vol. 27, no. 9
Primary tabs
American
Civil Liberties
Union
Volume XXVII
immigration Sees Light
San Francisco, September, 1962
ins
; (R), oe os e
U. S. Citizenship
Persistence paid off for ACLU client Frank Bonetti. He
was informed on August 9 that the Immigration Service
- would recommend he be naturalized as a U. S. citizen in a
federal court hearing on August 29. This victory comes after
342 years of hearings and investigations without the Immi-
gration Service being able to de-
cide whether, to recommend the
denial or grant his petition for
ctizenship, filed in February
1959.
Service Delays
Finally ACLU staff counsel
Marshall Krause filed a motion
requiring the Service to come to
a decision on the petition, and
the district court gave the Serv-
ice 90 days in which to make a
recommendation. The Service
held one more all-day hearing,
at which Bonetti was represented
by both Krause and executive di-
rector Ernest Besig. No new evi-
dence was presented which the
Service did not already have on
the record, with the exception of
some written notes an investiga-
tor claimed to be an accurate
summary of a conversation he
had had with Bonetti in 1951.
The investigator had no inde-
pendent recollection of that con-
versation; he could: only testify
it was his practice to make ac-
curate summaries. Over vigorous
ACLU objection, the notes were
admitted against Bonetti, even
though their accuracy could not
be tested by cross-examination.
Bonetti denied he had ever ex-
pressed the sentiments con-
tained in the notes.
Background Issues
Just inside the court-pre-
Scribed 90-day period, the Immi-
gration Service came through
with its recommendation that
the petition be granted. It is-
sued a six-page written decision,
with no mention of the damag-
ing notes. It did note the two
issues which bothered the Serv-
ice: that Bonetti had been a
member of the Communist Party
during the depression years,
1932-36, and that he had been a
member of the Veterans of the
Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The
Service accepted Bonetti's un-
contradicted testimony that he
had completely severed connec-
tions with the Communist Party
in 1936 and that, though he was
a veteran of the Abraham Lin-
coln Brigade which fought in the
Spanish Civil War, he had not
been a member of the; organiza-
tion for at least 20 years.
Bonetti previously survived
the Service's attempts to keep
him from re-entering the U. S.
as a quota immigrant in 1938 and,
' in 1951, to deport him as an alien
who had been a member of the
Communist Party. The deporta-
tion was thrown out by decision
of the U. S. Supreme. Court in
1958, holding that since Bonetti
had-not been a Party member
since his last entry in 1938, the
statute did not apply to him.
The new citizen lives with his
wife in El Cerrito. -M.W.K.
ACLU'S Stand Against
The Francis Amendment
The following statement has been adopted by the special
committee of the ACLUNC authorized by the Board of Direc-
tors to define its opposition to the Francis Amendment. The
committee expects to prepare a more detailed analysis of
each section of the prolix amendment, to be available shortly.
The American Civil Liberties
Union of Northern California be-
lieves that Proposition 24, to
add a new article to the Califor-
hia Constitution named the
"Louis Francis Amendment," is
wholly inconsistent with Ameri-
can constitutional liberties. Un-
der cover of the bandwagon mu-
sic of anticcommunism, the slop-
pily drafted, vague and _ ill-con-
sidered language of the amend-
ment would give various govern-
ment agencies broad arbitrary
powers to silence dissent by label-
ing it subversion and to enforce
' conformity by equating its ab-
sence with disloyalty. These
powers could be exercised with-
out its victims even having such
fundamental rights as the op-
portunity to cross-examine their
accusers, to present evidence in
defense and to appeal from an
adverse decision.
The.sponsors of the Francis
Amendment tell us. that Califor-
nia is in such danger from sub-
versive activity that extraordi-
nary counter measures are neces-
sary, sacrificing the basic liber-
ties upon which our democracy
was built. The fact is that no na-
tional or state agency now en-
gaged in combating subversion
and espionage has asked for extra-
ordinary powers, nor has any
spokesman for such agency said
that they are needed. There are
now laws which punish espionage,
sabotage or plotting to violently
overthrow the government and
which prevent any person who
advocates violent overthrow of
the government from running for
election in California and from
being a public employee in. Cali-
fornia, including teaching in pub-
lic schools and state universities
and colleges.
The Francis Amendment seeks
to punish an individual for be-
liefs and opinions, rather than
what he actually does. In an in-
dividual were a member of a so-
called "subversive organization"
- even if he did not know the
purpose of the organization or
subscribe to its principles - he
could not run for public office,
could not hold`any public employ-
ment and could receive no tax
exemption. The threat of these
. results would make it dangerous
for an individual to belong to
any controversial group, regard-
less of his belief that it has a
legal and worthwhile purpose.
The possibility of an unjustified
smear isa real one under the
proposed amendment because it
makes a mockery of our tradi-
tional ideas of fair play and due
process of law.
The outstanding example of
this mockery is section 13 un-
der which the Francis Amend-
ment would "supersede all pro-
-Continued on Page 2
Number 9
In This Issue . =
To Be Informed on
Francis Amendment ....p. 2
Supreme Court:
Review and Prospects cent 7p. 3
Test Case on
Denationalization ,.....p. 4
S. F. Schools re
Prayer and Integration ..p. 3
Proposition 24
Stays on Ballot
The California Supreme Court
on August 15 declined to enter-
tain a petition for a writ of man-
date to require the Secretary of
State to remove Proposition 24,
the Louis Francis Amendment,
from the November ballot. The
petition, filed by former States
Attorney General Robert Kenny,
claimed that the proposition to
appear on the ballot was differ-
ent from the one submitted to.
the Attorney General Mosk for
titling and used to gather the
over 400,000 signatures necessary
to get the measure before the
state electorate.
The fact that Section 9 of the
proposition, denying all tax ex-
emptions to members of pro-
scribed organizations, was not in
`the earlier versions of the initia-
tive measure was admitted by its
supporters, but they claimed the
omission was inadvertent and in-
significant. The Supreme Court,
`with Justice Peters dissenting,
did not hear argument on the
case. It authorized its clerk to say
that there had been `substantial
compliance" with the initiative
procedure and that the court had
not passed on the constitutional-
ity of any of the provisions of the
proposed constitutional amend-
-ment.
Opposition Mounts
Many responsible groups have
indicated their opposition to the
3300-word red-hunting measure.
An ad hoc committee, tentatively
known as the Northern Califor-
nia Committee against Proposi-
tion 24, is still in the process of
being formed to concentrate on
working against its passage,
which only requires a simple ma-
jority of the votes to become part
of-our state Constitution. Pro-
ponents of the measure are as-
sured of a well-financed, large
and enthusiastic campaign, built
on the organization remaining
from the state-wide drive to col-
lect signatures for the initiative
measure.
