vol. 29, no. 9

End of 10-Year Struggle

John Mass

Fully Vindicated,

Reinstated |

The fruits of total victory descended upon San Francisco

City College instructor John W. Mass last month with a

Supreme Court decision which took 10% years to reap.

ACLU attorneys representing Mass have contended that he

has remained on the College's payroll every day of those

10% years, and is entitled to all

the benefits of employment as if

he had never been fired.

With equal vigor, but not with

equal acumen, attorneys for the

San Francisco Board of Educa-

tion and the City and County of

San Francisco have maintained

that Mass was legally fired on

December 8, 1953, the day after

he chose not to testify against

himself at a hearing of the House

Committee on Un-American Ac-

tivities. The decision of the Cali-

fornia Supreme Court was

handed down on August 11, 1964,

and sustains Mass in every pos-

JOHN W. MASS

sible significant contention.

Mass was represented at this last

stage of the proceedings by

ACLU staff counsel Marshall W.

Krause. Former staff counsels

Albert M. Bendich and Lawrence

Speiser represented Mass at

earlier stages.

The high court decision orders

the San Francisco Board of Edu-

cation to reinstate Mass in his

former position in the English

Department at San Francisco

City College, to pay Mass each

salary payment that he would

have earned if he had been em-

ployed from the date of his dis-

missal to the date of reinstate-

ment, to allow him to fully par-

ticipate in the school district's

. retirement system as if he had

never been dismissed, to pay

him interest on each salary pay-

ment from the date it would

have been paid him to the date if

is actually paid at the rate of

7 percent, and not to diminish

his monetary recovery by any

amounts he may have earned

during the 10% years he was not

allowed to teach. The Court to-

tally rejected the Board's main

defense in this last stage of liti-

gation which was that Mass's job

was "automatically terminated"

when, in 1956, he failed to renew

his teaching credential from the

State Board of Education. Also

rejected was the Board's defense

that Mass could not win because

he did not "prove" his "loyalty."

Credential

The San Francisco Board |

argued that when the credential

expired it did not have to prove

that it had good reason for the

termination of Mass's services in

1953. The Supreme Court, in re-

jecting this defense, pointed out

that Mass possessed tenure and

that the only way he could be

dismissed is by following statu-

tory procedures which the Board

did not do. The Court found that

non-possession of a credential

during a period of suspension

had nothing to do with tenure

rights, and that had the Board

been willing to reinstate Mass,

"no question as to his credential

would have arisen; plaintiff

(Mass) could have applied for

his credential and it would have

be automatically furnished." The

Court called the Board's reliance

on the lapsing of Mass's creden-

tial (Mass later obtained a new

eredential) the "distorted bal-

looning of a formality."

The Court next took up the is-

sue of back salary and found

that here too there was no re-

quirement that a teacher should

have a credential in full force -

during the entire period of his

suspension in order to collect

back salary. The Board had

argued that it had the discretion

to pay or not to pay back salary

when a teacher's credential had

not been in force for the entire

period of his suspension. The

Court rejected this interpreta-

tion since it "would condone

arbitrary action of the Board in

selective compensation of - dis-

charged employees."

In an unprecedented portion

of its decision, the California

Supreme Court: agreed with

Mass's counsel that a wrongfully

- discharged teacher would. not be -

fully compensated for his er-

roneous dismissal unless he re-

ceived interest on the back sal-

ary due him. Mass had argued

that. the- Board: hed used-meney

belonging to him for over 10

years and now should be re-

`quired to pay for this use. After

overruling four earlier cases, the

Supreme Court agreed with Mass

and ordered that interest on each

salary payment from the date it

was due be added to his salary

award. This case is the first in-

stance of an award of pre-judg-

ment interest against a public

body for the wrongful suspension

of an employee.

Ordinarily, when an employee

has been wrongfully fired from

a job, he has the obligation to

seek interim employment while

he is attempting to regain his old

position in order to minimize the

damages should he be successful.

However, it is up to the defend-.

ant in a back-salary case to both

plead the question of reduction

for interim earnings and to prove

that the employee actually had

interim earnings. In the Mass

case the attorneys for the Board

of Education did not plead the

question of Mass's interim earn-

ings, nor did they put in any evi-

dence at the trial concerning his

interim earnings. In these cir-

cumstances, the Court ruled that

the School Board had waived its

right to claim any reduction in

the back-salary award. The Court

declined to follow three of its

previous cases holding that the

-usual rule would not be applied

when a government agency was

involved, distinguishing these

cases on the basis of the wording

of the particular statutes in-

volved.

In concluding the decision,

written by Justice Tobriner with

Chief Justice Gibson and Justices

Traynor, Peters and Peek con-

curring, the Court said:

"We conclude as to the whole

matter that the statutory scheme

did not design that dormant and

unproved charges should forfeit

the teacher's right to pursue his

profession or should cause the

protracted delay that has oc-

curred here. A decade of debate

should be long enough to define

-Continued on Page 2

~ American

Civil Liberties

Union

Volume XXIX

Counsel Denied

In Kidnaping Case

ACLU attorneys have filed an

application for a writ of habeas

corpus in federal district court

on behalf of Robert Ryan Pate,

a prisoner at San Quentin Peni-

tentiary under a life sentence.

Upon the filing of the applica-

tion, Judge Albert C. Wollenberg

issued an order to show cause,

requiring the production of Pate

in court, and he also issued a re-

straining order preventing Pate

from being removed from the

jurisdiction of the court pending

the hearing on his habeas corpus

case, Pate's attorneys believed

that there was a danger

that he might be removed from

California upon the filing of the

writ because he is actually a

prisoner of the State of Nevada.

He is. jailed in California pursu-

ant to the Western Interstate

Corrections Compact, an agree-

ment whereby prisoners of one

state may be placed in the cus-

tody of the authorities of another

state.

Procedure Problems

The fact that Pate was con-

victed and sentenced by Nevada

authorities will raise a tangle of

procedural questions before the

District Court can actually go

into the merits of whether he

was deprived of his constitution-

al rights. The first of these ques-

tions is, why did Pate not first

attack his imprisonment in the

state courts before seeking re-

lief in the federal courts? One

answer is that a conviction can-

not be attacked in Nevada unless

the prisoner is personally pres-

ent there since the courts have

no jurisdiction over him if "he

is not physically within the state.

California courts appear to have

no jurisdiction over Pate accord-

ing to the terms of the Western

Interstate Corrections Compact.

