Open forum, vol. 21, no. 2 (January, 1944)

Vu

JAPANESE-AMERICANS' LEGAL

pressures in our national life.

PENFO

`Free Speech : Free Press : Free Assemblage

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"-John Philpot Curran

in LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, JAN. 8, 1944 No. 2

RIGHTS UP TO COURTS

By ROGER N. BALDWIN

Netioual Director. of A.C.L.U. Discusses Test Cases in Behalf of Evacuees. Other

uy Racial Groups Also Involved

The history of civil rights in the United

States plainly forces the conclusion that

such progress as we have made, and it

_ has been great, has been largely due to

the decisions of our highest courts. Since,

as former Chief Justice Hughes said, ``the

Constitution is what the Supreme Court says

it is," it follows that the interpretations of

a majority of that court determine in the

lJast analysis our rights and liberties.

But the court necessarily reflects the

In time of

war court decisions will rest upon a some-

what more sensitive response to military

security and to the "clear and present

danger," as the court puts the principle,

of obstruction to the conduct of the war.

Thus, in sustaining the curfew orders in

the west coast military area and by im-

plication the evacuation, the court came

very close to what Justice Murphy called

"the brink of constitutional power." That

observation rested, of course, upon the

wholesale discrimination against Ameri-

can citizens because of their racial ances-

try, a position the court has never before

taken and one which it conceivably took

only in time of war for reasons of extreme

military precaution.

It seems fairly certain that the court

will not go beyond that decision in con-

sidering any later phases of the evacuation.

It has not approved, and doubtless would

not approve, the detention of A-

merican citizens after evacuation or pro-

hibit their free movement in other than

restricted military zones. It has already

refused to consider the case presented by

California reactionaries to take American

citizenship from persons of Japanese an-

cestry. The President has given his as-

surances that the population of Japanese

ancestry may return freely to the Pacific

Coast as soon as conditions of military se-

curity warrant. In view of the inflamed

hostility in California prompted by hysteri-

cal patriots, that time will probably not

come until the war is over-at least not

for the entire population of Japanese an-

cestry. It is quite conceivable that before

that time limited categories may be permit-

ted to return in line with the permission

already given to soldiers in uniform. The

families of men in the armed service, vet-

erans of World War I, and others may be

allowed to go back, since they are in cate-

gories to which no reasonable opposition

can be voiced even by "patriots." As the

war comes to a successful conclusion, pre-

judice will tend to diminish and the var-

ious proposals for deporting aliens and

limiting the rights of Japanese Americans

will fall on deaf ears.

The present proceedings in the courts

involving the evacuation in the case of

Korematsu, and possibly the detention issue

involved in the case of Miss Endo, may go

up to the higher courts for further con-

sideration. But the results are not likely

to change the present situation. Further

test cases may be brought at a somewhat

more favorable time. than the present,

when prejudice is so rife because of the

distorted press accounts of the disturb-

ances at Tule Lake. The public has not

been led to distinguish between that center,

housing elements disloyal to the United

States, and the overwhelming majority of

loyal Japanese Americans. The Tule Lake

minority's attitude is unthinkingly ascribed

to all Japanese Americans.

But test cases may be necessary to enjoin

the military officials from preventing the

return of Japanese Americans to the west

coast, and to challenge the detention of

American citizens of Japanese ancestry at

Tule Lake in cases where it appears doubt-

ful whether they. are in fact disloyal.as

determined by the administrative author-

ities. Even so, such cases would take

months to get to the Supreme Court and

might well not be decided until after the

war is over.

The discrimination against American

citizens of Japanese ancestry has been the

greatest blot on a record of general sanity

and tolerance during the war. It has its

roots not only in the unreasoning fear a-

roused by the threat of invasion just after

Pearl Harbor and the resentment against

Japan's attack, but also in the anti-Orient-

alism which has marked California so

strongly over so long a period, and in less

degree other large sections of the country.

