police Claim `Traffic

Checks' Are Not 'Road Blocks'

The San Francisco Police Commission last

month denied it has revived its former practice

of setting up "road blocks' to check automobiles

for violations of the Vehicle Code. It claimed it

is merely conducting a "traffic check" in which

"vehicular traffic is required to slow down at a

given location so that the officers may have an

opportunity to observe the conduct of the driver

of the vehicle."

The Union had protested against an alleged

"road block" on December 24 in which 553 auto-

mobiles were inspected. Under the law, motor-

ists are entitled to use the highways "without

interruption or search," unless a public officer

has "probable cause" for believing that the occu-

pants are violating the law. What the Commis-

sion appears to be saying is that requiring auto-

mobiles to slow down for a `"`traffic check' is not

the kind of interruption which the law prohibits.

Last month the Union also received an ac-

knowledgment of its protest against "road blocks"

maintained by the California Highway Patrol.

Commissioner Clifford E. Pterson advised the

Union he was having a study made of the legal

question before deciding the matter.

we CO

Union's First National Conference Now

Scheduled for New York March 19-21

The first national conference of representatives

of the American Civil Liberties Union will be

held in New York City from March 19 to 21.

_ Ernest Besig, the Union's local director, will

attend.

The object of the conference, according to the

Union's national office, is to discuss the position

of the Union in relation to certain debatable

public issues and, particularly, the internal rela-

tionships of the Union's governing bodies, affili-

ates and members.

nae 2

Communist in '30s Ruled

Against in Loyalty Case

The latest loyalty case to come to the attention

of the ACLU of Northern California is that of

an employee of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The Interior Department Loyalty Board found

against him and an appeal is presently pending

before the Secretary of the Interior.

It was not charged that the employee was

presently a member of the Communist Party. It

was alleged, however, that he had been a member

of the party in the early '30s; that he signed a

petition to place the party on the ballot; that he

held Communist meetings in his home; that he

loaned the Communists a loud speaker; and that

he purchased copies of the People's World in

1940.

The employee sent a frank answer admitting

membership in the Communist Party for eight

months. "I admit," said he, "to having been

taken in by them for a short time." He also

admitted he had bought the People's World on

newsstands "to find out what they were hatch-

ing up."

Unfortunately, the employee failed to request

a hearing and the matter was speedily disposed

of by the departmental loyalty board. His neglect

to ask for a hearing, in the Union's opinion, can

be charged to a lack of understanding of the

proceedings and a total absence of advice until

the time to request a hearing has lapsed. The

man is not aggressive, and at the time he re-

ceived the charges had no place to turn for assist-

ance or advice. Incidentally, he receives a salary

of $3025 a year on which he helps support his

mother. He is an honorably discharged veteran

of the last war.

The Union has urged the Secretary of the In-

terior to remand the case to the departmental

Loyalty Board for a hearing "in order to obtain

a proper record in the case." If that is not pos-

sible, the Union has asked that the man be

granted the privilege of filing affidavits. And,

if neither of these requests can be granted, then

the Union will try to secure Washington counsel

to argue the matter before the Secretary of the

Interior.

)

S. F. Nudist Mag. Distributor

Goes on Trial February 17

Troy Gillespie, operator of the Troy News

Agency, will go on trial before a jury in the San

Francisco Municipal Court on February 17 on a

charge of violating the local obscenity ordinance.

Two members of the police juvenile detail, on

the strength of a search warrant, on January 3

seized 2102 copies of various nudist magazines

and arrested Gillespie. He was released on a

$250 bond posted by the American Civil Liberties

Union.

Attorney James Martin MacInnis, prominent

San Francisco criminal attorney, who success-

fully defended the bookseller in the prosecution

involving "The Memoirs of Hecate County," has

been retained as counsel. His fee is being paid

by the publishers and the magazine distributor.

Among the 2102 seized nudist magazines were

1832 copies of "Sunshine and Health," 250 copies

of "Sunbathing," a reprint of an English maga-

zine, published in Chicago, and "Natural Herald,"

published by Ivan Brovont in Sacramento.

Ernest Besig, local director of the Union, con-

ferred with District Attorney Edmund G. Brown

and urged dismissal of the prosecution, on the

ground that nudist magazines contain no obseene

pictures or text. Mr. Brown was asked to point

out any obscene matter in the magazine but de-

clined to do so.