The Los Angeles Times and
the San Francisco News-Call
Bulletin have urged defeat of the
amendment. Their opposition
rests primarily on the astonish-
ing perversion of the grand jury
function in section 3, which
would give that body in any
county the power to declare an
organization subversive without
hearing any evidence. The San
Francisco Chronicle and the East
Bay Labor Journal have placed
their opposition on broader
grounds, the Chronicle stating,
"the Francis Amendment is not
only undesirable, but a distinct
danger to basic American con-
cept . ..." The San Francisco
Junior Chamber of Commerce an-
nounced its-opposition and con-
demned the measure's sponsors
for deceptive practices in push-
ing its passage. Other groups
which have condemned the prop-
osition are State AFL-CIO, the
California Teachers' Association,
the San Francisco Democratic
County Central Committee, the
Jewish Community Relations
Council (San Francisco) and the
American Jewish Congress. Both
gubernatorial candidates have
spoken out against the amend-
ment,
Free Speech Victory
Reinstated
Jack Owens, the Lassen Junior College teacher who wrote
letters to the editor of the Lassen `Advocate critical of the
educational achievements of the county's public schools, was
ordered reinstated to his position by an opinion of the Third.
District Court of Appeal handed down on July 26. Owens had
been fired from his
position at the college after a
superior court judge decided in
a suit brought by the local school
board that the teacher had-been
guilty of "unprofessional con-
duct" since, in the judge's opin-
ion, the schools of Lassen County
were being run in a "proper"
`manner and the people of the
county were satisfied with the
results.
First Amendment Question -
Former staff counsel, Albert
Bendich, who handled the appeal
for the ACLU, argued the case
on First Amendment grounds
Stating, "This case presents the
question: Are teachers free to |
enjoy the rights guaranteed by
the First Amendment on a par
with other persons or are they
`second class citizens?'" This
question, Bendich argued, can
not be avoided by characterizing
public criticism as unprofession-
al.
The three-judge District Court
of Appeal split 2-1 on the case
with Justice Peek writing and
Justice Pierce concurring in the
opinion reversing the trial court.
The majority bluntly stated, "It
was not the court'S function to
debate the subject of proper ad-
"ministration of the school sys-
tem. Within the limitations pre-
viously discussed (disruption or
impairment of discipline or the
teaching process), defendant had
the constitutional right to differ
with the court and the adminis-
trators over what is proper man-
agement, at least in a responsible
manner."
CTA Position
The dissenting opinion of Jus-
tice Schottky agreed with the
"expert" panel appointed by the
California Teachers' Association
to study the case which reported
that Owens' conduct was unethi-
eal (and therefore unprofession-
al) because he was "pressing
a personal viewpoint
in an intemperate manner ...
{with disregard} for the opinion'
or status of a colleague...
.' The
CTA panel considered it unethi-
cal to go outside of professional
channels to effect a revision of
educational policy once a deci-
sion as to that policy had been
made.
Some Can't Read
An unbiased observer might
be tempted to think that the
_ public schools in Lassen County
could use a little criticism-
whether within or without pro-
fessional channels or before or
after decisions had been made-
by the following facts: The prin-
cipal of the high school testified
_ that the median score of a high
school English class on a nation-
ally administered test was 9 (i.e.,
tenure ,
JACK OWENS
halt the class was in the lowest
10% of all the students taking
the test). In 1960 the 150 enter--
ing 10th grade students were
tested in English and the median
Score was 22. Of the 150, only
33 were average or better when
compared with entering 10th
graders around the country and
46 were in the lowest 5% na-
tionally; 14 of the group were
not tested at all because they
could not read. Only 10% of the
high school graduates from Las-
sen County are eligible to enter
the University of California.
Teachers' Rights
The majori ty opinion con-
tinued: "The uncontradicted evi-
dence reveals that defendant
- violated no board or school poli-
cy by publicly airing his griev-
ances; indeed, it appears that the.
board and school had no writ-
ten grievance procedure. Neither
did defendant violate any other
ascertainable school rule. There
is no issue of disobedience or in-
subordination. 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. was not precluded from join-
ing in this great public debate
{on the quality of education] be-
cause of his status as a teacher.
Nor was he precluded from criti-
cizing education in the course
of his electioneering in support ~
of his choice of a candidate for
the school board in the coming
election."
Further Appeal
The Lassen County Board of
Education has voted to petition
the California Supreme Court to
grant a hearing in the case and
if it does so, there will be a new
opinion written, In view of the
impo:' nce of the case, the
Supreme Court may well vote to
grant a hearing in order to set
a State-wide policy on what is
"unprofessional conduct."
: Ss M.W.K.
National ACLU Director
Stops Over in San Francisco
On his way up the coast in a national tour of ACLU affili-
ates, John de J. Pemberton, Jr., executive director of the na-
tional ACLU, will spend overnight in San Francisco on October
1. That evening he will meet with ACLUNC board members,
dining together as guests of Mrs.
member of the board of our northern California branch.
Helen Salz, founder and
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION NEWS
Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
Second Class Mail privileges authorized at San Francisco, California
ERNEST BESIG... Editor
503 Market Street, San Francisco 5, California, EXbrook 2-4692
Subscription Rates -- Two Dollars a Year
Twenty Cents Per Copy
Dr. Alfred Azevedo
_ Theodore Baer
Prof. Arthur K. Bierman
Rev. Richard Byfield
Prof. James R. Caldwell
John J. Eagan
Prof. Van D. Kennedy
Rey. F. Danford Lion
John R. May
Lloyd L. Morain
Honorary Treasurer:
- Jeseph M. Thompson
Honorary Board Member
Sara Bard Field
Mrs. Gladys Brown
Mrs. Paul Couture |
Joseph Eichler
Morse Erskine _
Dr. H. H. Fisher
Mrs. Margaret C. Hayes
-Prof. Ernest Hilgard
Mrs. Paul Holmer
Mrs.' Mary Hutchinson
_Richard Johnston
Roger Kent
Mrs. Ruth Kingman
Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union
of Northern California
CHAIRMAN: Howard A. Friedman
VICE-CHAIRMEN: Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn
Helen Salz
Rev. Harry B. Scholefield
SECRETARY-TREASURER: John M. Fowle
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Ernest Besig
Committee of Sponsors
Prof. Charles Muscatine
Prof. Herbert L. Packer
William M. Roth
Clarence E. Rust
Prof. Nevitt Sanford
Mrs. Alec Skolnick
Mrs. Martin Steiner
Gregory S. Stout
Donald Vial
GENERAL COUNSEL
Wayne M. Collins
Prof. Theodore Kreps
Prof. Carlo Lastrucci
Norman Lezin
Prof. John Henry yea
Hon. Clem Miller
Rey. Robert W. Moon
Dr. Marvin J. Naman
Prof. Hubert Phillips
Prof. Wilson Record
_ Dr. Norman Reider
Prof. Wallace Stegner
Mrs. Theodosia Stewart
. Mes. Kathleen D. Tolman
Rt. Rey. Sumner Walters
Stanley Weigel
Franklin H. Williams
reecom for Teachers
Freedom of expression for school teachers is not the
broadest freedom in the land - school principals, superin-
tendents and school boards being what they are. When this
freedom was throttled to the point where a Lassen Junior
College teacher lost his job in 1959 for expressing his opin-
ions of the educational system in letters to the editor of the
Lassen Advocate, we felt a genuine concern for the freedom
of teachers generally.