We have made a beginning in redressing

an old wrong to the Oriental peoples by

our repeal of the special Chinese exclusion

laws, although we have not yet granted

the Chinese full equality with other na-

tions. Inevitably the demand will come

to extend the no-discrimination policy to

Filipinos, Indians and others now barred

from immigration and citizenship. It is

even possible that the outcome of the war

may permit extension of such a policy to

the Japanese. But it is far too early to

consider that.

Our Japanese American fellow citizens

have to carry a heavy burden, together

with their alien relatives. But it is a bur-

den which I am sure they understand in

the complex of racial prejudice which un-

happily marks American life. When 13

million of our fellow citizens of Negro

blood are denied effective participation in

our democracy, the fate of the Japanese

American minority is painfully understand-

able. The United States, like so many other

countries, suffers from the complex of white

superiority. The concept of a world run

by the white minority exploiting the vast

majority of darker peoples is slowly yield-

ing, as it must, if we are to have a world

UNION CHALLENGES ARMY'S CASE

AGAINST LOS ANGELES OBJECTOR

Review by the War Department of an

alleged unwarranted court martial of a

conscientious objector is being pressed by

the Southern Californa branch of the

ACLU. The case arose when Alfred L.

Saunders was arrested by military police

following the dismissal in the Federal Dis-

trict Court of a case against him based on

his refusal to report for induction. He

managed to leave his military guard while

at the Los Angeles railroad station on the

way to a Texas camp, and sought the

Services of A. L. Wirin, ACLU counsel.

Wirin directed him to report at once to

the U.S. Attorney.

Military police seized him at the U.S. At-

torney's office and charged him with ab-

sence without leave. He was thereupon

court-martialed and sentenced to three

years in a military prison. While in mili-

tary custody, and before he was court-

martialed, Saunders had vainly sought his

release by habeas corpus. An appeal from

that adverse decision is also being taken.

NAVY C. 0. DISCHARGE SOUGHT

Howard Russell, conscientious objector

in the U.S. Navy, who was given a summary

court martial early this month at the Ter-

minal Island Naval Reception Station charg-

ed with having been absent without leave,

is now seeking discharge from the Navy

and transfer to a conscientious objectors'

camp.

The Southern California branch of the

A.C.L.U. is assisting his effort. Although

he enlisted in the Navy when he `had been

ordered inducted by a local draft board,

Russell is vouched for by his minister and

by friends as a sincere religious objector.

MAIL BAN LIFTED FROM

PACIFIST PAPER

The Post Office Department last week

announced restoration of 2nd class mail-

ing privileges to the "Boise Valley Herald,"

a small weekly paper published at Middle-

ton, Idaho, by A. Cornell and I. Cornell,

opponents of military conscription.

At hearings in 1942, when the Herald's

privileges were held subject to revocation

under the Espionage Act of 1917, the paper

was represented by counsel for the Ameri-

can Civil Liberties Union, who pointed out

that the publication had offered no ob-

struction to the war effort, no information

of use to the enemy, and no "clear and

present danger to the war effort."

which squares with the Four Freedoms,

the Atlantic Charter, and the other demo-

cratic ideals voted by allied leaders.

The racial policies involved in legisla-

tion, court proceedings and administrative

rulings affect not. only Japanese Ameri-

cans, but all Negroes, 3,500,000 Mexican

Americans in the southwest, and all the

Oriental peoples. Only as the injustices in-

herent in these racial discriminations are

righted will Japanese Americans along

with these others, share the full rights of

citizenship in our democracy.

-Pacific Citizen.

THE OPEN FORUM

Published every Saturday at 501 Douglas Building

287 South Spring Street, Los Angeles 12, California by

Civil Liberties Union. Phone: MIchigan 9708

Clinton J. Taft Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz

A. A. Heist A. L. Wirin

John Packard Edwin Ryland

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year. Five Cents per

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Entered `as second-class matter Dec. 18,

1924, at the post office of Los Angeles,

California, under the Act of March 8, 1879.

oie 26

LOS ANGELES, CALIF., JAN. 8, 1944

Cc. O. PAY TEST CASES HEARD IN

DENVER U.S. COURT

Two cases to test the constitutionality

of orders requiring conscientious objectors

to work without pay at the government

work camp at Mancos, Colorado, were set

for hearing last week in the U.S. District

Court at Denver. One of the cases involves

a conscientious objector, J. A. Manoukian,

prosecuted for refusing in camp some

months ago longer to work without pay.