Thus, the only available forum

for Pate to challenge his convic-

tion would seem to be the United

States District Court. Federal

law provides that there need be

no exhaustion of state remedies

where "there is either an ab-

sence of available state correc-

tive process or the existence of

circumstances rendering such

-Continued on Page 3

ACLUNC 30th Anniv.

No. California Branch

Founded Sept. 1934

This month ACLUNC cele-

brates its 30th anniversary. In

September, 1934, the national of-

fice sent Chester S. Williams and

Ernest Besig to San Francisco to

press damage suits against local

communities which had failed to

provide police protection to the

victims of mob violence arising

from the San Francisco General

Strike.

On September 21, 1934, Dr.

Alexander Meiklejohn and Mrs.

Helen Salz, together with six

other Bay Area civic leaders,

founded the Northern California

branch of ACLU. Both Dr. Mei-

klejohn and Mrs. Salz have been

continuously active in the organ-

ization and currently serve as

vice-chairmen of the Board of

Directors.

Ernest Besig, appointed branch

director in June, 1935, has served

in that capacity ever since and,

among many numerous achieve-

ments, has guided the growth of

ACLUNC membership to its pres-

ent size of more than 6,000.

The anniversary will be cele-

brated at the forthcoming annual

meeting, now being planned,

about which details will be given

at a later date.

SAN FRANCISCO, SEPTEMBER, 1964

Number 9

Bishop

RT. REV. JAMES A. PIKE

supply. foed

conspicuously.

Marin Pot-Luck Supper:

Pike and

Dr. Burbridge To Speak

The 12th annual pot-luck supper of the Marin

Chapter will be held Saturday, September 26, starting

at 5:30 p.m. at a new location-the grounds of Temple

' Rodef Sholom, 170 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael-a

short distance from the Marin Civic Center. `

According to Sali Lieberman, chairman of the Marin

Chapter, this year's supper, in addition to offering con-

viviality in a beautiful setting, will be concerned with

Proposition 14, the segregation amendment. Starting at

8 p.m. the featured speakers will be the Rt. Rev. James

Pike of San Francisco, and Dr. Thomas N. Burbridge,

President of the San Francisco Branch of the NAACP,

who has recently been very much in the news.

The supper is open to all ACLU members and their

friends. Admission is $1.50 for adults and 75 cents for

students and children. Participants are requested te

sufficient for three times the number of

persons in their party according to the following sched-

ule: Initial of last name A-K to take salads; L-Z to take

hot dishes. Free coffee and ice cream will be provided.

.To get to Temple Rodef Sholem, take the Redwood

Highway (101) to the Civic Center, exit just north of San

Rafael. From that point on, signs will be posted

DR. THOMAS N. BURBRIDGE

Wide Variety

Of Party

Planks Urged by ACLU

_ Both the Republican and Democratic Party conventions

have been urged to include certain specific planks in their

platforms by John de J. Pemberton, Jr., Executive Director

of the national ACLU, and by Lawrence Speiser, Director of

the Washington, D. C., ACLU. Essentially the same proposals

were made to both platform com-

mittees.

Testifying before the Demo-

cratic platform committee on Au-

gust 19, Pemberton urged inclu-

sion of "strong, unequivocal civil

liberties" planks, such as:

prompt and active enforcement

of civil rights law, and abolition

of the House Un-American Activ-

ities Committee. Detailing

HUAC's "terrible assault" on

First Amendment freedoms dur-

ing its 27-year existence, Pember-

ton charged. that it had damaged

the nation's security and the

morale of its people.

Repeal of Certain Laws

Recommended

Repeal of the following stat-

utes was also strongly urged: the

Smith Act of 1940 (and a halt to

all prosecutions currently going

on under it); the Internal Se-

curity Act of 1950; the Commun-

ist Control Act of 1954; the Im-

munity Act of 1954; and the 1917

Sedition Act.

.Endorsement of Specific Policies

and Programs Urged

ACLU called upon the Demo-

cratic National Convention to

endorse:

1. Removal of limitations on

the right of confrontation and

cross-examination for individuals

charged with violations of the

federal employee security pro-

gram, the industrial employment

security program, and the armed

forces discharge system.

2. Giving to the U. S. Com-

mission on Civil Rights subpoena

powers to investigate lawless po-

lice practices.

3. Taking action against a

broad spectrum of existing limi-

tations and infringements of civil

liberties, including: discrimina- .

tory immigration policies; lack

of "home rule" for residents of

Washington, D.C.; denial of

democratic rights to individual.

members of labor unions; use of

polygraphs (lie detectors) by

government agencies; use in

courts of illegal evidence ob-

tained by wiretapping and elec-

tronic eavesdropping; and need

for adequately compensated pub-

lic defenders to match the legal

and financial resources of prose-

cuting officials. Also included in

the call for action, was defense

against threats against the inde-

pendence of the Supreme Court;

against the growing pressure for

increased censorship of reading

and visual matter; finally,

against suppression of the news

by the government and against

its trend toward news "manage-

ment."

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION NEWS

Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

Second Class Mail privileges authorized at San Francisco, California

oe ERNEST BESIG.. . Editor

503 Market Street, San Francisco 5, California, EXbrook 2-4692

Subscription Rates - Two Dollars.a Year

Twenty Cents Per Copy

Belated Justice

Reaches Teacher

After ten years of litigation and an inestimable expen-

diture of nervous energy, John W. Mass, a discharged in-

structor in English at San Francisco City College, has won

reinstatement from the State's highest court.

He has also won back pay estimated at $120,000.

His case stands as a dramatic and highly salutary reminder

of the evils that men do at a time of public hysteria. He was

discharged in 1953, when McCarthyism was in flower; when

the fomenters of fear professed to behold Communists

behind every lamppost and under every bed, when the over-

throw of the United States Government by force and violence

was advertised as a clear and nearly present danger.

Thus, when Mass volunteered the information that he had

once been a member of the Communist party-though for

some years divorced from membership-he was a likely

suspect. When he admitted his past membership to a congres-

sional investigating committee -but declined to answer

questions about others-he was automatically convicted. His

guilt was established in accordance with a new amendment to

the State Education Code (a product of the prevailing hyste-

ria) which forbade employees of any school district to refuse

answers to such a committee for any reason whatsoever, in-

cluding self-incrimination. The penalty was instant and auto-

matic dismissal.

__ This rewriting of the U. S. Constitution by the State Leg-

islature, this invalidation of the Fifth Amendment, was pre-

posterous and void on its face-but the absurdity and in-

validity were scarcely discernible through the thick fog of

suspicion and fear and hatred that blew over the land at that

time.

