vol. 15, no. 12

American

Civil Liberties

_ Union-News

- Free Press

Free Speech

_ Free Assemblage

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

VOLUME XV

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, DECEMBER, 1950

No, 120x00B0

Union Aids Fulbright Fellow

In Securing Passport

Two months after denying Humbert A. Smith

a passport, the Pasport Division of the State De-

partment, following the Union's intervention in

the case, reversed itself and granted the passport.

Mr. Smith has been an instructor in modern

languages at San Francisco State College since

1946. He graduated from Stanford University in

_ the late thirties and won recognition there and

with the Olympic Club as an athlete. His 1938

-Coast A.A.U. record of 6 ft. 714% inches for the

high jump still stands.

In any case, Mr. Smith applied for a Fulbright

grant under Public Law 584, in order to study for

a year at the University of Paris, France. On

September 11, 1950, he was awarded a grant to

study "French literature and civilization" at the

University of Paris during the academic year

1950-51.

Mr. Smith secured a year's leave of absence .

from his teaching position, borrowed money on

his retirement fund in order to permit his wife

and child to accompany him, and gave up his .

lease on a Veterans Housing unit. About the

same time he applied for a passport, not expect-

ing any difficulty. On September 20, however,

he received a wire advising him that the passport

had been denied, and no reason was given.

On October 8, Mr. Smith got in touch with the

Civil Liberties Union, and through the national

office, he was provided with the assistance of

_ very competent counsel in Washington. As far as

he will sail for France on December 13.

could be ascertained, the Passport Division ruled

against Mr. Smith because its records showed

that during the period 1939-42 he was reported

to be a "fellow traveller."

Mr. Smith has never been a joiner. No fault

can be found with the few organizations he has

belonged to. After graduating from college, like

many young people, he had ideas on how the

world should be re-made. He was a young college

instructor and talked freely with his students.

Apparently, some of the things he said at that

time, in some strange manner, found their way

into State Department files.

_ Mr. Smith submitted a lengthy affidavit to the

Passport Division concerning his activities and

opinions, which was supported by affidavits from

friends. About five weeks after the Union inter-

vened in his case, the passport was granted.

Moreover, Mr. Smith is being allowed to avail

himself belatedly of the Fulbright fellowship, and

N.J. Supreme Court Upholds

Bible Reading In Schools

A law requiring daily reading from the Old

_ Testament in public schools has been unanimously

upheld by the New Jersey Supreme Court, which

ruled that the law did not conflict with the First

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The United Secularists of America had charged

that the forty-seven year old law was unconstitu-

tional; helped to establish religious education;

and gave preference to one or more religions be-

cause no single version of the Bible is accepted

by all religious groups. |

Judge Clarence E. Case, in his opinion, said,

"We consider that the Old Testament, because

of its antiquity, its content, and its wide accept-

ance, is not a sectarian book when read without

comment .. . It is accepted by three great reli-

gions, the Jewish, the Roman Catholic and the

Protestant, and, at least in part, by others."

Thought Control |

"If our country is really so riddled with mal-

contents and traitors that we must examine each

man's innermost thoughts before we give him a

responsible part in our defense program, then

we are, indeed, in danger-and no loyalty oaths,

_ thought-control laws or elaborate clearances can

save us."-OSCAR R. EWING,

Federal Security

Administrator. :

Government Of, By And For The People Is A

Long Way Off In Germany, Says Roger Baldwin

From Frankfort, Germany, on October 30, 1950,

Roger Baldwin, former national director of the Ameri-

can Civil Liberties Union, sent the tollowing report to

his friends in the ACLU about his efforts to build up

a national civil liberties agency in Germany:

After two months in Germany, I owe you a re-

port on what I've been up to, and what I make

out of this confused and shifting scene in the

strategic center of Europe. I add to it the per-

spective of what I learned in the two months I

spent here two years ago.

I came over this time not as the guest of the

Occupation, but of the new German Civil Rights

THANK YOU!