He claimed that conscription for non-mil-

itary service is unconstitutional, and that

even if legal, objectors are entitled under

`the law to the same pay as soldiers. He

is represented by Carl Whitehead, ACLU

attorney.

_ The other case involves a man, John

Neubrand, still working at the government

camp, but making the same allegations.

Seeking release by a writ of habeas corpus

on the ground that he is subject to un-

constitutional demands, his petition was

refused after an all-day hearing on Dec.

26th. Appeal will be taken.

COMPLAINT AGAINST J. W.

AT BURBANK WITHDRAWN

A criminal prosecution, against one of

Jehovah's. Witnesses, charged with assault

and battery, died aborning recently when

the complaining witness requested the court

for a dismissal of the charges. The mem-

ber of Jehovah's Witnesses was E. M.

Johnson of Burbank; the judge who dis-

missed the case was Police Court Judge

F..H. Lowe of Burbank.

~ When three youths attempted to dis-

turb and interfere with a Bible study ses-

sion of the Jehovah's Witnesses at Glen-

dale, Mr. Johnson, and not the rowdy

youths, was prosecuted. After the filing

of a criminal complaint by one of the

youths against Johnson, when the case

came on for trial before Judge Lowe, the

complaining witnesses asked permission to

withdraw the charges. Judge Lowe dis-

missed the case.

Assurances have been received that, in

`the event of further disturbances of the

meetings of the society by the rowdies,

criminal complaints will be filed against

them.

LEWIS BROWNE

Distinguished Author

will lecture on

"What has Become of the Age of

Reason ?"'

at the

Unitarian Church Auditorium

2936 W. 8th St.

Friday, Jan. 7 - 8 P. M.

Admission 50c.

Tel. EX. 1356 for Tickets

This is the opening event in the

Humanist Convention

BAN ON SILVER SHIRT LEADER

CONTESTED

A. L. Wirin, counsel for the Southern

California branch of the ACLU, entered the

federal courts at Los Angeles last month

to support legal action taken by Kenneth

Alexander, former leader of the Silver

Shirts in Southern California, ordered out

of the Pacific coast area by the military

authorities a year ago, ay -

Alexander, who refused to go, brought

--an injunction last February to contest the

-army order.

The case was dismissed on

the ground that the military had taken

no steps to carry out the order. Alexander

then appealed. While the appeal was pend-

ing, the military police broke into his home

in September, threw him into an automo-

bile, and deported him to Nevada.

The new proceedings in the courts seek

to enjoin the army from preventing his re-

turn, and in addition claim damages. The

case is without precedent. In one previous

case in the Los Angeles district, that of

Homer Wilcox, leader of Mankind United,

the military deported the man but only

under the authority of civil.court order.

Alexander, a former British subject who

became a citizen years ago, served in the

U.S. Navy in the first World War and a-

gain in the present war until he was dis-

charged on physical grounds. The action

of the military authorities in ordering his

removal was apparently based on his pre-

Pearl Harbor activities in the Silver Shirts,

which were closely identified with the Ger-

man-American Bund.

STIFF SENTENCE AGAINST J. W.

CONFIRMED

The five years sentence imposed upon

Wilson E. Vaughn, Jehovah's Witness, for

violating the military order to salute a

superior officer, has been affirmed in

Washington by the higher army reviewing

officers, according to word received last

week by the National Committee on Con-

scientious Objectors, organized by the

A.C.L.U. :

Protestations by the A.C.L.U. Committee,

that the sentence violated Vaughn's free-

dom of conscience and that Vaughn ought

to be released from the army because of

his religious views, were thus overruled;

and Vaughn must now serve his sentence.

In the meantime further efforts will be

made by the A.C.L.U. Committee to secure

Vaughn's release from the army upon the

serving of his sentence; and to secure a

reduction of the sentence when the case

is periodically examined in accordance

with army regulations.