During Mr. Brown's term of office, unsuccess-

ful obscenity prosecutions have involved the mo-

tion pictures "Furia," "The Outlaw," and "Nar-

cotics," the book "`The Memoirs of Hecate Coun-

ty," and the Sally Rand show.

In 1940, The U. 8. Court of Appeals decided

that the book "Nudism in Modern Life' was not

obscene despite containing the pictures of nudes.

In its opinion, the court stated "It cannot be as-

sumed that nudity is obscene per se and under

all circumstances. ... And, from the teachings of

psychology and sociology, we know that the con-

trary view is held by social scientists.

"Nudity in art has long been recognized as the

reverse of obscene. Art galleries and art cata-

logues contain many nudes, ancient and modern.

Even such a conservative source book as Ency-

clopaedia Brittannica, contains nudes, full front

view, male and female, and nude males and fe-

males pictured together and in physical contact.

"The use of nude figures and photographs in

medical treatises and textbooks is also commonly

practiced today. ... It is apparent, therefore, that

civilization has advanced far enough, at last, to

permit picturization of the human body for

scientific and educational purposes."

ae

C.O. Forced to L

Veteran Furloughed Without

Pay Pending Loyalty Hearing

The Post Office Department on December 7

filed loyalty proceedings against a $212 a month

substitute mail handler at the Rincon Annex Post

Office in San Francisco. On December 29 he was

"furloughed without pay" pending a hearing on

the charges. Obviously his job is not a "sensi-

tive' one, and it is the first Post Office case han-

dled by the Union in which the employee has been

suspended pending a hearing on loyalty charges.

The man served in the Armed Forces for 51%

years and is only 28 years of age. The furlough

works a particular hardship upon him because

his income has been cut off just at a time when

he needs it to take care of his pregnant wife who

is scheduled to have her baby in March.

The employee received an honorable discharge

from the Army on February 11, 1947, and is a

member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Fol-

lowing his discharge, he told the Veterans Admin-

istration he wanted to get some schooling under

the GI Bill of Rights. They discouraged him, how-

ever, on the ground that all the schools were

crowded and he would not be able to enter. He

is a colored boy and has had little schooling.

Nevertheless, another colored boy, who was at-

tending the California Labor School, which is

now on the Attorney General's subversive list,

referred him there and he was accepted on March

17, 1947. When the school was no longer ap-

proved, he quit on July 7, 1947.

In the meantime, however, while attending the

school, he was enrolled in the American Youth

for Democracy, Fillmore branch, the alleged suc-

cessor of the Young Communist League and also

on the Attorney General's subversive list. He

states he paid a dollar for which he received a

membership card, but that he never attended any

meetings. Now the Government is charging this

veteran with disloyalty for briefly attending a

school which it approved, and for paying $1 for

a membership card in an alleged subversive youth

eroup. |

The veteran filled out a set of interrogatories

he received from the Regional Loyalty Board of

the U. S. Civil Service Commission, but failed to

ask for a hearing. And, it was not until early last

month that he came to the Civil Liberties Union

for help.

. The Union immediately requested a hearing

for the man, and because the notice of the loy-

alty proceedings failed to set a time limit to re-

quest a hearing, one has now been granted. The

Union also appealed to the Postmaster General

to reinstate the man in his job pending a final de-

termination of the matter, but received a curt re-

ply from V. C. Burke, First Assistant Postmaster

General, that its letter had been referred to the

Loyalty Board. The man has held his appoint- |

ment as temporary substitute mail handler (he

slings sacks of mail around on the platform at

Rincon Annex) since October 30,1947. _

Late last month, Ernest Besig, the Union's

local director, appeared as counsel in three other

loyalty proceedings. Hearings were held on three

successive days before a three-man panel that

was merely empowered to take testimony and send

that testimony on to Washington for a determi-

nation by the departmental loyalty board. The

testimony was taken on a wire recorder. It would

seem desirable for such a panel to make a recom-

mendation since it has heard the witnesses testify

and is in a position to judge their demeanor on

the stand.

cve

U.C. for Refusing to Drill

Walter Fitch was compelled to drop out of the

`University of California last month because he

refused to take a course in military training in

the ROTC. During his first year in college, Fitch

took such drill, but by the time his second year

came along, he had become a pacifist.

Two weeks before the end of the semester the

Dean of Men gave him the choice of withdrawing

from the University or being dismissed. He with-

drew and plans to attend some other school until

he obtains upper division standing.