Jack Owens, the letter-writing ae accused the school
administrators of Lassen Union High School district of
bureaucracy, lack of policy and isolation from the teachers;
he also took on the State Department of Education (which,
however, refused to revoke his teaching credentials) and the
California Teachers Association. His employers fired him for
`unprofessional conduct."
Backed by the American Civil ibe: Union, Owens
has fought the case through the District Court of Appeal,
which has handed down an opinion supporting him. The
court said his expression of views must be shown to have
disrupted or impaired the discipline of the teaching process
to warrant his being fired.
This is a welcome distinction. Many a teacher disagrees
with the status quo; when one says so, he should not be made
a pariah unless the effect of his criticism is to cause real
_turmoil in the school system.-S. F. Chronicle, 7-30-62
NS
Chapter Board
Meetings
MARIN:
Tuesday, Sept. 4, 8:15 p.m.
Dr. Sam Hanzel's
100 Goodhill Road in
Kent Woodlands
MID-PENINSULA:
Thursday, Sept. 13, 8 p.m.
All Saints Church
555 Waverly in Palo Alto
(see program details, p.3)
SACRAMENTO:
Tuesday, Sept. 11, 8 p.m.
James D. Lucas.
5628 McAdoo Avenue
SANTA CLARA VALLEY:
in conjunction with Mid-
Peninsula's meeting
(see above)
ACLU NEWS
Pade 2 SEPTEMBER, 1962
Fall Course on
"The Negro and
The City"
S.F. State College is offering a
special course of study on "The
Negro and the City" to help in-
dividuals and community groups
understand and cope with the mi-
gration of Negroes to urban
areas. Frank Quinn, executive di-
rector of the Council for Civic
Unity, will be the instructor.
Using the Bay Area as its lab-
oratory,
how cities receive migrant
groups, the history of Negroes in
the U.S., Negroes in northern
cities and implications for com-
munity programs. It is designed
especially for students, teachers,
social workers and civic leaders,
but is open to all persons who
want insights into recent large-
scale migration of Negroes into
the Bay Area.
The course will be given at the
Downtown Center of the College,
540 Powell Street, from Septem-
ber 18 to January 8, Tuesdays
from 7 to 9:45 pm. Tuition is
$30.00.
_ State's
the course will cover.
Basis of Douglas'
Position In
Prayer Case
In a concurring opinion in the
Regents' Prayer Case, Justice
Douglas set forth the underlying
philosophy of the First Amend-
ment's guarantee of religious
freedom. He borrowed language
appearing in a dissent of Justice
Rutledge in the Everson case
which upheld, by a 5 to 4 vote,
free public transportation for
parochial school students. Curi-
ously enough, he and Justice
_ Black are the only members of
that majority still on the court,
although Justice Douglas would
now seem to be in disagreement
with the decision. In any case,
here is what Justice Douglas calls
"durable First Amendment phil-
osophy":
Reasons for Amendment
"The reasons underlying- the
Amendment's policy have not
vanished with time or diminished
in force. Now as when it was
adopted the price of religious
freedom is double. It is that the
church and religion shall live
both within and upon. that free-
dom. There cannot be freedom of
religion, safeguarded by the
state, and intervention by the
church or _ its agencies in the
domain or dependency
on its largesse. Madison's Remon-
strance, Par. 6, 8. The great con-
dition of religious liberty is that
it be maintained free from sus-
tenance, as also -from other in-
terference, by the state. For
when it comes to rest upon that
secular foundation it vanishes
with the resting. Id., Par. 7, 8.
Public money devoted to payment
of religious costs, educational or
other, brings the quest for more.
It brings too the struggle of sect
against sect for the larger share
or for any. Here one by numbers
alone will benefit most, there
another. That is precisely the
history. of societies which have
-had an established religion and
dissident groups. Id. Par. 8, 11.
It is the very thing Jefferson and
Madison experienced and sought
to guard against, whether in its
blunt or in its more screened
forms. Ibid: The end of such
strife cannot be other than to de-
stroy the cherished liberty. The
dominating group will achieve
the dominant benefit; or all will
embroil the state in their dissen-
tions. Id. Par. 11."
Prayer's Import
Justice Dougias joined the ma-
jority in the Regents' Prayer
Case, he said, because `What
New York does with this prayer
is a break with that tradition."
Discrimination
Siopped
Henry Doelger's Westlake .
(Daly City) development, called
Country Club Apartments, did a
turnabout last month after hav-
ing refused to rent an apartment
to a couple belonging to a minor-
ity group.
The couple qualified shapely
in financial and credit rating.
After their deposit had been ac-
cepted, they were informed that
"for confidential reasons" their
application had been rejected by
the "Rental Committee."
ACLU staff counsel Marshall
Krause then paid a visit to the
development's manager and in-
formed him of the recent Cali-
fornia Supreme Court decision in
Burks v. Poppy Construction
Company (see May NEWS). The
"Rental Committee' reconsid-
ered and rented the apartment
to the couple -M.W.K.
posed
ACLU'S Stand Against
The Francis Amendment
Continued from Page 1-
visions of this Constitution
(meaning the Constitution of
California) and laws _ enacted
thereunder in conflict there-
with." Thus the California Con-
stitution's guarantees of inalien-
able human rights to life, liberty,
property, religious freedom, pro-
tection from cruel and unusual
punishment, jury trial, freedom
of speech and press and freedom
of assembly would all have to
give way to suppressions of the
Francis Amendment. The effect
of this may be seen in the op-
eration of section 3 of the pro-
amendment allowing a
grand jury, which operates in
secret sessions and does not hear
any opposing evidence, to de-
clare an organization subversive
and thereby invoke all the strict
penalties of the amendment with-
out any judicial process. The At-
torney General would have the
same power, again without the
opportunity to present a de-
fense by the person or group
concerned. This portion of the
Francis Amendment subverts
`the basic concept of justice by
making prosecuting agencies
perform-the functions of judges
and allowing their judgments to
be made in secret.
