vol. 17, no. 3
Primary tabs
American
Civil Liberties
Union-News
Free Press
Free Assemblage
Free Speech
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
VOLUME XVII
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MARCH, 1952
o Alto Meeting Set for Monday Evening
March 17: San Francisco Gathering, March 18
Patrick Murphy Malin, the ACLU's national director, will make his second official visit to the Far
West since taking over the national leadership of the Union from Roger Baldwin in January, 1950.
From March 8 through the 28th he will visit Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake
City and Denver.
Palo Alto Meeting
Mr. Malin wil visit in the Bay Area on March 17
and 18. During that time he will address two
public metings to be held under the auspices of the
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern Cali-
fornia. The first meeting will be held at the Parish
House of All Saints Episcopal Church, 425 Hamil-
ton St., Palo Alto, on Monday evening, March 17
at 8 o'clock. The subject of Mr. Malin's address
will be "Freedom, Justice and Equality-Amer-
ica's Developing, but Threatened, Heritage."
Wallace E. Stegner, professor of English and
director of the Stanford Writing Center at Stan-
ford University, will preside at the meeting. Mr.
Stegner has written many books, including the
Novels, Second Growth and The Preacher and the
Slave, as well as a volume of short stories, The
Women on the Wall. The February issue of
Harper's carries a short story by Mr. Stegner en-
titled, Pop Goes the Alley Cat. Incidentally, Mr.
Stegner is a member of the Union's local Execu-
tive Committee.
San Francisco Meeting
The second public meeting will be held in San
Francisco at the Marines' Memorial Theatre, 609
Sutter St. (at Mason), on Tuesday evening, March
18 at 8 o'clock. Mr. Malin will speak on "World
Tension and American Civil Liberties."
The chairman of the San Francisco meeting will
be our beloved Bishop Edward L. Parsons, who
has served as Chairman of the Union's local
Executive Committee since January, 1941. Bishop
Parsons has also been a vice-chairman of the
National Committee of the ACLU for many years.
Of course, no ACLU meeting in San Francisco
would be complete without him.
The meetings are open to the general public.
There is no admission charge. It is hoped that the
PATRICK MURPHY MALIN
Union's members will make this an occasion to
invite their friends to become acquainted with the
Union's national director as well as the Union's
work.
Mr. Malin's first visit to the Bay Area found
him new to the Union's work and bent on getting
acquainted with the organization. The Union's
membership will now have an opportunity of find-
ing out what effect two years of grueling exper-
ience in the day to day struggles for civil liberties
have had upon their organization's national leader.
Who is Pat Malin?
The following biographical material may be of
interest to the Union's members: Mr. Malin served
as a member of the Economics Department at
Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania from 1930
to 1950. During the war he served for four years
as vice-director of the Intergovernmental Com-
mittee on Refugees, with headquarters in London.
He was also American Director of the Interna-
tional Migration Service, Price Executive of the
O.P.A. Chemical and Drug Branch in Washing-
ton, and Deputy Chief of the Division of Program
and Requirements in the State Department's Of-
fice of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Opera-
tions. His work has taken him to Great Britain
and continental Europe, including the Soviet Un-
ion, the Near East, Canada, the West Indies and
South America.
Mr. Malin served as Vice-Chairman of the
American Friends Service Committee from 1936
to 1938. He is also a member of the board of the
National Council of Religion in Higher Education
and served as the president of that group from
1939 to 1943.
He is a member of the Society of Friends
(Quakers) and an independent in politics. Born in
Joplin, Missouri, he is 48 years old, married and
has three sons.
Mr. Malin is a graduate of the University of
Pennsylvania, Class of 1924. He did graduate
_ study at the Union Theological Seminary and
Teachers College and Columbia University in New
York City.
Evictions From Met. Project
Over Bias Dispute Halted
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. has agreed to
drop eviction proceedings against 19 tenants of its
huge Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper housing
projects on Manhattan's East Side after a last-
minute intercession ky City Council President
Rudolph Halley.
Halley arranged conferences between the com-
pany and the Town and Village Committee to End
Discrimination in Stuyvesant Town. The 19 ten-
ants were to be evicted ag the result of contro-
versy over the company's alleged discriminations
barring Negro families from the two projects.
Thirty-three tenants had originally been asked to
move; 14 had left.
Halley's arrangement with the company pro-
vided that several of the 19 remaining tenants
will move voluntarily, that the rest will stay "on
the same basis as all tenants." A Negro family,
which has been staying as "guests" in the apart-
ment of a lessee, will become tenants in another
apartment.
Metropolitan Life pursued its original legal ac-
tion against the 19 tenants against the protest of
Union Scores Victory In Case
Of Soviet Political Refugee
The ACLU of Northern California scored a
victory last month in the case of Alexander Loba-
nov, who had been detained by the Immigration
Service for exactly 390 days on the ground that
his entry would be prejudicial to the interests of
the United States.
The favorable decision was handed down by the
Board of Immigration Appeals on February 25
and reversed decisions made by a Board of Special
Inquiry and the Commissioner of Immigration.
The latter had taken the position that under the
Internal Security Act of 1950, because Lobanov
had as a youth belonged to the Komsomol or
"Communist Young Folks,' he was barred from
entry into the United States because of past mem-
bership in a Communist organization.