Military training is required of all U. C. citi-

zen male students of lower division standing,

under 24, and without certain military creden-

tials. In the '30s, the Civil Liberties Union car-

ried the Hamilton case to the U.S. Supreme

Court in which it was decided that the University

could require such military training.

U. C. has never made any provision for con-

scientious objectors, on the ground that it was

not in a position to determine the sincerity of a

student's views. It has been suggested that at

the present time at least, the University ought

to accept the determination of a draft board that |

a student is a sincere conscientious objector. Such

a rule would have to be put into effect by the

Board of Regents.

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Page 3

`Customs' Silent About Its Lie

Detector, Truth Serum Tests

Congressman Franck R. Havenner of San

Francisco has undertaken to assist the A. C. L. U.

in securing information about the use of lie de-

tector tests and the, attempted use of truth serum

tests on personnel of the United States Customs

Service in San Francisco. Frank Dow, Acting

Commissioner of Customs in Washington has re-

fused to furnish the Union any information con-

cerning the matter. `The investigation," said

Mr. Dow, "was in connection with an adminis-

trative problem of the Customs Service. Since

you have not established that you represent, as

attorney or otherwise, any of the Customs per-

sonnel concerned, the Bureau is unable to furnish

you any information in the matter."

After receiving vague reports of lie detector

and truth serum tests on reluctant personnel in

the Bureau of Customs in San Francisco, the

Union made an inquiry last year of Paul R. Leake,

local Collector of Customs. He replied that ``the

Customs Agency Service has already given the

lie detector test in investigating the disappear-

ance of a small amount of money. The tests were

taken by the men voluntarily. Mr. Fred Gardner,

who is head of the Customs Agency Service, tells

me that he does not plan to give the truth serum

test."

The Union then inquired as to the circumstanc-

`es under which the lie detector tests were given,

and as to whether the employees were requested

to take the truth serum tests. The Union would

like to know what would have happened to any

employee who refused to take a lie detector test.

It also wanted to know whether such investiga-

tory procedures "have specific approval from

Washington, or whether you are proceeding un-

der general authority." If there were written

regulations governing the matter, the Union

wanted to examine them.

The local Customs officials declined to answer

these questions, as did the Acting Commissioner

of Customs. The Union has informed Mr. Dow

that "the public is entitled to know how its busi-

ness is being run. Asa matter of fact, the Union's

local committee has not yet taken a position on

the main issue and is waiting to obtain full in-

formation before doing so."

a

ACLU Protests Detroit =

Loyalty Oaths for Reporters

The ACLU last month protested the ruling of

the police commissioner of Detroit that news-

papermen must file loyalty certificates in order

to obtain police cards. In a letter to Police Com-

missioner Harry 8S. Toy, the Union said, "We

can hardly conceive of any action which more

immediately strikes at freedom of the press than

the one you propose.

"The security of the Nation will not be en-

hanced by any such arbitrary orders which in

effect subjugate journalists to the whims and

fancies of local police authorities. ... What may

be permissible for a department of the Govern-

- ment, whose function necessarily involves reten-

tion of information and material whose dis-

closure might operate to our country's disadvan-

tage, is not to be construed as a license to every

local police official to install a system which in

the guise of patriotism is of the essence of cen-

sorship and thereby `un-American.'

"We are calling upon all elements of the press

to resist your order. We trust that you will see

fit to revoke it." The Union pointed out that if

Toy succeeds in enforcing his order, police and

fire reporters would be in danger of police retalia-

tion if they write anything uncomplimentary and

a controlled press by local officials could be the

eventual result."

@

Baraona Gase Hearing

Postponed Until April 10

Argument on the motion of Rafael L. Baraona

to dismiss the indictment pending against him

in the Federal Court in San Francisco has been

postponed until April 10.

Baraona was indicted last October 28 on a

charge of securing his former federal job by

fraud. In filling out Standard Form 57, he denied

that he had ever been a member of any organ-

ization that advocates the overthrow of the gov- -

ernment by force and violence. The government

claims he did belong to such a group because he

subsequently admitted he had been a member of

the Communist Party. On the other hand, no

court has as yet held that the Communist Party

advocates the violent overthrow of the govern-

ment. That matter may be determined in the

sedition trial now in progress in the federal court

in New York City.

Baraona continues at liberty on $1000 bail

posted by the American Civil Liberties Union.

A Survey of Proposals

Liberties Introducec

(Continued from Page 1)

zations that are oo), communist, fascist

or subversive .