It is comforting to consider that justice, however belated,

has now been accorded one victim of the excesses of Mc-

Carthyism. It is at the same time a cause for regret that those

responsible for the injustice will avoid the penalty. The bill

for this gross mistake will be submitted to the taxpayers of

San Francisco, not to the fear-ridden legislators at Sacramen-

to who misrepresented and ill-served them.-Editorial, San

Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 1964.

ACLU Assistance in South

Law Corps Aids Southern

Civil Rights Movement

ACLU is one of seven groups

sponsoring a "Law Corps,' pres-

ently operating in the South.

Modeled upon the Peace Corps,

it comprises teams of volunteer

practicing attorneys and assist-

ing law students, and is now

working in six southern states in

two-week shifts in support of in-

tensive civil rights programs.

The activities of `Freedom

Summer Project" students who

preceded the Law Corps, and who

have been conducting voter reg-

istering and other projects, have

resulted in enlargement of local

police forces and hastily-drawn

laws and ordinances which will

create enormous legal problems.

Two-Hundred-Fifty Volunteers

The Law Corps (the Lawyers

Constitutional Defense Commit-

tee) was-created by seven major

national civil rights groups, in-

cluding the ACLU, in response

to the growing need for protec-

tion of the legal rights of anti-

segregation demonstrators and of

Negroes seeking the right to

register and to vote. The Corps

has recruited 150 volunteer at-

torneys and 100 second- and

third-year law students from 13

universities, including the Ivy

League, California, Howard, Chi-

cago and Georgetown. The teams

are operating from offices in

Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia,

Louisiayga, Tennessee and Flor-

ida.

Briefing sessions and refresh-

er surveys of civil and criminal

law procedures applicable to

civil rights activities were con-

ducted in June at Columbia Law

School.

Scope of Work

. A substantial part of the volun-

teers' time is being spent in pro-

viding counsel in actions brought

ACLU NEWS

SEPTEMBER, 1964

Page 2

to prevent interference with Ne-

gro efforts to vote, in helping

local attorneys to lay the founda-

tions for appeals to federal

courts from Southern court rul-

ings, and in protecting individual

demonstrators, many of whom

have been held in jail for undue

periods of time, or denied other

legal protections.

The Law Corps plans to pro-

vide free legal counsel and to

aid local lawyers until the end

of September. None of the par-

ticipants are paid legal fees, but

the LCDC pays the travel, hous-

ing, and incidental expenses of

the volunteers. The law students'

own expenses are being met by

their own organization, the Law

Students Civil Rights Research

Council.

Bill of Rights

Bibliography

Available

"Teaching the Bill of

Rights,'' a bibliography

listing 55 books and pam-

phlets prepared by U.C.

Extension in connection

with its June seminar on

Supreme Court decisions

in Civil Liberties and Civil

Rights, has been mimeo-

graphed in quantity and is

available from the ACLU-

NC office upon request.

Forty-four of the items

listed are either in pam-

phlet or paperback form.

The publications them-

selves are not available at

the office, but the bibliog-

raphy indicates the sources

from which they may be

obtained.

Letter .

To the Editor

Dear Sir:

As a member of the ACLU I

deem it necessary to voice my

opinion about your "stand" on

the Rumford Act, ie. Page 2

(August ACLU News).

As a liberal organization we

should realize that there are the

proverbial "Two sides to every

story."

I strongly urge you to show

the pros to the elimination to the

Rumford Act. If the ACLU is not

in a position to give an unbiased

opinion I am sure that they can

secure someone to do so.

I have encouraged friends to

subscribe to the ACLU, and also

to join. To avoid offending any-

one, I feel that both sides of the

case should be shown. After all,

there is much to say about the

rights of all.

With the show of recent events

in the U.S, I, myself, have been

concerned with the rights of the

majority, as well as the minority.

Richard Oberhofer

Arguments For Prop. 14 are

obtainable from CREA and local

real estate broads.-Ed.

Strange Quiet

In Beard Case

For the first time in many

months no significant proceed-

ings can be reported in the

ACLU's struggle to keep bearded

probation officer James Forst-

ner in his job despite his supe-

rior's attempts to fire him for in

subordination when he refused to

shave his beard. In late July,

Judge Joseph Karesh of the San

Francisco Superior Court again

found that Forstner would suffer

irreparable injury to his profes-

sion if he could not go back to

work during the pendency of the

City's appeal from the decision

placing him back in his job. After

Judge Karesh's order, the Civil

Service Commission again placed

Forstner on permanent status as

he has been since June of this

year.

Strangely enough, the City and

County of San Francisco seems

content to pursue its ordinary ap-

peal and has not (yet) filed its

third special writ to attempt to

keep Forstner off his job while

the appeal is pending.

John Mass Case

Continued- from Page 1-

rights; the day for final settle-

ment has come." In commenting

on this portion of the opinion,

John Mass stated that this was

the first instance in all the legal

proceedings wherein the human

element of the wearing delay in

this case was recognized.

Two Supreme Court Justices,

McComb and Schauer, dissented.

They applied the rule of laches

claiming that Mass delayed too

long and, therefore, should not

recover his job or any back sal-

ary. The dissenting opinion fails

to note that throughout these

proceedings the San Francisco

Board of Education has been the

plaintiff and has had the duty to

pursue the case with diligence.

There still are some formal

steps which must be taken before

Mass can actually commence his

teaching and receive a check for

his back salary including a rul-

ing on a possible petition for a

rehearing. If the petition is not

made or is unsuccessful, then

the opinion of the Supreme Court

will become final on September

11. At this time the trial court

will be asked to issue an order

putting the terms of the Supreme

Court's decision into immediate

effect and accountants and ac-

tuaries will be put to work figur-

ing out Mass's actual salary pay-

ment.

We are confident that John,

his wife, Edna, and his children

will be warmly welcomed back

to San Francisco (they have been

living in Los Angeles) and that

John will be equally warmly re-

ceived at his City College posi-

tion where he was recognized as

an excellent teacher and liked by

his colleagues.

ACLU in Anti-14 Fight

ACLUNC to

Fight Against

Initiative

The National, and the Northern and Southern California

branches of ACLU have joined the drive to defeat Proposi-

tion 14 in the November election.

Legislative Committee Recommendation

Recommendations and plans for participation of ACLUNC

have been mapped out by a spe-

cial legislative committee com-

posed of representatives from all

northern California chapters, un-

der the chairmanship of Richard

Werthimer, a San Francisco at-

torney.