The Board of Immigration Appeals, however,
adopted the argument advanced by the ACLU
that Lobanov's membership in the group was in-
Voluntary and brought about by economic neces-
sity. It appears that he was transferred to the
group without regard to his own wishes. `There
is also an affirmative showing," said the Board,
"that appellant's membership or affiliation with
the Komsomol after attaining his sixteenth birth-
day was solely for the purpose of obtaining and
keeping his employment. Under the circum-
stances, we are of the opinion that the appellant
has met the burden of proving by clear and con-
vincing evidence that his membership or affilia-
tion with a proscribed organization was involun-
tary."
The Board's conclusion brought Lobanov with-
in the terms of an amendment to the McCarran
Act, adopted March 28, 1951, which nevertheless
allows aliens who have been "members of" and
"affiliated with," proscribed groups to enter the
United States if such membership occurred when
under 16 years of age, by operation of law or for
purposes of obtaining employment, food rations
or other essentials of living.
In this case, because of his membership in Kom-
somol, Lobanov received preference for employ-
ment during a period of great economic stress in
the Soviet Union. When the Five Year Plan got
underway in 1931 and jobs became plentiful, Lo-
banov quit the group.
Lokanov came to the United States in 1943 to
help man a lend lease ship. Instead, he got a job
as a guard with the Soviet Purchasing Commis-
sion. In December, 1944, he was ordered to return
to the Soviet Union but refused to do so. The So-
viet officials then tried unsuccessfully to kidnap
Lobanov but policemen intervened and Lobanov
was turned over to Immigration officers in Se-
attle, who, in turn, allowed him to ship out on a
Belgian vessel.
From 1945 until January 30, 1951 when he was
arrested by Immigration Officers, Lobanov had
been shipping out of San Francisco as a member
of the Sailors Union of the Pacific. At the time
the Union intervened in the case last August, Lo-
banov had been detained for seven months with-
out a hearing and without being informed as to
the reason for his detention. The decision of the
Board of Immigration Appeals now allows him to
return to his calling as a seaman.
at least 16 labor, veteran, and other civic groups,
including ACLU. The company's right to evict the
tenants had been upheld in the courts.
The Town and Village Committee charged that
the 19 tenants were being evicted because they
had helped form the committee in 1948.
Page 2
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS
N. Y. Ban on Use
Of Schools Fought
The New York Civil Liberties Union on Feb-
ruary 19 petitioned for the rescinding of a New
York City Board of Education ruling which denies
use of public school buildings to certain proscribed
organizations.
The Union argued that the regulation violates
U.S. and state constitutional guarantees of free
speech and due process of law and constitutes a
bill of attainder.
Its views were set forth in a "friend of the
court" brief filed at a hearing before the state
Commissioner of Education on an appeal by the
Teachers Union, Local 555 (UPW), which has
been denied use of school buildings for meetings.
The so-called Timone Resolution, approved by the
New York City Board of Education, prohibits use
of school buildings and grounds by the Communist
Party, the International Workers Order and any
other organizations which the Department of
Justice or the State Board of Regents have found
to be totalitarian, fascist, Communist or sub-
versive, any groups the Board of Education or
superintendent of schools "has reason to believe to
be' in those categories, and any subsidiary, com-
mittee, or affiliate of such organizations. The
ACLU and its Academic Freedom Committee
argued against the resolution prior to its enact-
ment.
"The resolution is a dragnet which can encom-
pass all ideas and views," the NYCLU declared in
its brief. "Under the vague and subjective tests,
the expression of all unpopular or dissentient
views becomes dangerous. Just what degree of
control of policy or percentage of membership or
following of the `party line' must be found he-
fore an organization can ke held to be Communist
is completely lacking in specification; there is no
statement, for example, whatsoever as to how
many or which if any of these factors must be
taken into account, or which factors must or may
be excluded. The word `subversive' is similarly un-
certain in meaning."
Objecting not only to use of Justice Department
or Regents lists of subversive organizations but to
the discretion granted the Board of Education or
school superintendent regarding groups each con-
sider subversive, the NYCLU asserted:
"Suspicion of subversiveness replaces a finding
of subversiveness. The conduct of which `the cr-
ganization must be guilty is itself too vague and
indefinite; suspicion of vague conduct can become
a tool for the utmost in repression, and transforms
a vague standard into a meaningless one."
The brief pointed out that the attorney general's
list of subversive organizations was ruled illegal
by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Its further use here to curb speech is clearly
unconstitutional," the brief commented. "Surely
an illegal list cannot be used as a reasonable
standard without doing violence to the funda-
mental tenets of due process. The related issue of
the constitutionality of the list to be drawn up by
the Board of Regents pursuant to the Feinberg
Law was argued only a few weeks ago in the
United States Supreme Court."
The brief, prepared for the Union by Osmond
K. Fraenkel, counsel to the NYCLU, and Herbert
Monte Levy, ACLU staff counsel, called attention
also to the dangers of barring "any subsidiary,
committee or affiliate' of so-called subversive
groups.
"It may well be that an organization may be
found to be Communist, subversive or fascist,
whatever that may mean, and yet it may well be
that an affiliate of that organization or a com-
mittee of that organization could not conceivably
be termed Communist," the brief said. "The reso-
lution would have the effect, for example, of
denying the right or privilege to meet in the school
buildings of all chapters of the American Legion,
if perchance the Communists succeeded in captur-
ing or infiltrating but one local affiliate of the
American Legion."