Confused and frustrated by the
menace of external communist
expansion, the proponents of the
Francis Amendment have turned
their fire internally where it will
provide the irrational heat for
6
Aspirant Opposes
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Wiretapping
Edward J. McCormack, candi-
date for the U.S. Senate from
Massachusetts, testified before a
House Judiciary Subcommittee
against a wiretap bill sponsored
by Attorney General Robert F.
Kennedy. As his state's attorney
general, McCormack urged de-
feat of the proposed legislation,
authorizing state
wiretaps in cases involving na-
tional security. He voluntarily re-
jected the broad wiretap powers
the bill would grant. Declaring
the "sacred right of privacy is,
and must remain, the cornerstone
of an open society,' Mr. McCor-
mack expressed abhorrence for
all wiretapping.
Prayer Gase
Opinion on Hand
The ACLU office has copies of -
the decision in Engle v. Vitale,
outlawing the New York Re-
gents' Prayer. They contain the
prevailing, concurring and dis-
senting opinions in the ease.
Coipes are available at 20 cents
each (please enclose with your
order). :
Also available are copies of a
sermon in strong support of the
Court's decision by Rev. Edward
O. Miller, Rector of St. George's,
Episcopal Church in New York.
These are free.
and federal
the political smear which weak--
ens democracy and makes the
people distrust its government.
The American Civil Liberties
Union takes its stand on the side
of democracy where no one may
be punished for his beliefs or
opinions and where open evi-
dence and due process of law are
required for a person who is
penalized for his actions. Commu-
nism will be defeated by pointing
out its defects and weaknesses in
the market place of free speech
and not by preventing its discus-
sion. The methods of totali-
tarianism are not admissible in
a democratic system of govern-
ment and every American,
whether he _ feels personally
threatened or not, should be con-
cerned with this attempted ero-
`sion of constitutional liberties.
_The anti-democratic, anti-consti- _
tutional Francis Amendment
should not become part of our
California Constitution.
Santa Clara
Valley Chapter
On the Alert
Less than a year old, the San-
ta Clara Valley chapter of
ACLUNC is already earning the
reputation for leaving no ciyil
liberties' stone unturned. It
keeps tabs on local. develop-
ments, tackling issues as they
crop up. :
In its latest move to assure
the free play of liberty at home,
the chapter last month urged the
City Council of San Jose to re-
peal certain portions of the ordi-
nance relating to handbill distri-
bution and permits. A letter to
the local governing body intro-
duced "in exhaustive memoran-
dum, prepared by attorney Hal
Gross of Mt. View, analyzing the
unconstitutionality of those sec-
tions of the ordinance regulating
the exercise of First Amendment
rights.-The chapter questions the
requirements of permits, author-
ity given to the Chief of Police
to grant or deny them and the
unapportioned tax (charges in
excess of administrative costs)
for permits granted. These are,
the chapter states, limitations on
freedom of speech and assembly
prohibited by the First Amend-
ment. Application of these regu-
Jations to commercial handbills
is not being challenged.
The chapter's September cal-
endar calls for a public debate of
the Louis Francis amendments.
Plans are in process for a meet-
ing and/or radio program on
this proposition threatening our
state's constitutional liberties.
In order to stimulate broader
membership interest and partici-
pation, the chapter is also plan-
ning future board meetings for
each session to include discus-
sion of a topic of civil liberties'
import. Education will be a regu-
lar feature of these monthly
meetings open to all ACLU
members.
To 5e infor rf
The Francis
Hear (c)
8, at 10: 45 a.m.).
Read
Attend
on p. 3).
Coleman Blease, xegislative representative for
ACLU of Southern California and Richard J. Dol-
wig, state Senator from San Mateo County, debate
the amendment-KPFA(FM) on Friday, Septem-
ber 7, at 1:00 p.m. (repeated Saturday, September
a detailed, comprehensive analysis of the measure
by the American Jewish Congress-available at
the Congress office, 47 Kearney, S. F.
_or a succinct review, aptly termed "Loyalty on the
Ballot?" in the May Newsletter of the California
Friends Committee on Legislation, 2160 Lake, S.F.
the joint Mid-Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley
ACLU chapters' meeting, September 13 in Palo
a Alto, and participate in their educational program
to apprise the public on the destructive contents
and far-reaching effect of the proposition (details
ent
History may record the 1961 term of the United States
Supreme Court for the vituperative and seemingly over-
whelming criticism which followed its decision in the case
of "Engle v. Vitale," declaring the New York Regents' Prayer
to be a violation of the First Amendment's prohibition of the
establishment of religion. Calm
voices have already pointed out
that a careful reading of the de-
cision (printed in the August
NEWS) shows it was not anti-
religious but merely in accord
with the strict principles of sepa-
ration of church and state found.
necessary by our Founding Fa-
thers. The threat to amend the
First Amendment remains a Sseri-
ous one. A campaign in this Gi-
rection could create one of the
_most important civil liberties
fights since the adoption of the
Bill of Rights.
Reapportionment
However, the most significant
decision of the Term will prob-
ably be Baker v. Carr. This case
"overturned the rule of Colegrove
v. Green that reapportionment of
legislative districts was a political
question not to be inquired into
by the Federal courts. Baker v.
Carr held that a complaint al-
leging the denial of the equal
protection of the laws because
voters in rural districts had a
disproportionate amount of polit-
ical power evolving from no
change in state elective districts
since 1900, did state a case for
relief in the Federal courts. As a
result of this decision, just in the
course of the past few months,
suits have been brought in the
Federal courts of at least seven
states to end the partial disen-
franchisement resulting from
failure to redistrict those areas of
the state in which large popula-
tion growth has made districts
formerly equal in population
grossly unequal. The Supreme
Court has yet to rule on exactly
how far the states must go in
ereating districts equally divided
_on the basis of population. Sev-
eral questions remain to be an-
swered. Will districts for the elec-
tion of state representatives
based on geographical considera- -
tion be upheld? Will there be a
difference in the requirements .
for state elective districts and
Federal elective districts?