The office takes this means of thanking

the more than 600 persons who last month

sent in contributions and pledges toward

the Union's $14,600 budget for the fiscal

year ending October 31, 1951. We appreciate

your loyal support and hope you wont' mind

our practice of not sending receipts except

upon request. We hope you will agree with

us that the time and money such acknowl-

edgments require is better spent on civil

liberties issues.

We trust that those who have not yet

contributed toward our budget will do so

without delay. We would like to disvose of

our fund-raising activities just as swiftly as

possible in order to concentrate on our main

job-defending civil liberties. Your coopera-

tion will be appreciated.

We would also like to mention that about

two hundred of the almost 600 persons whose

subscriptions expired in November have not

`yet gotten around to sending us their re-

newals. If YOU are one of these persons,

you can save us a lot of clerical work by

sending us your renewal as promptly as

possible.

Incidentally, while we're discussing fi-

nances, the Executive Committee raised the

51 budget to $14,600 at its last meeting by

increasing the director's salary $600 a year.

Finally, we wish we knew who our Oak-

Jand subscriber was who sent us $3, and a

Santa Rosa subscriber who sent us $1. They

forgot to write their names on the subscrip- |

tion forms and we're afraid they are going

to be somewhat peeved when they continue

to receive form letters asking them to send

in their subscriptions.

Enrolled In Southern Colleces

Approximately 200 Negroes have been enrolled

during the fall semester in 21 all-white Southern

colleges and universities. In 11 of the 17 states

where separate schools were maintained by law.

segregation has been abolished in graduate and

professional schools of state universities, accord-

ing to a survey recently made by the Southern

ene Educational Fund Inc. of New Or-

eans.

Figures are incomplete, Aubrey Williams, presi-

dent of the SCEF, has indicated because of the

"commendable policy of most of these institutions

of not recording the race of students on registra-

tion forms."

Contributions Received in Memory

Of Maraaret James Porter |

The ACLU has recently received $243 in mem-

ory of Margaret James Porter from a number of

her friends. Before her death, Mrs. Porter had

served on the Union's local Executive Committee

for eleven years. She was a firm believer in free-

dom and a staunch supporter of the Union's work.

Union, and with State Department blessings and

all the VIP privileges,-free housing, a car, plane

and rail travel, secretaries, an office and inter-

preters. One of my friends looking over that setup

said: "I see what you mean by independence. You

just work for the government in a private capa-

city." No, I'm working for the Germans, helping

build up their national organization. ae

I have covered all Germany, top to bottom, all

three Occupation zones and Berlin,-Soviet sector

included. I have met the U.S., British and French -

officials, high and low, the leading and led Ger- |

mans, and scores of audiences and groups ap-

_ parently interested in democracy, civil rights,

the brotherhood of man and other remote causes.

The show began in Frankfurt in early Septem- -

ber with a mass meeting and conference of civil

righters from all over, addressed by President

Heuss and assorted "Herr Doctors', including |

me. (You just can't be a "Mr." in my job.) I've

followed it up by visiting the local organizations,

organizing new ones, pepping up the weak na-

tional office, running from one Occupation bu-

reau to another in our massive Frankfurt head-

quarters, and at Bonn tracking down the German

federal officials and legislators concerned with |

anybody's right to do anything. In between, I've

taken on mayors, governors, commissioners, Oc-

- eupation courts and the police. I think I know ~

what's going on.

_ It's a miracle if anybody can figure it all out; 0x00B0

Germany is so completely split up into small

pieces, it makes no pattern at all. First, there are

the four zones of occupation. If the Soviet zone is

sealed off, so are the others. Cooperation between

the British, French and ourselves is only at the.

very top; and even there, as the rearmament rift

shows, it is not so chummy. Second, the Germans

themselves are about as decentralized a nation as

can be imagined; Bavaria is a foreign country to.