Serving In Dutch Underground
Doesn't Dub One a Communist
Following the Union's intervention, the Board
of Immigration Appeals last month granted vol-
untary departure to an illegal entrant who is mar-
ried to a legally resident alien. Such voluntary de-
parture had been denied the alien, both by the lo-
cal hearing officer in San Francisco and the Cen-
tral Office of the Immigration Service, solely be-
cause he had associated with Communists in the
Dutch underground during the last war.
The Board of Immigration Appeals agreed with
the Union that there was absolutely no evidence
in the case to pin the badge of Communism on
the alien, and he was given 90 days to effect his
departure. As a result of the decision, the alien
will be able to apply for legal entry after he re-
turns to Holland.
Public School Readings From Old Tesic
Violate Church-Stea
New Jersey statutes that require daily readings
from the Old Testament in the public schools set
up religious services and exercises that directly
violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments,
the American Civil Liberties argued recently.
In a "friend of the court" brief supporting a
test case brought ky Donald R. Doremus and
Anna E. Klein against the Hawthorne, N. J.
Board of Education and the State of New Jersey
before the U. S. Supreme Court, the Union de-
clared:
"To us it seems very plain that the New Jersey
law and practices aid one or more, if not all, reli-
gions and prefer one or some religions over oth-
ers; that taxes are being levied and used there to
support religious activities and the teaching and
practicing of religion; and that, to the extent that
church services are being conducted in the public
schools (i.e., by Bible readings and recitations of
the Lord's Prayer which are an important part of
services in most Protestant churches), the state
is forcing or influencing children to go to them."
The case, which has attracted widespread in-
terest since Bible readings are required in several
other states, was argued on January 29 in the
Supreme Court.
The New Jersey Supreme Court, in upholding
the statutes, ruled "that the Old Testament, be-
cause of its antiquity, its content, and its wide
acceptance, is not a sectarian book when read
without comment... It is accepted by three great
religions, the Jewish, the Roman Catholic and the
Protestant, and, at least in part, by others." It
added that all other groups are `numerically
small and, in point of impact on our national life
negligible."
Disputing such a view, the ACLU brief pointed
out that even among the "three great religions"
there are differences concerning the proper ver-
sion of the Bible; that, in fact, conflicts among
Jews, Catholics, and Protestants over Bikle read-
ing and prayers in public schools "have created
...many years of bitter divisions and strife."
Moreover, it said, currently there are at least 256
religious sects or denominations in the United
FBI Agent Opposes "Oaths"
Herbert A. Philbrick, the Government's
star witness in the Foley Square Smith Act
prosecution, who, as an FBI agent, was a mem-
ber of the Communist Party for nine years, last
month opposed loyalty oaths and the outlaw-
ing of the Communist Party. Said he: .. .. ..
"Such measures as the outlawing of the Com-
munist party could conceivably destroy Gov-
ernment intelligence work without seriously
damaging the underground party, and thus in
the end merely serve to strengthen the Com-
munist hand.
"The loyalty oath is another popular device,
short of outlawry, which does more harm than
good for the cause of anti-Communism.
"In March, 1948, the State of Massachusetts
put the teeth of penalty into its 13-year-old
teachers' loyalty oath law. Publicly, the com-
rades violently attacked the law. But in the
secrecy of cell meetings they laughed about it,
and gave orders which put Communist teachers
first in line to sign up. A few teachers in the
State refused to sign and could not teach. But
they vcre non-Communists.
"The cause of anti-Communism lost more
than it gained. Such oaths give the Communist
party new propaganda fuel, but they do not
control party members or activities."
cent
Urge Freedom of Association
For Physicians
ACLU last month scored St. Francis Hospital
of Poughkeepsie, New York, for demanding that
seven staff physicians sever their connections
with the Planned Parenthood Association.
In a letter to the hospital, the Union said that
as a "state licensed institution, which is the recipi-
ent of over one-half million dollars in federal aid,
your infringement upon the right of association in
the medical staff does serious harm to the prin-
ciples of freedom. . . . The fact that the hospital
has accepted federal funds makes the present dis-
crimination a violation of the spirit-and perhaps
the letter-of that portion of the Constitution re-
quiring equal protection of the laws."
"We hope our views in this matter," the letter
said, "will not be construed as an attack on the
religious principles which you hold." The Union's
position is simply that "as citizens of a free coun-
try (staff members) are entitled to join in organ-
izations of their own choice whose objectives are
entirely legal. There is no reason to believe, no evi-
iment
fe Principle, Says Union
States; "under the U. S. Constitution there is or
should be no difference in the principles applica-
ble to a small minority religious group and to a
large dominant group."
The issue is not ameliorated, it asserted, by a
local Hawthorne ruling (not specifically author-
ized by the statutes), that any student may be
excused, upon request, during Bible readings,
since "the very fact that there is any reason for
his exclusion . .. shows that the exercises are. sec-
tarian." Such an action, in addition, would tend to
subject the student to a religious stigma, the
brief argued.
Stressing the point of church-state separation,
the brief declared:
`Religion is taught and should only be taught
(by prayer, reading and studying the Bible or
other sacred books and other exercises and devo-
tions) in the homes, churches, and religious
schools where the truths of religion can ke most
effectively learned and enforced. In the American
concept of government the State has no right to
interfere with such religious activities. By the
same token, the State, being a civil institution
should not enter into the field of religious in-
struction through the facilities of the _uolic
schools supported and attended by persuns hov-
ing a wide variety of beliefs in rezpect to reli-
gion."