_ Free Speech
- Other significant decisions
which have been previously re-
ported on in the NEWS are the
reversals of nine out of ten con-
tempt of court convictions aris-
ing from failure of witnesses to
"answer questions of Congres-
sional Committees. As reported
in the August NEWS, these deci-
sion were based on technical
grounds and did not reach the
vital question of free speech
abridgement. Cramp v. Board of
Public Instruction held that a
Florida statute requiring state
employees to take a loyalty oath
was invalid, a unanimous court
so ruling, because the oath's
terms were so vague as to un-
constitutionally inhibit the free
exercise of the individual free-
doms protected by the Constitu-
tion (see December NEWS).
Obscenity
The Court on the last decision
day of the Term granted an in-
junction requested by the pub-
lisher of a magazine the post of-
fice had declared obscene and re-
fused to deliver. Only seven mem-
bers of the Court sat on the case,
Manual Enterprises v.. Day, six
of them ruling for the injunction
but on two different theories.
Three justices, Warren, Brennan,
and Douglas, decided that Con-
gress had never intended to give
the Post Office Department
power to determine material ob-
scene and therefore "non-mail-
able." In their opinion, the prac-
tice of administrative censorship,
if Congress had authorized it,
would raise grave constitutional
doubts; but censorship, and at-
tendant criminal penalties, by a
"fully judicial" process would,
the opinion stated, raise no such
doubts.
Justices Harlan and Stewart
wrote a most interesting opinion
in which they decided that the
magazines in question, composed
of male figure studies designed
for homosexual appeal, were not
obscene. Therefore, they did not
discuss the question of the Post
Office's authority. In their view
even if the prurient. interest
test were satisfied, the publica-
tions were still not obscene be-
cause they were not indecent or
offensive. These justices made
their own independent evaluation
of the magazines and decided
they were merely "unpleasant,
uncouth and tawdry." They would
hold that nothing can be obscene,
at least under Federal. statutes,
unless it both stimulates sexual
interest to a degree which sur-
passes contemporary community
standards and does it in a way
which a majority of the Supreme
Court considers offensive. The
question of literary, scientific or
social value as a defense to an
obscenity charge was not dis-
cussed, as the litigants did not
claim that the magazines had
such value.
Justice Black concurred in the
judgment without an opinion.
Evidently, he would-hold all cen-
sorship statutes unconstitutional
as an abridgement of free speech
and press. Justice Clark would
have granted the injunction and
therefore dissented from all the
other views expressed.
Drug Addiction
Robinson v. California declared
unconstitutional as cruel and un-
usual punishment the California
statute punishing the status of
being a drug addict. The decision
was written by Justice Potter
Stewart, who agreed to stay the
effect of his decision after the
State of California filed a peti-
tion for rehearing, after discov-
ery that the defendant in the
case had been dead for a con-
siderable time before the court's
decision. This fact may make the
court's decision in this particular
case moot.
`No matter how the court rules
on the technical point of moot-
ness, it seems*clear that the law,
Health and Safety Code Section
11721, will be declared unconsti-
tutional with finality when the
issue is squarely presented. The
fundamental defect in the law,
said a six-man majority, was that
it attempted to punish an illness
as a erime. Under the law, pun-
ishment of drug addiction was al-
lowed without proof of an unlaw-
ful act within the State. This was
held to be cruel and unusual
punishment. It is to be noted that
California's laws punishing the
possession, sale or use of nar-
cotics within the State are not af-
fected by the decision. The Rob-
inson case may well have im-
portant ramifications in other
areas of criminal law such as
alcoholism.
Important Decisions Expected
Many important cases are al-
ready docketed for the 1962-63
Term of the United States Su-
preme Court. Some of these are:
-y. Maryland will
Local Chapters
Pick Up Gauntlet
On Prop. 24
Perhaps the single most im-
portant task for ACLU during
the next few months is defeat of
the Francis amendment.
To educate the citizenry on
this uepressive, unnecessary and
poorly drafted measure, the Mid-
Peninsula and Santa Clara Val-
ley chapters are jointly sponsor-
ing a training session for speak-
ers and an expanded speakers'
bureau devoted exclusively to
supplying speakers on this
amendment.
If you can speak to a _ local
civie organization, your help is
urgently needed. Attend the ses-
sion, learn about the amend-
ment in detail, pick up your
speaker's kit and join other
ACLU members who will be ad-
dressing groups in the commu-
nity.
The session will be held on
Thursday, September 13 at 8:00
p.m. at the All Saints Church,
555 Waverley and Hamilton in
Palo Alto. All ACLUNC mem-
bers are welcome and urged to
attend. |
For further information, call
Ann McNaughton at DA 5-9774
(Mid-Peninsula) or Ed Laing at
948-9731 (Santa Clara Valley). If
an organization you belong to
wants to know about the content
and effect of this proposed
~ amendment, a call to either of
these numbers will lne up a
speaker.
Kennedy v. Mendoza and Rusk v.
Court-testing the constitutional-
ity of involuntary loss of citizen-
ship because of an act declared
to be expatriatory by Congress;
and NAACP v. Gray-testing the
constitutionality of a Virginia
statute prohibiting the challenge
of state segregation statutes by
litigation financed by the NAACP
or similar organizations. A large
group of pending cases such as
Griffin v. Maryland and Drews
determine
whether it is unconstitutional
state action for a city to prosecute
persons for disorderly conduct
who refuse to comply with the
racial segregation policy of a
private business. The question of
whether a state has a constitu-
tional duty to appoint an attorney
for every indigent defendant
charged with a felony in a state
court will come up in the case
of Gideon v. Cochran.
At least two cases will continue
the challenge to abusive powers
of legislative investigating com-
mittees. Gibson v. Florida is the
most interesting. It involves the
additional allegation that the
state legislative committee was
acting out of racial prejudice
when it required Gibson, presi-
dent of the Miami chapter of the
NAACP, to indicate whether cer-
tain named individuals, said to
be Communists, were members
of the NAACP according to the
membership lists in-Gibson's pos-
session. The other case, Yelien
v. United States, will attempt to
get the court to answer questions
it has avoided so far. How should
the balancing test, concerning
First Amendment rights and
Congress' right to information,
be applied? Is evidence on the
weight of conflicting public and
private interests at stake admis-
sible or inadmissible?-
Wong Sun v. United States will
decide the question of admissibil-
ity of a voluntary confession in
Federal court cases where the
defendant was illegally arrested.
Two cases will consider the right
of cross-examination. The first,
Willner v. Committee on Char-
acter, involves an applicant for
admission to the New York Bar
who was denied the opportunity
to cross-examine two witnesses
who testified against his char-
acter. The second, Williams v.
Zuckert, involves the question of
whether the government was re-
quired to produce adverse wit-
nesses for cross-examination be-
fore it could fire a Civil Service
employee. -M.W.K.