the free "Hansa cities" of the north; Berlin is a

country by itself; each section holds on to its

local patriotisms in an almost feudal spirit. Third,

even in our zone, we are so fearful of centraliza-

tion, because Hitler put the pieces together by

force, that we discourage tri-zonal national or-

ganizations, and stick fondly to the theory of a

grass-roots democracy. Only two strong national

organizations exist in Germany outside the poli-

tical parties,-the Roman Catholic Church and

the trade unions. I'm having the devil of a time

convincing our Occupation, which finances the

grass-roots civil liberties agencies quite lavishly,

that only a strong national agency will outlast

the Occupation, and the money should be put on

that. Most of what we do is "Made in USA"', and

_ does not reach beyond our zone, and even in it,

- only a thin layer of Germans,-officials, employ-

ees, Servants. hs

Our civilian Occupation apparatus of less than

1500 is splintered all over Germany,-from the

Allied High Commission, perched in a mountain-

top hotel above the Rhine near Bonn, to the huge

Farben Building offices in Frankfurt, down to the

commissioners in each state and the resident

officers in each county. The army has another:

center; the courts operate from still another. We

are thus caught in a spider web of bureaucracy,

enmeshed in paper-work, from which most have

long since quit struggling to get free. General

MacArthur once said that an Occupation tends to

defeat its own purposes after a few years; it be-

comes a machine living for itself. Germany proves

his point. And that, despite our earnest mission-

ary effort to "reorient, re-educate, and demo-

cratize' the Germans. We, not the Germans, are

getting most of the re-education.

Of course the Germans don't like an Occupation;

who would? They endure it for fear of worse,-

the Russians. You see signs on the walls all over,

mostly Communist, I judge, reading "Ami go

home', "We want our Freedom back." Yet even

(Continued on Page 2, Col. 2)

Page 2

Coast Guard Proposes

Reforms of Security Methods -

_The U. S. Coast Guard, which has denied. ship-

ping rights to seamen on American vessels bound

for foreign ports believed to be security risks,

has proposed rules for fair hearings on this ques-

tion. Seamen have been denied clearance in the

past without full hearings or full rights of appeal.

The ACLU protests were raised against review

boards consisting of representatives of the em-

ployer, the union, and the Coast Guard. It pointed

out that these should not be arbitration boards

but boards of public-spirited citizens, that in

many Cases a Seaman's opposition to union leader-

ship would weight the scales against him when

an official union representative sat on the board.

The Coast Guard has proposed adopting the

ACLU compromise suggestion that a seaman who

objects to the union representative can select a

different person for the Board from a panel of

oe union representatives and public-spirited

_ citizens.

Hearings on the proposed rules were held in

Washington, D.C. on November 27, at which

ACLU Staff Counsel Herbert Monte Levy testi-

_ fied. He opposed the criteria by which a security

risk can be judged under the proposed plan, and

pointed out that a seaman can now be denied

clearance merely for membership in certain ill-

defined types of organizations; and that he should

be judged on the basis of the likelihood of his

committing espionage or sabotage, or at least on

all ee available evidence as to his being a security

risk.

After ACLU intervention, the Coast Guard re-

cently improved its current loyalty check of re-

serve officers, by eliminating the "informer" pro-

vision. Under this reserve officers had been re-

quired to tell the Coast Guard of the names and

addresses of all persons they knew to be associ-

ated with organizations on the Attorney General's

so-called "subversive list" with which they had

been associated. The ACLU in a letter to the

Coast Guard had pointed out that the Navy ROTC

at Howard had dropped a similar requirement

_ after protest by ACLU and Americans for Demo-

cratic Action.

_ 5-Year Sentence In J.W. Draft

Case Protested as Excessive

The ACLU last month protested to Federal

Judge George B. Harris against a five-year sen-

tence imposed on Thomas Henry Burgtorff, a

member of Jehovah's Witnesses, who was con-

victed on a charge of violating the Selective

Service Act. The Union charged that the sen-

tence was "excessive." oe

` The Union said the case was the usual one of a

Jehovah's Witness claiming a ministerial status

under the draft law. The local board rejected

the claim, and, after the usual appeals, the regis-

trant refused to be inducted into the Army. Bure-

torff was tried by the Court without a aay

The five-year sentence is most unusual for

this judicial district. Even during the war years,

the maximum sentence for such religious ob-

jectors was only three years, and in non-jury

cases only two years. "A five-year sentence under

present circumstances," said the Union, "would

seem to be highly excessive.' ;