Through the statutes, the ACLU brief con-
cluded, New Jersey "has fused spheres of religi-
ous activity and civil authority."
"It is using tax-supported property for religi-
ous instruction and exercises. It is providing pu-
pils for religious services and exercises through
use of the State's compulsory public school ma-
chinery. It is using its state power and laws to
aid some religions and to prefer some religions
over others. It is using taxes raised for secular
public schools to support religious activities . . .
It has made man's relation to his God the concern
of its state. This is not a separation of Church
and State ... The principle should be enforced in
its full integrity."
Regulations Issued for Work
Assignments to `Objectors'
President Truman on February 20 signed Se-
lective Service regulations governing the two-year
service required of conscientious objectors unwill-
ing to perform non-combatant service in the
armed forces. Under the existing law, signed last
June 18, such an "objector" may be ordered by
his local koard to perform "such civilian work
contributing to the national health, safety or in-
terest as the local board may deem appropriate
...", subject to the new regulations.
Such "civilian work" is limited to a Federal or
State agency, or a non-profit organization en-
gaged in charitable, health, welfare, educational
or scientific activity. Work in private profit-mak-
ing employment is specifically excluded. A list of
available jobs has not yet been announced.
Upon notice from his local draft board, the "ob-
jector" has 10 days to submit three types of civil-
ian work "which he is qualified to do." If he fails
to submit such a list or the local board finds that
none of the types of work submitted is appropri-
ate, the local board shall submit a list of three
types of work to the registrant by letter. If none
of these is acceptable to the registrant, the State
Director, on 10 days notice, shall meet with the
local board and the registrant to try to find agree-
ment on a job. If the registrant is still dissatis-
fied, the matter is referred to the National Selec-
tive Service Director for a final decision.
Ordinarily, the registrant will not be required
to perform such work in his home community. In
reporting to his work assignment, he is entitled to
travel, meal and lodging allowances. While no
specific provision has keen made for compensa-
tion, it is believed the registrant will be paid at
the going wage. If the registrant fails to obey the
work order or fails to perform his work satisfac-
torily, the National Director shall determine
whether he is to be reported to the Department of
Justice for prosecution.
Latest figures show 8,215 conscientious objec-
tors registered under the Draft Law. Many of
these will be deferred fom work assign..ents for
physical or other reasons.
It will very likely take a month or two before
local draft boards begin assigning conscientious
objectors to jobs.
Planned Parenthood Association renders the phy-
sician unfit for a medical post." As far as the
Union can find out, the doctors give no advice
dence to show, that mere membership in the concerning birth control to hospital patients.
Union Plan
700 New M
The Executive
Northern Califor
cial campaign to
700 new members
At the present
bers only a secret
ing on a budget "
numerous volunt
the Union.
Seven hundred
income of $7000,
with the growin
which have kecon
staff to handle. |
able the Union to
provide him with
tals, and thereby
Union's director.
Joseph Tho:
The campaign
manner in the ba:
almost 1900 men
son, San Franci:
agreed to serve
Committee. Duri
steps will be take
established, lists "
be assembled, cz
pared, and other
paign off to a wi
The following
accepted in prope
San Francisco
Berkeley ....
Oakland
The Peninsula
Marin County
Miscellaneous
Around March
ceive forms in th
names of prospec
to volunteer their
mittees. Every m
to help his area ac
Jppose Ci
bles im Ec
Last month the
filed protests wit!
and Albany agai
ciety to distrib
schools. The Gide
Testament, the P;
The Union's cent
tion of the Bible
late the State C
and the First Ar
tution. The Unic
Gideon Bible is :
and California la
activity in the p
preme Court has
the federal gove1
aid one religion,
religion over anot
Thus far, neith
Society request.
ney Francis W.
ruled that the cent
tributed in county
Maryland
Slated for
Maryland's sw
is once more hea
challenge this tin
Brailey, a memb
Dr. Brailey, a Qt
quired by the la
tends that, under
was unconstituti
The Ober law,
several times be
employees from
organizations. It
public employees
ers in state-aide
only one case t
the Supreme Cot
requirement fror
oath that he is 1
throw the goverr
Wment
nion
ution there is or
rinciples applica-
; group and to a
it asserted, by a
ecifically author-
student may he
Bible readings,
is any reason for
exercises ake. Sec-
on, would tend to
ious stigma, the
state separation,
d only be taught
ing the Bible or
ercises and devo-
s, and religious
zion can ke most
In the American
has no right to
ctivities. By the
civil institution
of religious in-
3s of the _ublic
by persons bhay-
| respect to reli-
.CLU brief con-
spheres of religi-
yperty for religi-
is providing pu-
xercises through
ublic school ma-
wer and laws to
r some religions
aised for secular
us activities .
God the concern
ration of Church
ld be enforced in
or Work
sctors'
ry 20 signed Se-
ling the two-year
objectors unwill-
; service in the
`law, signed last
y be ordered by
ch civilian work
lth, safety or in-
leem appropriate
1S.
1 to a Federal or
organization en-
fare, educational
ivate profit-mak-
cluded. A list of
nnounced.