Segregation, Nerthern Style
_ far
School Integration Issue
Flares Up in San Francisco
Too comfortably viewed as a regional disease of the
South, the ugly head of segregation reared into full view in
San Francisco this summer. The bug came out in foree
around the question of boundary lines for Central Junior
High School, a new school created by the transfer of old
Lowell High School to a new
building.
Points at Issue
The cure, according to the
NAACP, CORE and the Grattan
Parents and Friends Association,
is for school student populations
to approximately reflect the com-
munity population at large in
ethnic. proportions. With the
Board of Education's proposed
boundaries for the new school,
pupil enrollment would approxi-
mate 60 percent Negro and 40
percent white-far out of line
with the city's ratio of 20 percent
Negro and 80 percent white. The
Board claims adherence to the
principle of the neighborhood
oriented school. It refuses to
recognize that segregated schools
-are educationally unsound and
sees no remedy for the conse-
quences of residential segrega-
tion reaching out into the public
school patterns-de `facto segre-
gation. Community groups pro-
testing this limited viewpoint de-
mand that educationally' sound
steps can assure ethnic balance
in our schools, so that modern
-youth learns and grows up in an
environment paralleling the
world they live and work in.
S.F. Schools
To Prayer
`benefits of the
Developments to Date
When several. heated hearings,
appeals from the Mayor and
picket lines failed to move the
Board from its segregated posi-
tion, a group of parents filed suit -
asking for the school to be closed
rather than open with a dispro-
portionate number of Negro pu-
pils. Federal Judge Alfonso J.
Zirpoli postponed decision to al-
low the Board and Central's par-
ents to settle their differences..
When the Board voted unani-
mously to close the school, court
action became unnecessary.
Judge Zirpoli stated: "The re-
sponsibility for reconciling the
neighborhood
school policy with the constitu-
tional requirements for integra-
tion rests with the school authori-
ties and will require the whole-
hearted cooperation of the com-
munity, the parents, students and
teachers."
The issue is not closed-just
evaded for the time being. There
are indications that action may
be taken against the Board of
Education on the charge of gerry-
mandering school zone lines to fit |
color lines, thus maintaining seg-
regation.
lolds on
At its meeting of August 7, the Board of Education of the
San Francisco Unified School District voted, without com-
ment, to accept the opinion of Board attorney Irving Breyer
continuing the "Song of Thanks" prayer used in many of the
city's public schools. Breyer's somewhat inconsistent opinion
concluded as follows: "Thus, in
response to the statement of the
American Civil Liberties Union
that the Supreme Court decision
makes illegal the prayer recited
in some of our San Francisco
schools, I would disagree; yet at
the same time I recognize that
the decision raises doubts which
probably will not be fully re-
solved without future court de-
cision. Finally, the policy of con-
tinuing or discontinuing the
prayer in question is not a legal
matter at this time."
ACLU Request
On July 27, ACLU director
8th ACLU Group
Takes Shape in
`Santa Cruz
Members of the Santa Cruz
area, in-a meeting June 29,
voted to form a county chapter
of the ACLU, the eighth one so
in northern California. in
view of the summer recess of
ACLUNC's board, approval of the
new chapter is delayed pending
the September board meeting.
Meanwhile the unsanctified new-
born is moving ahead with its or-
ganizational preparations,
A temporary board, headed by
Dr. Marvin Naman, is on the job.
Nominations are open for official
board members, to be voted on
by the full membership in an
October or November meeting.
By-laws have been drafted for
submission to the members.
Two-thirds of the county's paid-
up members endorsed the chap-
ter move and over half of the
members promised they would
actively participate in a going
chapter program. The first poll
was taken at a meeting in May.
Among those present were
twenty-one persons who were not
yet ACLU members. They ex-
pressed equal enthusiasm for the
organization - a propitious sign
of immediate growth potential
for the new fledgling.
Ernest Besig wrote the Board
calling attention to the recent
U. S. Supreme Court decision
holding the New York "non-de-
nominational" prayer an. unecon-
stitutional establishment of re-
ligion and asking the Board to
reconsider its policy. The prayer
most often used.in the San Fran-
cisco schools is a song recited or
sung before milk and: crackers in
the kindergarten and first grade.
Tt is:
"We thank Thee God, for food
we eat -
For family and friends we
meet;
For books we read and songs
we sing.
We thank Thee God for
everything."
Test Case
The ACLU Board of Directors
will be asked at its September
meeting to authorize a test case
to determine if the "Song of
Thanks" is an establishment of
religion contrary to the First
Amendment. If the suit is
brought, Breyer's opinion sug-
gests that the School Board's de-
fense will be based on the argu-
ment that this is not an `official'
prayer because not formally
composed or adopted by the
school system. This argument
seems wide of the mark, how-
ever, because it is the use of the
public school system to support a
religious exercise which breaches
the constitutional wall of separa-
tion between church and state.
The questions of who composed
the prayer and whether it is of-
ficially or unofficially adopted
do not appear to be determina-
tive.
The Board's acceptance of the
Breyer opinion is consistent
-with its practice of making no
deviation from established policy
until forced to do so by direct
court order. -M.W.K.
ACLU NEWS
SEPTEMBER, 1962 Page 3.
Test
enationalization
f Native-Born American
The American Civil Liberties Union announced recently
that an appeal has been filed with the United States Court
of Appeals in New York contesting a Federal District Court
decision which held that American-born Herman Marks was
denationalized because of his service in the Cuban Rebel
~ Army.
The civil liberties group dis-
closed that the appeal has been
filed by Murray A. Gordon, an
ACLU cooperating attorney serv-
ing as Marks' counsel from Fed-
eral Judge John M. Cashin's de-
cision on March 29 upholding
the United States Immigration
and Naturalization Service's con-
tention that Marks had lost his
- citizenship because of his service
with the Castro forces after Jan.
-uary, 1959.
Deportation Defeated
The organization also stated
that no appeal would be taken
from that portion of Judge
Cashin's decision which held
"that Marks was not deportable
and was entitled to a writ of
habeas corpus discharging him
from the custody of the Service
as a deportable alien. The Serv-
ice had sought to deport Marks
because of a 1950 moral turpi-
tude conviction and because he
had re-entered the United States
after escaping from Cuba with-
out the entry documents re-
quired by aliens but not citizens.
According to Judge Cashin,
Marks' conviction came at a time
when he was an American citi-
zen and could not, therefore,
serve as a basis for deportation.
' Furthermore, at the time Marks
entered the United States from
Cuba there had been no prior de-
termination of his denationaliza-
tion so there was no require-
ment that he possess the entry
' documents required of aliens but
not of citizens.