UNUSUAL DEMAND FOR NEW A.C.L.U.

PAMPHLETS

Race relations and trade union democ-

racy are apparently much in the forefront

as immediate practical issues, to judge by

the reception accorded to two new ACLU

pamphlets, "How to Prevent a Race Riot

in Your Home Town" and "Democracy in

Trade Unions."'

The race riot pamphlet, by Winifred

Raushenbush, secretary of the Union's

Committee Against Race Discrimination,

is the first of a series offering practical

suggestions. Orders have come from all

over the country requiring several print-

ings. Among those ordering quantities are

churches, interracial committees, govern-

ment agencies, schools and colleges, and

trade unions.

The pamphlet on ``Democracy in Trade

Unions,' covering a lengthy survey with

recommendations for action, has been wide-

ly ordered by government officials deal-

ing with labor relations and by trade

unions. Comment has on the whole been

favorable.

`JAPANESE LEASE CASE

POSTPONED

Ordering the case postponed for further

evidence, Judge Carl A. Stutsman of the

Los Angeles Superior Court has reset the

case of Brown v. Oshiro for hearing on

January 21. The case involves the question

as to whether a Japanese lessee continues

to be liable upon a lease of a hotel in

"Little. Tokyo" after his evacuation and

the evacuation of the occupants of the

hotel, when'75 per cent of such occupants

were also of Japanese descent. A

In ordering the resetting, Judge Stuts-

man announced that he desired further

testimony to be presented, in accordance

with the suggestion in the brief of the

Japanese American Citizens' League, that

one of the issues of fact to be decided by

the court was the effect upon "Little

Tokyo" of the military evacuation orders.

Both. the J/A.C.L. and the: A.G.BUs,

which have appeared in the case through

Attorney A. L. Wirin, as "friends of the

court," have urged the courts that the

Japanese lessee should be exonerated

from further liability of the lease because

of the effect of the military exclusion

orders barring all persons of Japanese an-

cestry from the Pacific Coast.

The evidence which will be submitted

to Judge Stutsman will be to the effect

that the exclusion orders made `"`Little

Tokyo" a "ghost town;"' and more recently,

a Negro community. To compel full com-

pliance with a contract, under such cir-

cumstances, according to the A.C.L.U. and

J.A.C.L. brief, would constitute an "uncon-

cionable hardship."'

N. Y. RAPP-COUDERT WITNESS

DENIED SUPREME COURT REVIEW

The U. S. Supreme Court recently

declined to review the conviction of Morris

U. Schappes of New York City, former

teacher at City College, convicted of per-

jury as the result of the Rapp-Coudert in-

vestigation into Communist activities in the

New York schools. Schappes was sentenc-

ed to serve a year and six months and has

been at liberty on bail. He was charged with

testifying falsely before the investigating

committee concerning his Communist Party

associates at City College. He is the only

witness before the committee jailed as the

result of the proceedings. The Civil Lib-

erties Union condemned the procedure of

the Rapp-Coudert Committee at the time,

particularly because of its star-chamber

methods. .

U. S. SENATE COMMITTEE HITS

POLL: TAX `LAWS

In a majority report on the anti-poll

tax bill, the Senate Judiciary Committee

on December 21 attacked the poll tax laws

of eight southern states, calling them "`di-

rect violations" of the Fourteenth Amend-

ment. Six members submitted a minority

report which argued the unconstitutionality

of the anti-poll tax bill and urged a con-

stitutional amendment.

The majority report denies the conten-

tion that the Constitution permits restric-

tions on voting by a poll tax, and asks,

`"`Has a man's poverty anything to do with

his vote? Can it be claimed that a man

is incapacitated from voting because he is

not able to pay the fee? .. ."

The ACLU is joining other agencies in

urging a Senate vote on the bill by cloture

to overcome the threatened Southern fil-

ibuster.

"UNDER COVER"

John Carlson, author of the best seller

by the above title, will lecture on the

same subject at Philharmonic Auditorium

Monday night, Jan. 10, under the auspices

of the Modern Forum. Tickets at Forum

office and all agencies.