`t board, the "ob-
ree types of civil-
o do." If he fails
board finds that
itted is appropri-
it a list of three
by letter. If none
istrant, the State
ll meet with the
try to find agree-
t is still dissatis-
e National Selec-
cision.
not be required
1e community. In
, he is entitled to
ances. While no
le for compensa-
t will be paid at
. fails to obey the
lis work satisfac-
shall determine
he Department of
iscientious objec-
t Law. Many of
-assign.rents for
th or two before
ing conscientious
renders the phy-
AS far as the
S give no advice
tal patients.
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS
Page 3
Union Plans Drive to Secure
700 New Members and $7000
The Executive Committee of the ACLU of
Northern California last month authorized a spe-
cial campaign to be carried on in April to secure
700 new members and $7000.
At the present time, the paid office staff num-
bers only a secretary besides the director, operat-
ing on a budget of $17,200. In addition, however,
numerous volunteers contribute their services to
the Union.
Seven hundred new members, coupled with an
income of $7000, will enable the Union to cope
with the growing pressures on civil liberties,
which have kecome too numerous for the present
staff to handle. Seven thousand dollars will en-
able the Union to put an able lawyer in an office,
provide him with stenographic help and inciden-
tals, and thereby take some of the load off the
Union's director.
Joseph Thompson Campaign Chairman
The campaign will be carried on in an organized
manner in the bay area where most of the Union's
almost 1900 members reside. Joseph S. Thomp-
son, San Francisco business man, has already
agreed to serve as Chairman of the Campaign
Committee. During March, final organizational
steps will be taken. Local area committees will be
established, lists of good prospective members will
be assembled, campaign literature will be pre-
pared, and other steps taken to send the cam-
paign off to a winning start on April 1.
Quotas
The following membership quotas have heen
accepted in proportion to present membership:
San Francisco ....249 Members and $2050
Berkeley ......... 243 Members and $2000
@akland ......... 57 Members and 0x00A7 475
The Peninsula .... 70 Members and 0x00A7$ 575
Marin County ..... 18 Members and $ 150
Miscellaneous ..... 60 Members and 0x00A7$ 500
Around March 1, the Union's members will re-
ceive forms in the mails on which to suggest the
names of prospective members and to allow them
to volunteer their services on area campaign com-
mittees. Every member is asked to do what he can
to help his area achieve its goal.
Oppose Circulation of Gideon
Bibles in East Bay Schools
Last month the American Civil Liberties Union
filed protests with boards of education in Oakland
and Albany against proposals of the Gideon So-
ciety to distribute their Bible in the public
schools. The Gideon Bible is composed of the New
Testament, the Psalms and Proverbs.
The Union's complaint charged that distribu-
tion of the Bible in the public schools would vio-
late the State Constitution, the Education Code
and the First Amendment to the Federal Consti-
tution. The Union pointed out that at best the
Gideon Bible is a sectarian version of the Bible
and California law specifically prohibits sectarian
activity in the public schools. Moreover, the Su-
preme Court has stated that `Neither a state nor
the federal government . . . can pass laws which
aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one
religion over another."
Thus far, neither board has acted on the Gideon
Society request. In the meantime, District Attor-
ney Francis W. Collins of Contra Costa County
ruled that the Gideon Bibles could not be dis-
tributed in county schools. :
Maryland Ober Law
Slated for Court Test
Maryland's sweeping anti-subversive Ober law
is once more headed for a test in the courts. The
challenge this time stems from the firing of a Dr.
Brailey, a member of the Baltimore Health Dept.
Dr. Brailey, a Quaker, refused to sign an oath re-
quired by the law for religious reasons. She con-
tends that, under the circumstances, her dismissal
was unconstitutional.
The Ober law, which has come up in the courts
several times before on test cases, forbids state
employees from joining or supporting subversive
organizations. It also requires loyalty oaths by
public employees, political candidates, and teach-
ers in state-aided schools. Court rulings have in
only one case touched on its constitutionality,
the Supreme Court having held constitutional the
requirement from a candidate for public office an
oath that he is not engaged in attempts to over-
throw the government.
Anti-Rhee Korean Wins New Stay of
"Death-Sentence" Deportation Order
On February 1, the Central Office of the Immi-
gration Service granted Sang Rhup Park a 30-day
stay of his scheduled deportation to South Korea,
in order to allow him to submit additional evi-
dence to show that he would suffer physical per-
secution if he were turned over to the Rhee Gov-
ernment. The stay was conditioned on the ACLU
paying the costs of detention at $3 per day.
This is the second time since he was taken into
custody on November 29 that the anti-Rhee ali-
en's removal to South Korea has been stayed. Be-
fore granting the new stay, the Commissioner of
Immigration, following a hearing in San Fran-
cisco, had denied Park's petition to exercise his
discretion under the Internal Security Act of
1950, which provides that "No alien shall be de-
ported under any provisions of this Act to a coun-
try in which the Attorney General shall find that
such alien would be subjected to physical perse-
cution." The new stay was granted four days be-
fore Park's scheduled removal on an Army trans-
port.
In compliance with the new stay, another hear-
ing was held late last month at which several im-
portant affidavits were introduced into evidence.
One of the affidavits was submitted by Stewart
Meacham, who served in Korea as Labor Advisor to
Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge, former Commander of the
U. S. Armed Forces in Korea. Mr. Meacham's af-
fidavit declares that, if Park is deported to South
Korea, "I would expect him to be quickly disposed
of by torture murder at hands of Rhee's police."