It is possible that the Court's severe sentence

was prompted by the defendant's testimony that

Army chaplains are traitors to God, and by the

violent expression of his religious beliefs. The

prosecuting attorney was in favor of the maxi-

mum sentence because he was outraged by the

defendant's vigorous presentation of his religious

views. "We venture to suggest," said the

Union's letter to Judge Harris, "that such a

severe sentence will not serve to dissuade zealots

from refusing to serve in the Army. It will re-

sult only in martyrizing such people and in sug-

gesting to many others in the community that

the law is being used to ee

minority." and persecute a religious

Smith Act to Be Issue In Review

Of 11 Communists' Appeal

Eleven Communist leaders, whose conviction

under the Smith Act of 1940, was upheld by a

Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, have been -

granted_a review of their case by the U.S. Su:

preme Court. Arguments have been set for De-

cember 4. /

The Court has restricted arguments to the

question of constitutionality of the Smith Act,

which makes it a criminal offense to conspire to

advocate or teach the overthrow of the Govern-

ment by force or violence. Other allegations of

the defense, among them hostility of Federal

Judge Harold R. Medina and objections to a "blue

ribbon" jury, will not be considered.

The ACLU filed a brief in the Circuit Court

challenging the constitutionality of the Smith

ct.

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Government Of, By And For The People Is A

Long Way Off In Germany, Says Roger Baldwin

(Continued from Page 1, Col. 3)

high German officials speak out saying the time

has come for the civilian controls to go, but leav-

ing the army to protect Germany. If we went,

the Germans couldn't do much worse than they

do under the loose controls. The old gang of civil

servants is back; business is run by the same men

who ran it under the Nazis. Order, not liberty, is

their chief concern. Government of, by and for

the people is a long way off. Even our resident

officers in conference the other day gave out a

frustrated statement that all the preaching of

democracy for five years has not changed Ger-

man habits of discipline, obedience and govern-

ment from the top down. All my audiences con-

firm it.

One of my illusions has been shattered,-that

the trade unions, anyhow, could be counted on as

a force for democracy. They, like all other organi-

zations, are run from the top down, the center

out. Their concern with public policy is slight.

But there is a sizable minority of liberals and

democrats everywhere, in government and out.

There are enough civil-liberty-minded people to

form a score of lively groups in our zone, and a

national center in Frankfurt. Without Occupation

money they would not get going; they take it

despite resistance to the alien curse upon it. But

they face uphill going on an always obscure road.

Will it lead to rearmament, with the old militarist

crowd on top? Will the east attack,-a universal

fear until after the Korean victory? Can the ob-

stacles of reaction centered in the Ruhr indus-

trialists be overcome? Communism doesn't worry

anybody much, save as related to the eastern

zone tension. I hear few complaints even of the

unnecessarily stern measures taken by the Allies

and Germans alike to check Communist big talk.

The whole concept of protecting civil liberties

by citizen action is a novelty in a country where

officials are supposed to govern and citizens obey.

The idea that the people are masters and the offi-

cials servants gets applause, but they can't make

it work. Overt attacks on civil rights are com-

mon enough, by both the German and Occupa-

tion governments, but they stack up less than

the accepted laws and rules which. curb liberty.

The German constitution starts off nobly with 18

specific rights, and then adds a 19th that any-

body ``misusing" those rights shall be deprived

of them!

You'd think by reading the U.S. press (we get

the European editions of the NEW YORK TIMES

and HERALD TRIBUNE daily) that Germany is

in a state of jitters. It is in fact much calmer than

the U.S. looks from here. Even in Berlin, on the

edge of trouble, I found a greater calm than in

Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Bans

Nation and New Republic

A "Citizens Committee" in Bartlesville, Okla-

homa has succeeded in banning from the Bartles-

ville, Okla. public library The Nation, The New

Republic, Soviet Russia Today, and other publi-

cations, and has brought about indirectly the

dismissal of librarian Ruth W. Brown after more

than 25 years' service. :

The self-styled Citizens Committee is composed

of a small segment of the local American Legion,

members of "Pro-America"'-a Republican Wo-

men's club, and members of the local chapters of

the Daughters of the American Revolution and

the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

First target of the group was the local YWCA,

which had attempted over a period of years te

put into effect a limited interracial program.