Participation by National ACLU

Convinced that the issue pre-

Anti-14 Fund Raiser

$50 Per Plate Banquet

By Californians

Against Proposition 14

Fund-raising efforts in the

fight against Proposition 14, the

unfair housing amendment, will

focus on a $50 per plate banquet

at the Grand Ballroom of the

Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco,

on Tuesday, September 29, start-

ing at 7 p.m.

Ben Swig, Northern California

Finance Chairman of the organ-

ization, John W. Dinkelspiel,

dinner chairman, and Nancy

Jewel, dinner coordinator, are in

charge of arrangements and hope

to dispose of 2000 tickets. While

more than half have been sold,

there is a "long way to go to

ensure the success of this im-

portant affair," according to the

organizers.

The problem of funds is criti-

cal, because "unlike the Califor-

nia Real Estate Association, with

its massive war chest," Califor-

nians Against Proposition 14 de-

pend on the contributions of fair-

minded citizens of Northern Cali-

fornia to defeat what "must be

regarded as `a personal threat to

every citizen of this state," ac-

cording to Dinkelspiel.

Tickets for the dinner may be

obtained from Californians

Against Proposition 14, at 48

Second Street, San Francisco.

The telephone number is YUkon

6-5968.

Proposition 14

"Californians Against Proposi-

tion 14" an organization to defeat

the measure which will appear on

the November ballot, has estab-

lished various county and re-

gional offices, in addition to the

main northern and _ southern

headquarters.

Southern headquarters of the

organization are located at 5504

Hollywood. Northern headquar-

ters, located at 48 Second Street,

San Francisco, on request, will

distribute lists of local offices

and chairmen.

Among the proponents and

organizations actively campaign-

ing in favor of Proposition 14, is

the California Real Estate Asso-

ciation, with which all local real

estate boards are affiliated.

sented by Proposition 14 is of

national, not merely state, sig-

nificance, and that as California

goes-so may go other states, the

National ACLU has appropriated

$25,000 toward defeat of Propo-

sition 14. However, the grant of

$12,500 to each of the branches

in California is conditioned upon

their being able to raise an equal

amount from their own re-

sources, that is, within their

own membership. If no money is

raised in California through

ACLU, no funds will be avail-

able from the National.

Inducement to Members

To Contribute

Because of the civil liberties

issues inherent in Proposition 14

and the dangers posed by its pos-

sible adoption into the California

Constitution, the ACLU and its

branches are in total opposition

to it. ACLU members in Califor-

nia (whether they belong to the

National, or to either of the state

branches), in the light of the

National Office's grant, have an

additional inducement to con-

tribute to the campaign and to

encourage their friends to con-

tribute to the Anti-Proposition

No. 14 fight through the ACLU.

Method of Contribution

To ensure that individual con-

tributions will be matched by the

funds from the National ACLU,

members should send their

money either directly to the San

Francisco branch or to their lo-

cal chapters. Whatever the case,

the checks should be clearly ear-

marked for that purpose.

Campaign Plans and Program

Both the National ACLU and

the two state branches have no

intention of overlapping or du-

plicating the campaign efforts of

the statewide organization, Cali-

fornians Against Proposition 14.

Rather, the plans and campaign

program call for a coordinated ef-

fort to involve ACLU members

in the campaign and to stimulate

them into getting others to par-

ticipate in it fully.

As the NEWS goes to press,

several experienced and well-

qualified persons are being in-

terviewed with the view to hir-

ing one full-time, to conduct the

ACLU campaign and to work

closely with Californians Against

Proposition 14. The October issue.

of the NEWS will carry full de-

tails. Meantime, ACLU members

are reminded that whatever con-

tributions they make will be

doubled by virtue of the grant

from the National.

In conclusion, it must be em-

phasized that the California Real

Estate Association, with its vast

financial resources, is fully com-

mitted to passage of Proposition

14, thus, to the permanent legal-

ization of housing discrimination.

' Clip and Mail to:-

ACLUNC, 503 Market Street, San Francisco, California

To your local ACLUNC Chapter

| wish to take advantage of the opportunity to double my contribution

to the fight against Proposition. 14. :

Enclosed please find $..........

(Please earmark your check for that purpose)

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`Counsel Denied

-Continued from Page 1-

process ineffective to protect the

rights of the prisoner."

`Facts of The Case

On the merits of Pate's attack

on his conviction, the following

facts are pertinent:

On August 14, 1958, Pate was

committed by a Nevada State

judge to the State Mental Hos-

pital as a mentally incompetent

. person. Ten days later, Pate es-

caped and within a few days is

alleged to have kidnaped and

robbed a tourist near Lake Ta-

hoe. He was apprehended in San-

ta Rosa by California authorities

on August 29, 1958 and spent

three weeks in the Sonoma Coun-

ty jail. While there, Pate had a

series of psychiatric breakdowns

and was transferred to the Cali-

fornia Medical Facility at Vaca-

ville until he was turned over to

Nevada authorities on October

27, 1958. On October 29, 1958

Pate was brought into the Jus-

tice Court in Nevada and

charged with kidnaping in the

first degree, an offense punish-

able by death or life imprison-

ment.

The Justice Court judge sched-

uled a preliminary examination

for November 6, 1958, to determ-

ine if there was sufficient evi-

dence to hold Pate on this

charge. On the date set for the

preliminary examination, Pate

informed the court that his sister

was trying to arrange for a pri-

vate attorney to represent him

and that an attorney had told

her that he would make arrange-

ments. However, no attorney

showed up. Pate then asked for

a three or four day continuance

of the examination. The court

granted a recess from 10:30 in

the morning until 1:30 in the af-

ternoon, Pate's attorney still did

not appear (he never did), and

Pate then stated to the judge:

"I cannot have an attorney here

to represent me? I haven't any

chance to talk with any attorney

who is supposed to represent me,

and I figure legally I should

have one. I ask you in the name

of justice, that I have one." De-

spite this plea, the court denied

a further continuance, refused to

appoint counsel for Pate, and in-

sisted that the examination pro-

~ eeed. Thereupon the chief com-

plaining witness testified against

Pate. Pate did not cross-examine

or make any objections to any of

the witnesses' testimony. The

judge held that Pate was re-

quired to face trial on the kid-

naping charge, The trial was

' scheduled for June 1, 1959.

Treatment Before Trial

In the interval before the trial

Pate was kept in the prison hos-

pital where he alleges he was

subjected to shock treatments,

sleep-inducing drugs, and kept

strapped in bed by his ankles and

wrists almost the entire time.

The evening before he was

scheduled to go to trial he was

visited by a court-appointed at-

torney. This attorney did not dis-

cuss the facts of the case with

Pate, nor did he make any in-

vestigation into his mental com-

petence at the time of the al-

leged offense or at the time of

the trial. The next day, when the

trial was scheduled to commence,

the attorney announced that

Pate wanted to change his plea.