An equally strong affidavit was submitted by
Stanley W. Earl who, from August, 1947, until
June 27, 1950, served as Special Assistant to the
Chief of the American Legion in Korea. "It is my
opinion," says Mr. Earl, "that if this man is de-
ported to South Korea he will be summarily ex-
ecuted by the Rhee Government as a traitor and
communist." At another point in his affidavit, Mr.
Earl declares, `After reading carefully the utter-
ances of this Korean alien, it is my confirmed
opinion that he would receive no justice whatever ;
that he would be executed after a farcial trial, and
his execution would be used as political fodder
against any political opponents of Rhee."
A third affidavit comes from Ely Haimowitz,
former Chief, Cultural Affairs Office of Civil In-
formation, Hg. United States Armed Forces in
Korea. Says Mr. Haimowitz: "From my own per-
sonal observation of how the Korean government
has acted in the past, and how its police system
still functions, I know that if this Mr. Park is re-
turned to the jurisdiction of the Government of
South Korea, he will be subjected to the most in-
humane physical tortures the human mind is ca-
pable of contriving. In all prokability, at least in
my opinion, from what I have seen and experi-
enced with these Korean policemen, he will be
executed."
Possibly the strongest affidavit of all was sub-
mitted by Leonard M. Bertsch who, during the
years 1946, 1947 and 1948, served in Korea both
as an officer of the United States Army and, sub-
sequently, as a civilian official under the War De-
partment. He was a political analyst of the Mili-
tary Government, Political Advisor to the Com-
manding General and Political Advisor to the
United States-Soviet Joint Commission.
Says the affidavit in part: ". . . the Rhee ad-
ministration itself is terror-minded and but little
superior, morally, to the barbarism of the Com-
munist Northern regime; that there is no possibil-
ity of fair trial for any Korean deported from the
United States and believed to be a political adver-
sary of the President; and that the deportation
of Sang Rhup Park will be tantamount to an ille-
gal death sentence.
"On the basis of wide acquaintance with offi-
cials who have served in the Korean theatre from
Lt. General John R. Hodge down, I state further
that this conviction is the all-but-unanimous con-
clusion of all who are familiar with the picture
and that its wide public statement is deterred
only by the fear that such wide public statement
might strengthen the hand of the barbarian
enemy.
"With special reference to the possibility that
the South Korean Administration might make
special promises of safeguarding the administra-
tion of sound law in this case, I would state cate-
gorically that such assurances in the light of the
past record of broken official pledges to the Gov-
ernment of the United States would be worth-
aless."
It appears that the Rhee Government has as-
sured the Immigration Service that Park would
not suffer physical persecution if he were returned
to South Korea, so it is highly doubtful whether
any amount of evidence will persuade the Com-
missioner of Immigration not to send Park to
South Korea. It is clear from the evidence, how-
ever, that the Rhee Government's promises cannot
be relied upon. Therefore, it may be necessary for
the Union to resort to court action in order to
save Park.
Incidentally, the Union is informed that ten
similar cases involving Chinese are now pending
in the U. S. District Court in New York. In addi-
tion, on February 14, a Miss Margarethe Leiss
Lainburg filed suit in the Federal District Court
in Washington, D. C., to prevent her deportation
to Austria where she says she would suffer phy-
sical persecution by Communists.
Movie Censorship
Cases Active Again
There have been two major developments in
movie censorship during the past month:
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the
constitutionality of New York's ban on the Italian
film, `The Miracle."
A Texas appeals court upheld local censors who
barred showings of "Pinky" in Marshall (Tex.)
theaters.
At issue in "The Miracle" case are four sections
of the New York State Education Law. These say
that films may not be shown without a license
and that no film can be licensed if it is ``obscene,
indecent, immoral, inhuman, sacrilegious." Joseph
Burstyn, distributor of "The Miracle," contends
that the statute violates the Constitution on four
grounds: (1) It is too vague, and so infringes on
due process; (2) it violates separation of state
and church; (8) it infringes on free exercise of
religion; (4) it puts an illegal clamp on freedom of
expression. ACLU is supporting Burstyn's appeal
and will file a `friend of the court" brief in the
Supreme Court.
The Texas decision-by the state's Court of
Criminal Appeals upheld a $200 fine against a
Marshall (Tex.) theater manager who defied a
city ban against showing the movie, ``Pinky," a
film describing Negro-White relations in the South
and the problem of Negroes passing as white.
Much of the court's reasoning followed closely
a decision by U.S. Court of Appeals in 1950. This
upheld the right of Atlanta censors to bar the
movie ``Lost Boundaries" from local theaters.
Said the Texas court: `"`We cannot concede that
the motion picture industry has emerged from the
business of amusement and become propaganders
of ideas entitling it to freedom of speech." Even
if television and magazines can bring to the youth
improper matters, "we cannot concede that this
has divested the municipal authorities of a right
to regulate such subjects (motion pictures.)"'
The case will be appealed to the U. S. Supreme
Court.
ACLU Opposes UMT, Hits
Forced Religious Training
ACLU last month again took a stand against
universal military training and specifically blasted
any plan to make religious instruction compul-
sory under the program. Major points of the Ad-
ministration's UMT bill have already been ap-
proved by the House Armed Services Committee;
the Senate Armed Services Committee is holding
hearings now.
Main basis for the ACLU protest was testimony
of Admiral Thomas C, Kinkaid before the House
committee, as reported by the United Press
Jan. 16.