Case of First Impression
An amendment to the Immi-
gration Act in 1952 provides that -
an American citizen who enters
or serves in the armed ~forces
of a foreign country shall auto-
matically lose his citizenship, un-
less "such entry or service is
specifically authorized in writ-
ing by the Secretary of State
and the Secretary of Defense."
The Immigration Service con-
tends that Marks, born in 1923
in Milwaukee, lost his American
citizenship through serving with
Castro's army during the revolu-
tionary period, and later, under
the Castro regime. The United
States Supreme Court has never
ruled on the constitutionality of
expatriation because of service
in a foreign army, which makes
the Marks case one of unusual
importance,
ACLU Interest.
The ACLU said it was support-
ing Marks' appeal as a test of
the constitutionality of the gov-
-ernment's effort to strip a na-
tive-born American of his citi-
zenship because of his service
in a foreign army. The case as-
sumes greater significance, be-
cause it is the first involving de-
nationalization and deportation
of a native-born American who
has acquired no other citizenship
and always intended to retain his
American citizenship. In the
earlier legal proceedings before
the Immigration Service and the
District Court, Marks said that
while an American may willing-
ly and voluntarily relinquish his
native-born American citizenship,
no American can be stripped of
~ such citizenship contrary to his
will or intention.
Fourteenth Amendment
According to the ACLU, this
case will decide whether the
Fourteenth Amendment, which
provides that all persons born
or naturalized in the United
States and subject to the juris-
diction thereof, are citizens of
the United States and of the
state wherein they reside, and
Page 4
- elsewhere,
ACLU NEWS
SEPTEMBER, 1962 -
the Fifth Amendment, which
provides that `No person shall
.~ . be deprived of .. . liberty
... without due process of law,"
prohibit the government from
imposing involuntary expatri-
ation upon American-born citi-
zens. The ACLU has previously
stated its position that the `"con-
stitutional limitation upon Con-
gress to enact expatriation legis-
lation should be circumscribed
by the following standards: the
performance of a voluntary act
which imports renunciation of
allegiance to the United States.
The test is objective and applies
both to native-born and natural-
ized citizens."
Survey of
Religion in
Public Schools
Half of the public school sys-
tems in the United States today
hold homeroom devotional serv-
~ices in at least some of their
schools. This was reported re-
cently by R.-0x00B0B. Dierenfeld, as-
sociate professor of education at
Macalester College in St. Paul,
in a survey published in Reli-
gious Education on "The Extent
of Religious Influence in Ameri-
ean Public Schools."
Widespread in South
This practice was true of
eighty percent of the school sys-
tems in the East, only seven per-
cent in the West, and twenty-
six. percent in the Midwest. But
the inclusion of religious ma-
terial in the public school en-
vironment is in general far more
widespread in the South than
particularly in the
smaller communities.
Almost ninety-five percent of
the southern systems report
teaching "spiritual values," as
distinct from `moral values,"
and almost two-thirds provide
materials to teachers for this
purpose. Regular chapel exer-
ercises are held in the schools
in seventy percent. of the south-
ern systems, and Bible readings
in three-fourths of them.
Two practices which the U. S.
Supreme Court has already
found permissible, those of re-
leasea time and bus transporta-
tion for parochial school stu-
dents, are especially common in
the East. Only one-eighth of the
schools have regular chapel ex-
ercises, but almost half have re-
leased time programs and over
_ one-third provide transportation.
However, in one-eighth of the
nation's systems that. provide re-
leased time programs, these
classes are held in the school
buildings.
Religious Observances
As for actual religious observ-
ances, only fifteen percent of
the school superintendents. felt
that they were not proper in the
schools, and almost ninety per-
cent reported activities to cele-
brate Christmas. Thanksgiving
activities were reported in bare-
ly three-fourths. A few systems
even reported holding classes in
church buildings and allowing
members of religious orders to
teach in the public schools, but .
these practices were compara-
tively rare.
`These findings were all based
on a mailing of 4,000 question-
naires to a proportional sam-
pling of the four geographical
divisions of the country and five
population categories. But only
half of these were returned, and
only one-third of those sent to
the South were returned, while
the Midwest returned almost
three-fourths and the East and
West almost fifty-five percent.
Results
Concord
Humboldt
Mid-Peninsula
Santa Cruz
Miscellaneous
NOTE:
Berkeley age Sis
Butte County 2202:
Daye
Hayward =
Marin County ..... ee
Los Altos ....
Menlo Park
Palo Alto:....
Monterey County
INADA ees ee
Oakland 22-30
Orinda. 2
Redwood City ..........02......... S
"Richmond = =
Sacramento
San Francisco ..................2...
San: Mateo: 2
Santa Clara Valley ............
Steekion 2
Walnut Creek-Lafayeite ....
a Otal eo es,
m Includes 74 subscribers to NEWS.
of 1962 Membership Campaign
(to July 15, 1962)
New Members Total
(or subscribers) Members
ee 122 984
oo 5 22
oe 2 44
Bo 5 as
oo 13 "15
Se 14 80
ee 2 15
eee 20 390
oe 17 89
fe 15 113
oe 34 344
eee 15 107
oe 6 3.
De 26 254
Ci 18 61
- ey
See 19 139
eo AY 191
es 123 1093
oe 22 198
Se a AS 214
ee 9 54
oe 24 a
ee Sr = 76
ee, 16 714
oe 32. 468
oF 695% =~ "584%
Since office records count each membership application as one, these
figures do not reflect family memberships of $12.00 which cover two members (hus-
band and wife). Excluding subscribers, 621 new members have joined the ACLU this
year; of these, 54 are family memberships. Therefore, the actual number of individual
members new to the ACLU is 675.
Dorothy Hull
Frank Ficarra
George Nichols
Natalie Dukes
_ James M. Smith
Thomas Whayne
(Mail Campaign Only)
Libby Ginsberg
Peter Szego
Linden Leavitt, Jr.