Pate thereupon removed his plea

of "Not Guilty" and entered a

plea of "Guilty."

It so happened that the judge.

before whom this plea was en-

tered was the same judge who

had held that Pate was mentally

incompetent 13 days before the

alleged kidnaping and robbery.

Despite this, the judge did not in-

quire into Pate's mental con-

dition, nor did he request a psy-

chiatric examination. The Dis-

trict Attorney moved to admit

into evidence the transcript of

the preliminary examination and

Pate's court-appointed attorney

made absolutely no objection to

this motion, even though it

should have been apparent that

Pate had been denied his right

to counsel at the preliminary

examination. The evidence was

Fireman's Case

`Meets Delay

A decision in the suit of

Berkeley fireman Claude T. Bel-

shaw was again postponed last

month when Alameda County

Superior Court Judge Monroe

Friedman set the case for trial

on October 15, 1964. ACLU Staff

Counsel Marshall Krause and

volunteer attorney Albert Ben-

dich argued that there were no

issues for a trial and that Judge

Friedman should decide the case

as a matter of law. The judge re-

sponded that the case was much

too important to be hastily de-

cided and that the best course

would be to set a date for a full

trial during which the parties

could submit evidence, if appro-

priate. :

Belshaw is challenging the

constitutionality of certain Ber-

keley personnel ordinances on

their face, as well as the consti-

tutionality of the grounds on

which they were applied to him..

The case arose in July, 1963 af-

ter Belshaw wrote a letter to the

"Open Forum" column of the

Berkeley Daily Gazette express-

ing his opinion on the question

of whether policemen should be

paid higher salaries than firemen

in Berkeley. The Berkeley City

`Manager, John D. Philips, took

umbrage and suspended Belshaw

for 30 days without pay. Belshaw

had a hearing before the Person-

nel Board which voted 3-1 to af-

firm the city manager. Thereaf-

ter, the suit for writ of mandate

was filed in Alameda County Su-

perior Court,

ACLUNC takes the position

that no city employee may be

disciplined for expressing him-

self on an issue of public con-

troversy unless he does it in a

manner which is knowingly dis-

honest, or which has a direct ef-

fect upon his ability to carry out

his job. It is important that Bel-

shaw's case be heard and decided

as soon as possible, since Berke-

ley City employees are faced

with the situation of not know-

ing how far they can go in dis-

cussing issues of public contro-

versy without incurring the

wrath of the city manager.

Vague ordinances, coupled with

flexible interpretations, create

the kind of dangerous inhibitions

to full and free discussion of

public issues which the First and

Fourth amendments are intend-

ed to eliminate.

received, and the court sentenced

Pate to life imprisonment.

Petition Allegations

_Pate's petition alleges that he

was denied his constitutional

right to the assistance of coun-

sel at his preliminary examina-

tion by the denial of a reason-

able continuance to obtain priv-

ate counsel and the denial of his

request that counsel be appoint-

ed for him. It seems well estab-

lished that counsel must be ap-

pointed on request at any signifi-

cant stage of proceedings. Surely,

a preliminary examination is

such a significant stage. Pate

also alleges that at the time of

his plea and sentence, he

was denied the effective assist-

ance of counsel because his coun-

sel knew nothing about the case,

because he also did not suggest

that a psychiatric examination

be made, and because he did not

object to the introduction of the

evidence obtained at the prelim-

inary examination. The petition

alleges that in these circumstan-

ces the appointed counsel can

only be characterized as a win-

dow dummy to give the illusion

that Pate has the assistance of

counsel, whereas, in reality, he

had no such assistance. Lastly,

Pate's petition alleges that he

was so physically and mentally

ill at the time that he entered

the plea that he was incapable

of intelligent consideration of

the matter, and he was not re-

sponsible for his actions.

The petition and memorandum

of points and authorities were

prepared with the assistance of

ACLU volunteer attorney Arthur

Brunwasser.

Credential Case

Goes Back to

Bd. of Education

Rita and William Mack had

their teaching credentials re-

voked by the State Board of Ed-

ucation in 1961 on the ground

that they had falsely sworn to

the oath required by the Lever-

ing Act. The Levering Act oath

requires government employees

to swear that they have not been

members of an organization ad-

vocating the overthrow of the

government within the previous

five years. The Macks did so

swear, but the State Board ac-

cused them of falsifying the oath

since they admitted to member-

ship in the Communist Party

during a portion of the five years

preceding their oaths. The oath

does not mention the Communist

Party.

The ACLU defended the Macks

on the basis that they were not

required to accept the opinion of |

various governmental bodies that

the Comumnist Party advocates

the overthrow of the govern-

ment, but were only required to

state their own personal beliefs

as to the tenets of organizations

to which they had belonged. Oth-

erwise, freedom of association

could be curtailed by an ex cathe-

dra pronouncement of a govern-

ment agency. The Macks testified

that nothing in their party activ-

ities and nothing in statements

of party officials led them to be-

lieve that violence was a part of

`the program of the Communist

Party of the United States. The

State Board evidently did not be-

lieve them and neither did the

San Francisco Superior Court at

the time that a writ of mandate

was filed. However, the case was

carried to the District Court of

Appeal which reversed and

pointed out that the State Board

originally had relied upon the

testimony of Karl Prussion

which the State Board of Educa-

tion now admitted was unreli-

able to be disregarded. The

District Court. of Appeal also

said it was error to find, as a

matter of law and without proof,

that the Communist Party advo-

cates the violent overthrow of

the government.

Last month the Superior Court

remanded the case to the State

Board of Education for further

proceedings. ACLU Staff Coun-

sel Marshall Krause has request-

ed the State Board to give this

case its immediate consideration

since the Macks have been un-

able to teach for more than three

years, and since there is no evi-

dence in the record which would

justify a holding that they know-

ingly falsified a Levering oath.

HUAC ACTIVITY

Hearings Held

`In Buffalo and

Minneapolis

As the result of two summer

forays by HUAC in Buffalo, New

York, and Minneapolis, Minne-

sota, in which 26 persons were

subpoened, eight have lost their

jobs. The prospect of post-election

hearings in in San Francisco,

therefore, does not bode well.

Two days of hearings in Buf-

falo resulted in what the Com-

mittee would consider a good

score: out of 15 witnesses called,

six, including an instructor at the

State University at Buffalo, wer

fired from their jobs.