The second was the city library in the form of a -

complaint against Miss Brown's aetivities in the

interracial field and charges of "`subversive'' liter-

ature in the library.

After a thorough investigation and report by

the regularly constituted library board which

called attention to the library's adherence to

standards of the American Library Association,

the Citizens Committee stated its reasons for con-

sidering the publications "subversive". Following

these reports, the city commissioners enacted an

ordinance placing the administration of the li-

brary under control of the commissioners, and

set up an advisory library board. The former

board was relieved of responsibility and on June

25 the new board was appointed. On July 25, the

services of Miss Brown were terminated by the

city commissioners. On July 31, The Nation and

The New Republic were removed from the library

shelves. On August 7, the subscriptions for Con-

sumer Reports and the Negro Digest were can-

celed.

Meantime, a defense committee supporting Miss

Brown has been formed and has brought action

in the District Court of Washington County,

Oklahoma, .

the western zones; they have lived too long too (c)

close to the Russians to be disturbd. And there is

so much contact between east and west Germany

that the tensions are not human, but political,-

quite unlike Korea, where three years ago I found

the 38th parallel impenetrable even to family

news. The Iron Curtain lies east of all Germany.

Some of this general calm is due to apathy in

all public affairs. I hear a lot of reasons for it:

the occupation is sovereign, let them make the

decisions; the political parties handle public af-

fairs and independents have no voice; it is dan-

gerous to stick one's neck out, the Russians might

come; what's the use until Germany is united; the

old men are running things, youth has no chance.

Though you can't feel encouragement under

such confusions, I must say that compared with

two years ago, the picture is brighter. The eco-

nomy is humming; rebuilding of the shattered'

cities goes steadily on; even luxury hotels, restau- |

rants and resorts have sprung up; and on our

side, controls are greatly relaxed and our soldiers -

far less in evidence. But the sense of change I

felt two years ago is lacking. Then the western

state was just being born, and the air-lift was

saving Berlin for the west. General Clay was a

dramatic figure, with his hands on everything.

John McCloy is the far less dramatic diplomat,

keeping his hands off. os

Instead of change, drama and excitement, there

is now a let's-see-what's coming attitude, while

the Germans fall back into secure old patterns and

the Occupation just keeps its machine going. You

see, however, signs of livelier interest in Pan-

European schemes and internationalist as against

nationalist goals. But nationalism in its good and

evil forms, will remain a deep emotion until Ger-

many is reunited; too many families are sepa-

rated, too many refugees still stream west, be-

leaguered Berlin is a constant reminder-every

letter must carry a special tax stamp for Berlin's

relief.

You can figure from all this that I have been.

having a tough time trying to help build up a

national civil liberties agency. It's about the

toughest assignment I ever had. Japan, for ex-

ample, with its single Occupation power and a

responsive and united people was a lot easier. -

Here, with three western powers hardly on speak-

ing terms in the language of democracy, working

with an unresponsive and disunited people, I

ought to quit trying. I don't, because there are

/ enough of our sort of folks to promise better.

But I'm going to take a week off in Paris to

recover. Isn't that what people go to Paris for?

Aufwiedersehen until December,

Roger Baldwin

ACLU Presses Fight on

N.J. Teacher's Loyalty Oath

The American Civil Liberties Union is carry-

ing to the New Jersey Superior Court its fight

against the state's loyalty oath law for teachers.

Appealing from adverse decisions by the New

Jersey State Board of Education and the State

Commissioner of Education, the Union asks the

court to invalidate the 1949 statute.

The test case, pushed by Emil Oxfeld of New-

ark, ACLU attorney, concerns George B. Thorp,

who was hired as a teacher by the Newark Col-

lege of Engineering and then dismissed because

he refusd to sign the loyalty oath. Both the Com-

missioner and the Board of Education felt they

had no right to rule on constitutionality of the

year-old law.