And, lastly, S. B. 300 declares any building in

which subversive organizations hold meetings to

constitute a nuisance, which shall be abated.

The Union has not yet received other bills noted

in the public press which Senator Tenney has in-

troduced on the subject of "subversive activities."'

Included in the lot is a measure empowering labor

unions to expel Communists, another allowing

employees to discharge or refuse employment to

Communists, and a third establishing loyalty

checks for State employees.

In the field of race relations, Assemblyman

Maloney and Mrs. Niehouse have introduced

A. B. 739 to establish a race relations commis-

sion to investigate and do educational work.

$50,000 would be appropriated for the Commis-

sion.

Mr. Elliott has introduced A. B. 821 making it

a crime to place racial restrictive covenants in

property agreements, and A. B. 451 would repeal

the sections of the Civil Code prohibiting mis-

cegenous marriages which have already been held

unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court.

Three measures have been introduced to elimi-

nate segregation in the National Guard. A. B. 807

has the names of 18 legislators on it. A. B. 151

is the same measure, while Assembly Constitu-

tional Amendment No. 2 by Augustus Hawkins

would solve the problem by adopting a constitu-

tional amendment.

Two bills would make it a punishable offense

for insurers to require colored people to pay more

for automobile insurance that others. A. B. 22

has the names of nineteen assemblymen as co-

authors. A. B. 32 was introduced by Messrs.

Hawkins and Rumford.

Assemblyman Rosenthal is responsible for a

couple of bills, on which he has other authors

which are designed to eliminate race and religious

hatred. A. B. 403 would make it an offense to say

anything against any religious faith, while A. B.

529 would make it unlawful for any person or

persons to disseminate hatred against any person

or group because of his race or religion. . In pre-

vious sessions of the State Legislature Mr. Ten-

ney introduced bills of this kind which were

defeated.

Finally there is a miscellaneous group of bills

which cover various subjects. A. B. 131 by Elliott

and others would establish a Division of Inspec-

Comic Book Ordinance

To Be Considered February 1

The City Council of Turlock is scheduled to

consider a comic book ordinance on February 1

which contains all of the faults of comic book

ordinances proposed in San Francisco, Sacra-

mento and other communities, besides a couple

that the Union has never seen before.

The proposal would make it unlawful to fur-

nish to any person under the age of eighteen

years any. publication in which there is "promi-

nently featured" (whatever that is) an account

of crime, etc. That is the mildest provision of the

proposal copied from ordinances proposed in

other cities.

Another section of the ordinance makes it a

crime to furnish such a minor "any newspapers,

_pamphlets or other printed paper devoted to the

7

publication of criminal news, police reports, or

criminal deeds . . ." While newspapers are speci-

fically exempted from the terms of this proposal,

it would apply to detective stories and books dis-

tributed by newsdealers and libraries. Sir Arthur

Conan Doyle's stories could not be furnished to

children under the age of eighteen.

Possibly the most fantastic section of the pro-

posal makes it an offense to "exhibit upon any

public street or highway or other public place or

any other place within the view of children pass-

ing on any public street or highway or frequent-

ing any public place any book, pamphlet or other .

printed paper or thing devoted to the publication

of criminal news, police reports or crimirial deeds."

This ordinance is sponsored by the Ministerial

Association of Turlock, the chairman of which is

the Rev. A. Axel Anderson. The Union wrote to

Mr. Anderson, pointing out how the proposal

violates the freedom of the press, but failed to

receive a response.

The proposal was presented for adoption at

the Council meeting on January 4, but a motion

to that effect failed to receive a second. A mo-

tion was then adopted to table the matter until

the Council meeting on February 1. The ACLU

has filed an argument with the Council opposing

the eae

in the Cal

Affecting

: Legislature

tion in the Department of Justice to investigate

and. prosecute violations of "civil rights and bru-

tality." A. B. 160 bearing the names of more than

half of the Assemblymen would guarantee women

equal pay for equal work in private employment.

A. B. 264 would make it an offense to employ

aliens subject to deportation. This is a foolish

bill because such aliens are often eligible for sus--

pension of deportation and their families would

suffer if they were not permitted to work.

A. B. 677 provides that "In all public schools, -

at least five minutes daily shall be devoted to

reading aloud from the Bible, without comment."