Buffalo Hearings

Strong community disapproval

caused police to provide unusu-

ally heavy security guards for

HUAC members. Various com-

munity, campus and other groups,

including the Niagara Frontier

ACLU chapter protested HUAC's

-Continued on Page 4

High Court Civil

Liberties Decisions

Several important civil liberties decisions were handed

down by the United States Supreme Court at its last meeting

of the term, June 22, 1964. These include two decisions in

the area of censorship, Jacobellis vs. Ohio and A Quantity of

Copies of Books vs. Kansas. The French film "The Lovers"

Appeal for

Office Help

The budget of the branch

office of ACLUNC dictates

that by far the greatest pro-

portion of our funds be spent

in connection with legal and

related work, education, and

membership growth. Of nec-

essity, the greatest economy

possible is exercised in office

operation. Thus, we cannot af-

ford full-time paid help to

take care of the frequent spe-

cial mailings, etc., that come

up. As a matter of fact, the

NEWS mailing each month is

done entirely by volunteers.

From time to time members

complain about duplicate no-

tices to renew, etc. Such dupli-

cations occur because the of-

fice is undermanned at such

times and it would be uneco-

nomical to hire permanent

paid staff for such periodic

matters.

This is, therefore, an appeal

to those ACLU members who

are able to come in for an

hour or two on a regular

basis to please do so. If you

can donate such time, or even

half a day per month, on a

regular basis, won't you please

do so? The office is open only

weekdays between 9 and 5 and

so we cannot avail ourselves

of many kind offers from

members willing to work

nights and week-ends. The of-

fice number is EX 2-4692.

Illegal Restraint

Lifted

Last month an ACLU case was

terminated in the best possible

manner-before it even got start-

ed. A San Franciscan had plead-

ed guilty to a felony narcotics

charge, but before he was sen-

tenced he was sent to a har-

cotics clinic for treatment. After

14 months the doctors pro-

nounced him rehabilitated and

he was returned to court to face

sentencing on the felony charge.

The Superior Court judge de-

cided that the defendant had suf-

fered sufficient confinement, set

aside the plea of guilty and dis-

missed the charges. However,

about 20 minutes later the judge

had second thoughts and had the

defendant brought back into

court. Without further ado, he

proceeded to sentence the de-

fendant to serve three years on

probation although defense coun-

sel was no longer present. The

defendant was again released

from custody, but this time was

placed under obligation to report

to a probation officer, and re-

quired to comply with the usual

conditions of probation.

The defendant complained

about the judge's change of mind

to the ACLU; Alone, this factor

would not present a constitution-

al issue. However, it was appar-

ent that, in changing his mind,

the judge had forgotten that the

defendant's plea had been set

aside and, therefore, the defend-

ant was sentenced to a term of

probation without entering any

plea to the charge. When this

matter was called to the atten-

tion of the Superior Court judge

he agreed to set aside the proba-

tion order and to dismiss all

charges, thus avoiding a long

wrangle on habeas corpus.

was involved in the Jacobellis

case and the Ohio Supreme Court

had held that it was obscene. Six

justices voted to reverse the Ohio

Supreme Court but could not

agree on a single opinion. Black

and Douglas stuck to their posi-

tion that any censorship statute

violates the First Amendment.

Brennan, joined by Goldberg,

in applying the famous Roth test

and 1a national definition of com-

munity standards, found that the

material was not obscene (giv-

ing no reasons). Justice White

only concurred in the judgment,

but Justice Stewart in concur-

ring, stated that only "hard-core _

pornography" was not protected

by the First and Fourteenth

Amendments. As to the kind of

material embraced within `that

term, Stewart wrote that perhaps

he could never succeed in intel-

ligibly defining it but "I know it

when I see it, and the motion pic-

ture involved in this case is not

that."

The Kansas censorship case

was decided on procedural

grounds, but may have far-reach-

ing implications since the Court

held that material alleged to be

obscene could not be seized and

held by the authorities unless the

owners were first afforded an

adversary hearing with the pres-

entation of evidence on _ the

question of whether or not the

material is obscene.

The Supreme Court in Apthek-

er vs. Secretary of State held

that a statute denying passports

to members of the Communist

Party was unconstitutional `since,

because it was too broadly drawn,

it infringed upon the right of

travel which is part of the lib-

erty guaranteed by the Fifth

Amendment. The Court said that

freedom of travel is closely re-

lated to rights of free speech

and association and that prevent-

ing all members of the Commu-

nist Party from traveling was

painting with a broad brush re-

gardless of the _ individual's

knowledge, activity, or commit-

ment to Party work. The Court

recognized that the Communist

Party has legal goals, and that

all members need not share al-

leged illegal purposes. As a re-

sult of the Aptheker decision,

applicants for passports may

cross out the sentence dealing

with membership in groups re-

quired to register with the Sub-

versive Activities Control Board.

The last decision which will be

discussed is Escobedo vs. Illi-

nois, a landmark decision in

criminal procedure. The case

held that statements made by a

defendant during police ques-

tioning could not be used in a

state criminal case even though

they were voluntary because the (c)

defendant had requested an at-

torney, which request had been.

denied. The high court held that

once the police begin to question

a person as a suspect in a par-

ticular crime (rather than as a

part of their general investiga-

tion into the crime), the refusal

to honor a request to consult

with an attorney is a denial of his |

right to assistance of counsel un-

der the Sixth and Fourteenth

Amendments. This decision will

force a reconsideration of meth-

ods of police interrogation

throughout the country, and it

will also make it clear that there

is an obligation to make counsel

available to indigents, not just

when they appear in court, but

when they are booked and sub-

ject to police interrogation.

ACLU NEWS

SEPTEMBER, 1964

: Page 3

English Heralds of U. S. Constitution

_By Alan Barth

It was in the first half of the

17th Century in England that the

idea of individual liberty, and the

concept of limited government as

the indispensable condition of

liberty, came into full focus.

This was perhaps the most tu-

multuous and teeming half-cen-

tury in English history-a span of

years that embraced the death of

Queen Elizabeth, the accession of

the Stuart kings, the production

of the King James version of the

Bible, the poetry of John Milton,

the rise of Parliament, the Civil

War, the Regicide-and the brief

brilliance of the Leveller Move-

ment.

Many of the essential ideas of

the United States Constitution

are to be found in the ideas set

forth by the Levellers some three

centuries ago. And it is altogether

astonishing, when one thinks of

the impact of these seminal ideas

upon America, that there is so

little knowledge or understand-

ing of them among Americans.