Kinkaid, a member of the National Security
Training Commission, was said to have outlined
a proposal to make "religious instruction . . . com-
pulsory even for those who indicate no religious
affiliation." He explained, according to press
dispatches, that "a lecture on religion will be in-
cluded in the regular `character guidance' pro-
gram."
ACLU's protest, in a letter to Chairman Carl
Vinson of the House committee, signed by Patrick
Murphy Malin, executive director, declared:
"We earnestly hope that this report (of Kin-
kaid's testimony) is erroneous for we believe that
to draft men into universal military training and
then force them to take religious instruction
would be a grave violation of the principle of sep-
aration of Church and state as embodied in the
First Amendment to the United States Constitu-
tion.
"Tt is desirable and necessary to provide reli-
gious facilities to those persons who would other-
wise be deprived of such facilities because of their
presence in the armed forces. But it would he
shocking were the government even to contem-
plate the establishment of teaching religion."
ACLU is opposed to the whole idea of UMT
on the ground that it might create a spirit of
militarism, prepare the way for totalitarian prac-
tices, and become a regular feature of education,
even in peacetime.
Page 4
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS
American Civil Liberties Union-News
Published monthly at 503 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
OPEN FORUM |
EDITOR: The February number of the Civil
Liberties News, ran an article protesting against
the action of the Treasure Island PX, in dropping,
the Mickey Spillane novels from among the kooks
sold there. This action was apparently taken at
the instance of the chaplain; it seemed to be re-
garded as interference with the freedom of the
press.
I believe this objection overlooks the nature of
the PX and the nature of the control which the
armed forces exercise over it. The PX is a special
retail store which the armed forces operate for
the benefit of their members. From the stand-
point of the suppliers, it is a special facility to
sell goods to a concentrated group of customers.
The PX cannot carry everything; the armed
forces authorities have to make choices as to what
they will handle. Making that choice suppresses
nothing; it merely decides that one set of books
(or other goods) rather than another will _be
given the advantages of the special PX facilities.
It is wholly beside the point either that the
Spillane novels had been obtainable at the PX be-
fore, or that they were discontinued at the in-
stance of the chaplain. It is purely a matter of
internal organization whether the PX is directed
by the manager, the chaplain, or the J oint Chiefs
of Staff. And the mere fact that the PX at one
time carries an item, is no reason to carry it for-
ever.
The Spillane books are reviewed in the Febru-
ary 11 number of the New Republic under the title
"Sex Murder, Inc." That is only part of the story:
they are true fascism in the sense of glorifying
the sadistic self-confessed dregs of society in the
name of anti-communism. If they are not handled
at the PX, neither is the Commnnist Manifesto;
so far as they may represent sadistic literature,
the same is true of the works of the Marquis de
Sade, which are much better written. But the PX
does not carry them, either.
Here the government happens to be in private
business. The decisions which it makes in its
proprietary capacity are something different
from those in which it coerces private citizens by
force of law. Hence, the issue of free speech is
not involved-_GEORGE OLSHAUSEN
Editor's Note: On February 7 last, the Union's
local Executive Committee voted to take no action
concerning the dropping of the Spillane novels by
the Treasure Island PX. Moreover, on February
22, Mr. Spillane announced to the press that he
had joined Jehovah's Witnesses and would no
longer write the kind of books that are presently
objected to.
Maryland ACLU Protests
Indictment In Smith Act Case
In Maryland, ACLU has stepped into the gov-
ernment's case against six Communist leaders
charged with violating the Smith Act. In a friend
of the court brief, the union's affiliate, the Mary-
land Civil Liberties Committee, criticized the
government's indictment on two counts:
(1) "The defendants are not charged with hav-
ing committed a single act directed toward the
overthrow of, or a conspiracy to overthrow, the
government. The charge is a conspiracy to ad-
vocate overthrow of the government by force and
violence, but the vital information which would
establish whether the conspiracy is covered by
the Smith Act is not set forth.
(2) "The defendants do not present a clear and
present danger to the security of the U'S.... We
contend that no political party based on advocacy,
whether it be 2,000 strong or 200,000 strong, can
ever be a danger under our constitutional system.
On the contrary, the real danger . . . arises from
the suppression of political advocacy."
The motion to dismiss the indictment was de-
nied, and the government has introduced a new
indictment.
The six leaders under indictment are Philip
Frankfeld, George Meyers, LeRoy Wood, Regina
Frankfeld, Dorothy Blumberg, and Maurice
Braverman.
-151 "
(=
New York Civil Liberties Union
Meeting Scores Pol
Proposals ranging from better selection and
training of policemen to increased public aware-
ness and action on the problem were offered as
the answer to police abuses of civil liberties at a
recent public meeting sponsored by the New York
Civil Likerties Union.
Over 600 persons heard Osmond K. Fraenkel,
ACLU Board member and counsel to the NYCLU,
declare that police brutality could not be meas-
ured only by direct acts against non-criminals but
should also include such practices as illegal
search and seizures and the obtaining of evidence
through solitary confinement and beatings. The
law is clear in this matter," he said, `These prac-
tices are violations of the law. But while the
courts condemn, seldom is anything done to the
police involved." Fraenkel also pointed to the dis-
crepancy in which New York courts accept evi-
dence obtained through illegal search and sei-
zures while the federal courts don't. He said that
when police engage in lawlessness, seldom does
the public know they are subject to discipline by
their superiors. "Too many of these proceedings
are in secret," he added, and urged that the dis-
ciplinary power be taken out of the hands of the
police. Only the fullest publicity and the continual
institution of civil suits against police for brutal-
ity will correct these misdeeds, he said.