The passages would be selected by the State

Board of Education, with the advice of the three

principal faiths. Pupils could be excused from

attendance at such readings upon the written ap-

plication of their parents or guardians, and the in-

struction would allegedly not be sectarian.

Lastly, Assemblyman Thompson of San Jose

has introduced A. B. 833. which would make it a

misdemeanor for the operator of a nudist camp

to admit minors, or for the parents of such minors

to take them to such camps.

Copies of the bills mentioned above may be se-

cured from the Legislative Bill Room, Capitol,

Sacramento, Calif.

6

Flavenner's Libel Suit Against |

Hearst Ignored by Press

On December 28, 1948, a libel suit was filed by

Congressman Franck R. Havenner of San Fran-

cisco against the Hearst Publishing Company.

The matter was virtually ignored by the daily

press.

The suit was filed in the federal district court

in San Francisco, because the company is in- -

corporated in another state. The suit seeks dam-

ages in the sum of $350,000 for an article that

appeared in the San Francisco Examiner in the

final days of the Congressional election, on Oc-

tober 26, 1948. Two days later Mr. Havenner

demanded a retraction, but a weasel-worded re-

traction was not published until after the elec-

tion, even though there was plenty of time to do

so before the election.

The story in question was headed, "A Vote for

Havenner Is A Vote for Bridges." The story

went on to say, "Some of the political elements

which tried to conceal Franck Havenner's Com-

munist and pinko support in the mayoralty cam-

`paign are now trying to alibi what cannot be

concealed any longer. Havenner again is the

candidate of the Communists and of Harry

Bridges and of all the factions that the Commu- -

nists and Bridges represent. . . . In this election

the voters of the Fourth Congressional District,

by eliminating Franck Havenner from Congress,

can strike a double blow at Bridges and the Com-

munist followers of Bridges and Havenner.

"A vote for Havenner is a vote for Bridges

and the Kremlin."

The San Francisco News was the only daily

paper that carried any notice of the suit, and

that was only a small paragraph on an inside

page. The San Francisco Chronicle managing

editor agreed with the Union that the suit was

news, but they did not want to encourage libel

suits against newspapers.

There is no question of freedom of the press

in connection with this suppression of the news.

The press is private and can print what it

chooses, but at the same time it should be re-

minded that it is hardly in a position to cry out

against suppression of news by the government,

as it has, if it also practices suppression of the

news. It is in the interest of a free press to print

all of the news, even the kind that the press does

not like.

ee

Appeal Attempt to Restore

Armenian Children to Parents

The American Civil Liberties Union last month

joined the fight to uphold the right of a father

to retain custody of his children. The Union

entered a brief as `friend of the court' in the

Appellate Division of the New York County

Supreme Court, where a father is attempting to

have his three children released from two Roman

Catholic institutions in New York and restored

to him in Soviet Armenia. The five-judge court

is expected to render a decision soon.

The case concerns three children, seven `to

fourteen years old, of Hamportzoon Choolokian,

a fifty-year-old shoemaker who abandoned his

naturalized U. S. citizenship and returned to his

native Soviet Armenia in November, 1947. The

case, according to the Union, involves the right (c)

of parents to the custody of their children as

against the claims of institutions.

0x00B0

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 2-3255

ERNEST BESIG Editor

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

Post Office at San Francisco, California,

under the Act of March 3, 1879

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year.

Ten Cents per Copy

Union Condemns

Communist Sedition Trial

The trial of twelve Communist leaders in the

U. S. District Court in New York set for January

17, was scored last month in a statement by the

American Civil Liberties Union as "an unwar-

ranted use of the only peace-time sedition law

in American history since 1798."" A conviction,

the Union said, would "drive the entire Commu-

nist movement in this country underground."

The Union, which will take no part in the trial,

announced that in the event of convictions, it

would offer its aid to the defense "solely on the

constitutional issue of the sedition act of 1940."

Roger N. Baldwin, director of the American

Civil Liberties Union, stated that "the Union is

in no way sympathetic with the Communist Party

but is acting entirely in the interests of civil

liberties for all Americans."

Baldwin stated that the Union had also op-

posed the only other use of the 1940 act when

a group of `Trotskyites'' were prosecuted' in

Minneapolis in 1941 and when "an asserted group

of pre-war alleged Nazi sympathizers" were tried

in Washington, D. C., in 1942 and 1943.