The bitter English civil war of

the 1640's revolved around two

main issues, One was a matter of

religion. It was a time when re-

ligion was the paramount fact of

social and political life. Religion

was inextricably involved in gov-

ernment, for in England, church

and state were indistinguishable.

The other principal matter at

issue in the Civil War was a

struggle for supremacy between

King and Parliament. All through

the reigns of King James and

King Charles, as they more and

more asserted the claims of royal

prerogative, Parliament more and

more asserted that it, and it

alone, was the essential source of

law and authority.

Into this conflict, the Levellers

thrust a third idea-that absolute

sovereignty resided in neither

King nor Parliament but in the

people-that the government

could. exercise only such powers

as the people delegated to it.

The Leveller Movement-really

a political party, and probably

the first political party in the

modern sense of the term-drew

its strength from the junior of-

ficers of the Parliamentary

Army, the New Model led by Oli-

ver Cromwell. The name Leveller

was applied to it, in derision, by

its critics, who charged it with

wanting to level all property in a

kind of premature 17th Century

communism, But in point of fact

the interest of the Levellers was

simply in religious and political

democracy.

Foremost among the Leveller -

leaders was John Lilburne, whom

Lord Acton characterized as "the

boldest thinker among English

`democrats." Among the people

of London who loved him for his

indomitable independence, he

was known affectionately as

"Freeborn John."

When he was still a very young

man, apprenticed to a merchant

in the cloth trade in London,

John Lilburne made a trip to Hol-

land and, on his return, was ar-

rested and haled before the

Court of Star Chamber in 1637 on

suspicion of having smuggled

"factious and scandalous" books

into England.

The suspicion was probably

very well grounded. But Lil-

burne, who had learned a little

law, insisted that no freeborn

Englishman could be compelled

to answer questions except in

response to specific charges and

could not be required to serve as

a witness against himself.

For this contumacy, Lilburne

' was fined pound500, a staggering sum

for a young apprentice, was tied

to a cart and, his body bared, was

whipped through the streets of

London all the way from the

Fleet prison to the Palace Yard

at Westminster. And all the way,

as the cart moved along and the

lash fell upon him, John Lil-

burne, blessing God for having

called him to his service, de-

claimed to the crowd about his

wrongs and their rights.

At Westminster, he was placed

in a pillory, bowed down with his

neck in the hole and his lacerated

back to the sun; and there he

stood for two hours cheerfully

exhorting all who would listen to

resist the tyranny of the bishops.

When he was told to be quiet, he

refused; and so he was gagged, so

cruelly that his mouth bled. And

then, in a gesture as magnificent

as it was theatrical, he plucked

from the folds of his robe three

copies of the pamphlet that had

caused all the controversy and

flung them to the crowd.

After this, Lilburne was thrown

into the Fleet prison-for ten

days in solitary confinement with

irons on his hands and legs and

with nothing to eat. For two and

a half years he remained in pris-

on-until at last the Long Parlia-

ment set him free. Almost im-

mediately after, in 1641, it abol-

ished the Star Chamber forever.

To John Lilburne's indomitable

independence we owe in no small

measure the general recognition

today that men are not to be ar-

rested on suspicion and interro-

gated at random and compelled

to convict themselves out of their

own mouths. Except in certain

congressional investigating com-

mittees, the modern analogue of

the Star Chamber, random ques-

tioning in the hope that some-

Hearings in Buffalo and Minneapolis

Continued from Page 3-

appearance. In advance of its

visit the local ACLU affiliate

called upon HUAC to provide

specified minimal due process

protections. After HUAC's depar-

ture, the local ACLU publicy con-

demned the action of the employ-

ers of the dismissed persons and

protested to each employer indi-

vidually.

Minneapolis Hearings

In Minneapolis, in violation of

the Committee's own rules, the

names of the 11 subpoenaed wit-

nesses were "leaked" to the press

several days before HUAC's ac-

tual hearings.

At the hearings, HUAC placed

heavy reliance upon the testi-

mony of paid informers. The 11

witnesses called included a re-

cent student at the University of

`Minnesota who had been active

in the Student Peace Union. Two

of the remaining ten lost their

jobs because they were called.

As in Buffalo, HUAC's appear-

ance was protested by individuals

and campus and community

groups, including the Minnesota

ACLU. A "Citizens Against

HUAC" committee, whose order-

liness and courtesy was later

commended by the police, pick-

eted HUAC. |

San Francisco

In an article by Ed Montgom-

ery, the San Francisco Examiner

reported (July 29) that HUAC

open hearings in San Francisco

originally scheduled for Septem-

ber have been postponed until

after the election in November.

The original plan for the hearing,

according to Montgomery, was in-

vestigation of unathorized travel

to Cuba, the Fair Play for Cuba

Committee, and alleged commu-

nist infiltration and influence in

the civil rights movement. The

hearings were to be based on

testimony taken from "friendly"

witnesses at unannounced closed

hearings which were said to have

been held in San Francisco dur-

ing the Republican convention,

and upon personal observations |

made by committee staff of the

various demonstrations at the

Cow Palace and in downtown San.

Francisco.

Bases of ACLU Protests

ACLU protests against HUAC

are based not only upon the Com-

mittee's lack of good faith in con-

ducting investigations merely for

the sake of investigating, and its

invasion of the judicial function,

but also upon its methods and the

consequences of its investiga-

tions.

thing damaging can be wrested

from a suspect is no longer coun-

tenariced among free men.

In an age when men and

women were hanged, drawn and

quartered, and burned at the.

stake for religious deviationism,

the Levellers advocated complete

religious toleration. They sought

freedom of worship not alone for

Episcopalians and Presbyterians

and the innumerable Puritan

sects that flourished then, but

even for Catholics and Jews.

They were opposed to any es-

tablishment of religion. They

stood for a wall of separation be-

tween church and state, believing

that each would be stronger by

reason of complete independence.

They favored free speech for util-

itarian reasons-because they be-

lieved that only through unfet-

tered discussion-`"liberty of dis-

course" was Walwyn's phrase for

it-could they arrive at truth or

ensure enjoyment of civil liberty.

At the heart of the Leveller

philosophy was a belief in democ-

racy. The Levellers sought a dra-

matic enlargement of the fran-

chise to include not only land-

owners but free men of every

condition throughout England.

And the cornerstone of their

creed was a conviction that the

just powers of government could

be derived only from the consent

of the governed. Thomas Rains-

borough stated it for them in

these great words:

"For really, I think that, the

poorest he that is in England

hath a life to live, as the greatest

he; and therefore, truly,- sir, I

think it's clear that every man

that is to live under a govern-

ment ought first by his own con-

sent to put himself under that

government; and I do think that

the poorest man in England is

not at all bound in a strict sense

to that government that he hath

not had a voice to put himself

under."