Magistrate Morris Ploscowe asserted that po-
lice brutality is not the usual pattern of police
activity, and attacked the mishandling of minor
offenders. "Too often cops get tough at minor
petty offenders, but not at top gangsters. When
you have corrupt police officials you will find
them getting tough against those persons who
are in competition with the people they are pro-
tecting."
Arnold Fein, legal counsel to Borough Council
President Rudolph Halley, retorted that too many
people believe it is proper to use such tactics
against the criminally or politically unpopular.
"But under the American system," he said, "we
don't drive `tin-horn' gamblers from town. We try
them in a court of law, and if you can't convict
them, it's unfortunate." He said that demands for
action by the press and public in cases that out-
rage the community result in the use of force by
the police who are under pressure to obtain re-
sults. He suggested that selection of police be
done with greater care to weed out those persons
who are over-aggressive or like to wear uniforms
to exhibit their authority. This could be achieved,
Freedom Fares Badly
At Hands of Teen-Agers
The February 27 issue of Look magazine gives
a report on a survey conducted by the Purdue
Opinion Panel, a survey organization at Purdue
University, which questioned some 15,000 high
school students to find out what they think of
freedom.
75 per cent of the students stated that obedi-
ence and respect for authority are the most im-
portant virtues that children should learn.
49 per cent of those who were polled believe
that large masses of the people are incapable of
determining what is and what is not good for
them. Another 19 per cent were "uncertain."
58 per cent agree that police may be justified
in giving a man the "third degree" to make him
talk.
33 per cent say that persons who refuse to
testify against themselves should either be made
to talk or severely punished-while another 20
per cent are uncertain.
25 per cent of the `teenagers would prohibit the
right of the people to assemble peaceably, saying
that some groups should not be allowed to hold
public meetings.
26 per cent believe the police should be allowed
in some cases to search a person or his home with-
out a warrant.
15 per cent would deny to some criminals the
right to have a lawyer.
Only 45 per cent believe newspapers should be
allowed to print anything they want except mili-
tary secrets.
Two-thirds of the students believe that all Gov-
ernment employees should sign loyalty oaths,
while 15 per cent say that only those in positions
involving security or secrecy should be required
to sign.
33 per cent say that a foreigner visiting this
country should not ke allowed to criticize our
Government.
60 per cent would deprive conscientious ob-
jectors of their right to vote.
60 per cent believe that police and other groups
should have the right to censor or ban books and
movies when they see fit. :
ice Brutality
he said, through psychological testing. "And cops
should be taught not to distinguish between poor
_and rich, black and white, alien or citizen." To
meet the charge that complaints of police brutal-
ity receive scant attention, Fein suggested that a
special deputy commissioner, not selected from
the ranks, be named, "perhaps an ex-judge," who
would be legally charged with the job of investi-
gating these complaints.
Donald E. J. MacNamara, vice president of the
Society for the Advancement of Criminology, said
that American police practices are far better,
with one or two exceptions, than other countries.
Fear and untrained police are the greatest causes
for police abuses, he added.
Rev. Donald Harrington, chairman of the Citi-
zens Committee on Police Practices, reviewed the
so-far successful efforts made by his group to
have the Police Department consider new ap-
proaches to the problem. He said that the prob-
lem won't be resolved unless police are taught
that it is not their job to punish, but only to arrest
offenders and until there is better community
understanding. Roger N. Baldwin, chairman of
the ACLU National Committee, said that the
tendency of the U. S. police departments is that
the ends justify the means," and if you have to
clean out the crooks it is all right to use force."
The meeting was told by Edward P. Morgan,
CBS news analyst, who read several case histo-
ries of police brutality, that the NYCLU and
other groups in 1951 investigated about 80 com-
plaints, twice as many as 1950. "The NYCLU
knows of awards in 1951 to victims of police bru-
tality amounting to $175,000 and it is estimated
that pending suits total more than $3,000,000."
Fliigh Court May Settle Child
Custody, Religious Issue
The U.S. Supreme Court may settle this term
an issue that has been fought over for years in
child-custody cases. The issue: How much weight
should you give to religion in placing a child with
foster parents?
The immediate case before the court involves
two children, Diane and Linda Southern. Appar-
ently Jewish, the two had been committed by the
New York City Children's Court to the Free Syna-
gogue Child Adoption Committee. The committee,
in turn, had placed them in a Jewish home. Later,
it developed that the children had been baptized
Roman Catholics, and the state Appellate Division
ruled that, under adoption law, the religion of the
two had to be considered to the exclusion of all
other factors. The children were then withdrawn
from the Jewish home (though they were seem-
ingly fully adjusted to it) and transferred to the
Catholic Home Bureau.
The Free Synagogue Child Adoption Committee,
which is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court,
contends the Appellate Division's ruling converted
(the Children's Court) from a guardian of the
welfare of the children to an agency serving reli-
gious groups. This, it says, is a violation of the
principle of separation of church and state. Reli-
gion, the committee maintains, should be consi-
dered in placing children for adoption, but only in
conjunction with "all other facts" bearing on their
health and well-being, as is the case in all other
comparable situations.
ACLU will-file a "friend of the court" brief at
the appropriate time contending the law, as con-
strued, violates the principle of separation of
church and state.
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