The so-called Trotskyites were convicted and

the U. S. Supreme Court three times refused to

review the case. The case against the alleged

Nazi sympathizers was dropped after a mistrial

due to the death of the presiding judge. The

Union noted that the Communist Party "while

bitterly opposing the present prosecutions, vigor-

ously supported the government's efforts to jail

their opponents in the other two cases."

In his statement Mr. Baldwin said: "The gov-

ernment's prosecution of twelve Communist lead-

ers under the sedition act of 1940 rests solely on

the utterances and publications of the Communist

Party. Not a single overt act of any sort is

charged. The Party is held by the indictment

to be a conspiracy to accomplish unlawful objects.

Those objects, whose advocacy is made criminal

by the 1940 act, are the overthrow of govern-

ment by violence and incitement to disaffection

in the armed forces.

"Tt has always been the position of our courts,

`as well as sound policy, that no language, pub-

lications or propaganda are punishable unless

they constitute a clear and present danger of

unlawful acts. The Supreme Court has held that

the danger must be great and the prospect of

action immediate to justify the penalties on free-

dom of speech and press. Nothing in the indict-

ments suggests any such danger. They are based

on what the Communists have for years been

advocating. :

"The Civil Liberties Union is wholly opposed

to the entire Communist political philosophy of

police-state dictatorship. It excludes Commu-

nists, among other anti-democratic forces, from

its councils. But it is also opposed to restricting

the freedom of Communist propaganda in the

absence of unlawful acts. It takes that position,

not only on the ground of legal rights but also

on the practical ground that it is far better for

a democracy to encourage such movements to

operate in the open than to drive them into

secret underground channels.

"The effect of the government's prosecution,

if successful, will be to drive the whole Commu-

nist movement underground in this country, for

the Party itself would be held an unlawful con-

spiracy. In the interest of our traditional Amer-

ican principles of freedom of speech and press,

`even for the thought we hate,' the Union will use

its efforts to prevent any such result."

(c))

"Objectors' Given 3-Month Sentences

For Refusal to Register for Draft

Robert S. McInnes, 21-year-old theological

student at the Pacific School of Religion, was

sentenced to three months in the County Jail by

Federal Judge Michael J. Roche on January 13

for refusing to register for the draft.

Bob Meyners, co-pastor of the San Francisco

Fellowship Church of All Peoples, who also re-

fused to register for the draft, was likewise sen-

tenced to three months in the San Francisco

county jail. His case was heard by Federal Judge

Louis Goodman on January 6.

The sentences given McInnes and Meyners com-

pare favorably with the harsh three-year sen- .

tences given to four members of peace churches

by Federal Judge Pierson Hall in Los Angeles.

Oakland City Council -

Kills FEPC Proposal

The Oakland City Council last month practically

killed a proposed FEPC ordinance. On January

5 the Council, by a vote of 5 to 4, defeated the

proposal, but then referred it to a vote of the

people at the April municipal primary election.

Finally, on January 25, the Council voted to

rescind its previous action on advice of the city

attorney, because of legal technicalities.

The proposal made racial discrimination in

city employment or employment on municipal

contracts a misdemeanor punishable by a $500

fine or six months in prison. It provided for a

Commission of three members, to be appointed

by the Mayor with the approval of the City

Council. The Commission was empowered to in-

vestigate complaints of such racial discrimina-

tion and either adjust them or to recommend

prosecution.

ee

ACLU Adopts Statement

On Defense Principles

In order to clarify the use of words such as

"Fascism" and "Communism" in relation to civil

liberties, the Board of Directors of the Union

agreed last month on a statement' making clear

that it takes no position on practices which do not

affect civil liberties. The statement reads:

"The ACLU as a champion of civil liberties is

opposed to any governmental or economic sys-

tem which denies fundamental civil liberties and

human rights. It is therefore opposed to any form

of the police state or the single-party state, or

any movement in support of them, whether fas-

cist, Communist, or known by any other name.

In opposing those dictatorial, totalitarian sys-

tems, the ACLU takes no position on their eco-

nomic, social or political practices or policies not

affecting civil liberties."

ee

In Recognition of

The Board of Directors of the ACLU at its

first meeting following the death of Laurence

Duggan voted a resolution of appreciation of his

services to the cause of civil liberties as a mem-

ber of the Union's Board of Directors and as

chairman of its Committee on Civil Rights in

American Colonies.