Believing as they did in the

idea that men possessed inalien-

able rights, believing also that

government could exercise only

such powers as were conferred

on them by the people, the Level-

lers proposed to create a new

government in England by com-

pact, They proposed a fundamen-

`tal charter-a written Constitu-

tion, if you please-which would

define and limit what the govern-

ment could do. They called the

charter "An Agreement of the

People." And they proposed to

go-about the country and ask the

people to sign the Agreement,

thereby through their own con-

sent putting themselves under

the government they were to es-

tablish.

The Agreement of the People

did not succeed, and England has

never adopted a written Constitu-

tion. In theory, Parliamentary

power knows no bounds; in prac-

tice, it pays deference to the com-

mon law and to principles of in-

dividual rights.

It was in the new world, ,how-

ever, that the Leveller vision be-

came a political reality. Puritans

who came to these shores because

they could not find in 17th Cen-

tury England the religious tolera-

tion they desired, brought with

them the Leveller idea of limited

government., And when Ameri-

cans established a government of

their own, they set limits for its

powers.

The Agreement of the People

found its full flowering in the

Constitution of the United States.

That Constitution erected a forti-

fication for freedom. It furnished

safeguards against ourselves,

against our passions and extrava-

gances. It set forth in a Bill of

Rights those "unalienable rights"

which no Congress, no govern-

ment, no majority of the people

could violate.

The foregoing article by the ed-

itorial writer of the Washington

Post is an abridgment of a recent

speech before the New York Civil

Liberties Union.

ACLU NEWS

SEPTEMBER, 1964

Page 4

Government Unfair With

Prospective Employees

"One expects the government to turn square corners,'

Area

JOR noted Supreme Court Justice. Last month two Bay

esidents found that the government had done the

equivalent of leading them through a dark room with an

open trap door in the processing of their employment appli-

cations. One resident had ap-

plied for overseas employment

through the Public Health Serv-

ice and had been assigned to the

Peace Corps. He filled out an

application, flew back to Wash-

ington for a personal interview,

and then was informed that he

was accepted for the program

and would go to an Asian coun-

try. He settled this affairs and

contacted his new superior in In-

dia. He said goodbye to his

friends, made final air transpor-

tation arrangements and pre-

pared for his trip. On the day

before his scheduled departure

he received a telegram from a

Peace Corps' administrator stat-

ing that his appointment was

cancelled and that he was not to

leave.

Attempts to find out what had

happened revealed the informa-

tion that his security check had

not proved positive. ACLU Di-

rector Ernest Besig wrote Peace

Corps Director, Sargent Shriver,

but Shriver would only say that

the Peace Corps had "good rea-

sons" for not accepting the per-

son, but could not disclose those

reasons. Shriver also stated that

all Peace Corps appointments

are made subject to confirmation

of a security clearance. Shriver

could offer no explanation as to

why no fair notice of the rejec-

tion was given, nor could he say

why the investigation was not

completed sooner.

In a second very similar case,

a teacher earning more than

$8,000 a year decided to apply

for a job with the American

Overseas Dependent School, even

though it would amount to a sal-

ary cut of over $3,000. The

teacher's qualifications were of

a high order, and she was ac-

cepted for the position in March

of this year, having had her ap-

plication papers filed since No-

vember of the previous year. On

the 21st of August she was sched-

uled to leave from New York,

but on August 13 she was in-

formed that she would not be

accepted for the program since

she was not fully qualified. At-

tempts to get any explanation as

to why she was not qualified

have failed. Of course, it is now

very difficult for the teacher to

get a job for the coming aca-

demic year.

In both of these cases the

United States Government has

treated its citizens in an arbitrary

and shabby manner. If the gov-

ernment goes so far as to accept

persons for employment, then it

has an obligation either to carry |

out its obligations or give good

and sufficient reasons why these

obligations are not carried out.

The ACLU will continue its ef-

forts to find the explanations for

these occurrences.

Peyote May Be Used

For Religious Purposes

The Supreme Court of California has ruled that a group

of Navajo Indians performing a religious ceremony involving

the use of the non-habit-forming drug peyote cannot be found

guilty of violating the state's narcotics law. The Indians were

members of the Native American church which holds that

Southern Regional

Office Contributions

In response to last month's ap-

peal for contributions toward

the September opening of a re-

gional oftice of ACLU in At-

lanta, Georgia, arising from the

special need for such an office

in that area of the South, 30

ACLUNC members so far have

contributed $829.50.

Although the cost of the first

year's operation of the Southern

Regional Office is estimated at

$40,000 and ACLUNC hopes to

contribute more, it is gratified

by the amount collected to date,

and is extremely grateful to the

donors. The branch office will be

delighted to receive further do-

nations and to pass them quickly

along so that the new office may

proceed with its task of coordi-

nating legal work in behalf of

civil liberties in the South, and

with undertaking necessary liti-

gation.

Because of ACLUNC's present

commitment to the fight against

Is the right

To be responsible

AMERICAN CIVIL

OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Ss

peyote "embodies the Holy Spirit

and that those who partake of it

enter into direct contact with

God."

The Supreme Court, in a six-

to-one decision, found that the

peyote was used in a bona fide

religious ceremony and that the

freedom of religion clause of the

First Amendment requires that

to interfere with a religious ex-

ercise there must be a "demon-

stration that some compelling

state interest outweighs the de-

fendants' interest in religious

freedom." The Court found no

compelling state interest in the

eontrol of peyote and, therefore,

held that the conviction of the

Indians violated the First Amend-

ment and ordered them released.

The Indians were represented

by counsel for the American

Civil Liberties Union of Southern

California.

Proposition 14 and the special

efforts that it will engage in con-

cerning it, further solicitations

for the Southern Regional Office

will be deferred until after the

November election.

JOIN TODAY

il -

LIBERTIES UNION

Patron Membership ......... Poe a $100

Sustaining Membership .....:.. 35 .. 3... 50

Business and Professional Membership .............- 25

Family Membership =... 2. ee 2

Associate Membership ..4...: .2'..25. 14.205... 10

Annual Membership .......... pe Ee 6

Juniog Membership (umder 21) ............ coe 2

ACLU News Subscription see a ee 2 $2.00

NAME = 3 3. ee

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TEEERRIONE NUMBERS. |.

Oo Se 26 ofc 0 0.01 ooh at oe ie: te. (c) lexiepe 6 fe) fens) ome 's

eo ece AMT. ENCLOSED.

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