Don Feiner
Arthur Goldman-
Marilyn Pennebaker
Marion Lewenstein
Katherine Ann Spencer
Rosalie Nichols
Doris Kahn
Elizabeth Seelig
_ Lawrence Johsens
Marvin Naman
Jack Warnick - Doris Sloan
Shirley Rapaport-
Ruth Freedman
Barbara Suezek-
ACLUN_1946 ACLUN_1946.MODS ACLUN_1946.batch ACLUN_1947 ACLUN_1947.MODS ACLUN_1947.batch ACLUN_1948 ACLUN_1948.MODS ACLUN_1948.batch ACLUN_1949 ACLUN_1949.MODS ACLUN_1949.batch ACLUN_1950 ACLUN_1950.MODS ACLUN_1950.batch ACLUN_1951 ACLUN_1951.MODS ACLUN_1951.batch ACLUN_1952 ACLUN_1952.MODS ACLUN_1952.batch ACLUN_1953 ACLUN_1953.MODS ACLUN_1953.batch ACLUN_1954 ACLUN_1954.MODS ACLUN_1954.batch ACLUN_1955 ACLUN_1955.MODS ACLUN_1955.batch ACLUN_1956 ACLUN_1956.MODS ACLUN_1956.batch ACLUN_1957 ACLUN_1957.MODS ACLUN_1957.batch ACLUN_1958 ACLUN_1958.MODS ACLUN_1958.batch ACLUN_1959 ACLUN_1959.MODS ACLUN_1959.batch ACLUN_1960 ACLUN_1960.MODS ACLUN_1960.batch ACLUN_1961 ACLUN_1961.MODS ACLUN_1961.batch ACLUN_1962 ACLUN_1962.MODS ACLUN_1962.batch ACLUN_1963 ACLUN_1963.MODS ACLUN_1964 ACLUN_1964.MODS ACLUN_1965 ACLUN_1965.MODS ACLUN_1966 ACLUN_1966.MODS ACLUN_1967 ACLUN_1967.MODS ACLUN_1968 ACLUN_1968.MODS ACLUN_1969 ACLUN_1969.MODS ACLUN_1970 ACLUN_1970.MODS ACLUN_1971 ACLUN_1971.MODS ACLUN_1972 ACLUN_1972.MODS ACLUN_1973 ACLUN_1973.MODS ACLUN_1974 ACLUN_1974.MODS ACLUN_1975 ACLUN_1975.MODS ACLUN_1976 ACLUN_1976.MODS ACLUN_1977 ACLUN_1977.MODS ACLUN_1978 ACLUN_1978.MODS ACLUN_1979 ACLUN_1979.MODS ACLUN_1980 ACLUN_1980.MODS ACLUN_1981 ACLUN_1981.MODS ACLUN_1982 ACLUN_1982.MODS ACLUN_1983 ACLUN_1983.MODS ACLUN_1984 ACLUN_1984.MODS ACLUN_1985 ACLUN_1985.MODS ACLUN_1986 ACLUN_1986.MODS ACLUN_1987 ACLUN_1987.MODS ACLUN_1988 ACLUN_1988.MODS ACLUN_1989 ACLUN_1989.MODS ACLUN_1990 ACLUN_1990.MODS ACLUN_1991 ACLUN_1991.MODS ACLUN_1992 ACLUN_1992.MODS ACLUN_1993 ACLUN_1993.MODS ACLUN_1994 ACLUN_1994.MODS ACLUN_1995 ACLUN_1995.MODS ACLUN_1996 ACLUN_1996.MODS ACLUN_1997 ACLUN_1997.MODS ACLUN_1998 ACLUN_1998.MODS ACLUN_ladd ACLUN_ladd.MODS ACLUN_ladd.bags ACLUN_ladd.batch add-tei.sh create-bags.sh create-manuscript-bags.sh create-manuscript-batch.sh fits.log Includes 214 subscribers to NEWS. .
Area
Chairman
Richard L. Smith
Jack Rudinow
Aron Gilmartin
Second in a Series on
How Local
Committees
emer
ership
ork
The July NEWS carried reports from five membership
committees in different areas, describing the variety of ways
members take to educate their communities to the ACLU
and civil liberties. Since then three other committees have -
sent in reports on their work.
NAPA County
Just arranging a public meet-
ing-the event of the year and
of the membership drive-
brought the Napa committee face
to face with a civil liberties'
challenge in its county seat.
"When Don Feiner,
area chair-
man, applied for the Napa Jun-
ior College library as a meeting
place, he was confronted with
the out-of-date loyalty oath and
informed he had to sign it to get
the use of the auditorium. His
immediate telephone call to the
office put ACLU's enforcement
gears into action. Executive di-
rector Ernest Besig got in touch
with county school authorities,
reminding them of the State
Supreme Court's ruling, January
25, 1961, which declared the
Civic Center Loyalty Oath un-
constitutional, and referred them
to the Napa County Counsel for
corroboration. Shortly er-
wards Mr. Feiner was advised
the loyalty oath no longer ob-
tained. Appropriately the subject
of the meeting, held May 11
without benefit of oath, was aca-
demic freedom. Charles Musca-
tine, ACLUNC board member,
vividly interpreted this strategic
area of our liberties to an audi-
ence of 60 people.
Napa members who worked on
this year's membership campaign
are: Jane Eger, Mr. and Mrs.
Dave Evans, Carroll Mellin, Nina
Smart and Dawn Wilson, co-
chairman with Don Feiner. They
proved principle and practice
can be at one.
- Santa Clara Valley
Larry Johsen, membership
chairman of the Santa Clara Val-
ley's budding chapter, reported
that the major load of their suc-
cessful drive was carried by Jim
Ernst, Bebe Peterson and Caro-
lyn Smith. They found most of
their contacts with prospective
members interesting and produc-
tive, except for a few whose
names
the ACLU for laughs." Notwith-
standing this misplaced sense of
the committee has
humor,
chalked up a record of 45 new
members to date.
"
Mid-Peninsula
The Mid-Peninsula chapter
closed its drive with a cham-
pagne .reception in July. Over
200 people took part in the ef-
fervescent celebration, greeted
this year's 66 new members and.
NEWS subscribers in the area
and added $200.00 fo the chap-
ter's treasury.
"must have been given.
effective,
Saying It With
Civil Liberties
Last year (December NEWS)
we told of one ACLU member
who carries on a _ year-round,
one-woman campaign getting
new members. She keeps a small
supply of membership envelopes
in her purse. When a civil liber-
ties' dialogue gets to the crucial
nub of "What can we do?"...out -
comes an envelope. Direct an-
swer to question at hand.
We've recently heard of an-
other creative approach, equally
possibly more deco-
rative. A couple in the Mid-Pen-
insula uses ACLU (c) literature
(with membership envelopes en-
closed) as centerpieces for their
dining room table replacing the
more traditional floral arrange-
ment. No plea is made for the
materials - anymore than they
would be for flowers. They're
just there, attractively arranged.
As questions arise or points at
issue develop, reference may be
made to one pertinent item or
another for documentation. And
that's it.
The first right of a citizen
Is the right
To be responsible,
JOIN TODAY
p 151
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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Sustaining Membership... 2... ee cece ee ce
Business and Professional Membership .........0+.+ .
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ACLU News Subscription ...+. cces;00-te15t++e "$2.00
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e@oeeeereee