The Board noted that Mr. Duggan since his

retirement from the State Department had been

"`a devoted supporter of the principles of civil

liberties" and had assisted particularly in the

problems affecting the civil rights of the natives

of the Pacific Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin

Islands. Mr. Duggan served as a member of the

Union's Board of Directors from 1947 to the

fall of 1948. He resigned because of the press of

official duties as director of the International

Institute of Education.

New York Court Clears

United Nations Pickets

The Appellate Term of New York City's Spe-

cial Sessions Court on January 4 reversed the

conviction of six men who picketed a United

Nations luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

in October, 1946. The American Civil Liberties

Union paid court costs for the appeal.

The six men were part of a larger group of

men and women who carried posters outside the

Waldorf-Astoria protesting U. S. membership

in the United Nations. They belonged to a "Com-

mittee for Non-violent Revolution," a pacifist or-

ganization claiming that this country will be

drawn closer to another war through United

Nations involvement.

---__-- 8 -__-_-

New York City Board of Education

Bars IWO From Schools

The New York City Board of Education on

January 20, with six of its nine members present,

took the unprecedented step of barring from the

use of public school rooms classes in Jewish

culture organized by the International Workers

Order solely because that organization is on the

Attorney General's `subversive list." The Board

had in 1947 refused to pass a resolution barring

the use of schools to `Nazi, Fascist and Com-

munist agencies." The ACLU, through its New

York City Committee, had urged the Board to

adhere to the principle expressed in its previous

resolution, pointing out that the Attorney Gen-

eral's list was prepared only in relation to fed-

eral employment and without giving organiza-

tions the chance to contest "arbitrary findings."

It is likely that the issue will be taken into the

courts.

Supreme Court Hears Hawaii

Foreign Language Case

The constitutionality of a Hawaiian law pro-

hibiting children from studying foreign languages

was challenged last week in the U. S. Supreme

Court. The case, in which Hawaiian government

authorities appealed a district court decision de-

claring the law unconstitutional, involved a Chi-

nese language school. :

The original case was brought against Hawaiian

authorities by Mo Hock Ke Lok Po, an official

of the Chinese language school. The law pro-

hibited teaching of any language other than Eng-

lish to children under the fifth grade who had

not passed standard English requirements. The

law claimed to protect children from `serious

emotional disturbances, conflicts and maladjust-

ments."

The ACLU in a brief in the Supreme Court con-

tended that parents have a constitutional right

to send their children to schools of their choice

and that by implication the law threatens ``the

teaching of biology, the theory of evolution, in-

deed the truths of the equality of man and in

many cases the basic tenets upon which the na-

tion was founded." The ACLU brief was written

by Osmond K. Fraenkel, counsel and member of

the Union's board of directors.

Puerto Rico Spanish

Language Issue Settled

A controversy of long standing over the im-

position of English as the language of instruction

in Puerto Rican schools came to an end last

month following the inauguration of the Island's

first elected governor, Luis Munoz Marin, when

his new Commissioner of Education ordered that

all instruction should be in Spanish, with English

as a compulsory study from the lower grades up.

Several years ago the Puerto Rican legislature

passed a bill to the same effect but it was vetoed

by President Truman. A contest in the courts

over the validity of the veto was terminated

_ when the change of the Island's governorship was

j,imminent. The new Commissioner of Education,

Laurence Duggan t

Marino Villaronga, whose nomination had pre-

viously been rejected by the U. 8S. Senate, had

long been committed to the principle of teaching

in Spanish. Under the new law, the commissioner

is appointed by the governor.

The ACLU supported throughout the proceed-

ings in the courts and before the President the

principle of teaching in the native language.

ACLU Comments on Supreme

Court Closed Shop Decision

The Supreme Court decision announced on

January 3 upholding state anti-closed shop laws

leaves open only to Congress the power to permit

closed union shops, according to comment of

ACLU lawyers. The Court rejected arguments

that the anti-closed shop laws strike at freedom

of contract of both unions and employers, and up-

held the right of workers not to join unions to

obtain employment.

The ACLU position has been that closed shop

contracts do not violate civil liberties if unions

are open freely to workers without discrimina-

tion, at reasonable dues and with assurance of.

democratic rights to members. The Union is

opposed to closed shops where those conditions

are not met, but not to their general outlawry.

It is expected that the tactics of the trade

unions will be to turn to Congress to make pos-

sible in interstate industry what the Supreme

Court has outlawed within the states. The ACLU

will exert its efforts to attach to any such legis-

lation conditions protecting the rights of trade

union members. 3

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461 Market Street,

San Francisco 5, Calif.

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