Oxfeld's petition to the court contends that the

law is an illegal amendment to the state consti-

tution and moreover violates both the New Jersey |

and the U.S. constitutions by infringing on free

speech and due process guarantees. Guilt by asso-,

ciation and restrictions on belief implied by the

statute tend also to create an "intellectual strait

jacket', Oxfeld complained, making instructors

afraid to discuss controversial subjects. .

"Can anyone so strait jacketed really attempt

to acquaint his students with the spirit of a Shel-

ley or a Marlowe or a Shakespeare or a Milton?"

Oxfeld asked in his petition. "Can anyone so

frightened really describe the achievements of a

Galileo, a Newton or an Einstein? In fact, can

anyone begin to explain the establishment of the

entire American economy and thinking and stand-

ard of living without demonstrating that it is |

only the new in spirit and thought and belief

which eventually establishes progress?" '

The Thorp case is the second to challenge vali-

dity of parts of the New Jersey law requiring (c)

loyalty oaths from various persons. In an earlier

test case, in which the Union participated, the

state Supreme Court declared unconstitutional

sections of the act which required loyalty oaths

from candidates for state office. :

"

" . :

"AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

THE LAST FRONTIER

How can we guard against the night

with gutted sight;

or heed the thrush at dawn

with hearing gone...

_ or know ourselves both deaf and blind

with ravished mind?

-HELEN SALZ.

Reprinted from The Carmel Pine Cone-Cymbal

ACLU Challenges Suspension |

Of New York City Teachers

A brief opposing the recent trials of eight New

York City public school teachers, suspended on

charges of failing to answer questions concern-

ing membership in the Communist Party, has

been filed by two affiliates of the American Civil

Liberties Union.

The ACLU's New York City Committee and its

committee on Academic Freedom contended that:

1. "Membership in the Communist Party or in

its affiliated organizations, in itself, is not enough

to disqualify a person from employment as a

teacher in the public school system."

2. "A public school teacher is not guilty of

misconduct or insubordination by refusing to

answer the question `Are you or have you ever

been a member of the Communist party?' "'

The teachers' refusal to answer this question

during interviews with Dr. William Jansen, super-

intendent of schools, resulted in their suspension

without pay last May and their trial on charges

of insubordination. David L. Friedman, one of the

eight defendants, faced the additional charge of

unfitness to teach because of alleged membership

in the Communist Party.

Th ACLU brief, submitted to Theodore Kiendl,

- Board of Education trial examiner, claimed that

cumulatively the eight defendants had 162 years

of teaching service "without any proof of incom-

petence or indoctrinating practice." :

"The only way open to democrats to meet the

challenge of Communism is to preserve intact the

great American tradition of freedom, while con-

tinuing to build a way of life for our people within

that heritage, whose concrete attainments in ad-

vancing the general welfare outstrip anything

Communism can ever achieve," it added. "This

result can be accomplished, however, it is sub--

mitted, only by free men who dare to think and

express their thoughts freely, without penalty or

discrimination."

On a constitutional level, the brief claimed, dis-

missal of a teacher because of Communist Party

membership would curtail his freedom of thought

and association, constitute a bill of attainder and

ex post facto punishment, sanction the doctrine

of guilt by association, and impose "vague, un-

certain and subjective tests as to who are Com-

munists."

On an academic level, the brief said, the

"mischief" would include intimidation of non-

Communists through policing of professional and

private activities; driving them from the teach-

ing profession and discouraging them from enter-

ing it; deterioration of teaching standards; mak-

ing martyrs of Communists; and exposing stu-

dents to the harmful effects of spying, censorship,

and suppression.

In addition, the inquiry violates New York's

Civil Service Law, Section 26A, "which prohibits

interrogation of public employees, including

teachers, on their political affiliations," the brief

stated. : Q :

BOOKNOTE

SECURITY, LOYALTY AND SCIENCE, by

- Walter Gellhorn, Cornell University Press, 1950,

300 pp. $3.00. eS

This analysis of our present loyalty and secu-

rity programs stands alone as the outstanding

authoritative work on these issues. Prof. Gell-

horn, in non-technical presentation, has mar-

shalled the facts and figures that excessive

secrecy in scientific matters may actually weaken

our security, that excessive extension of loyalty

and security programs, especially without ade-

quate procedural safeguards, may actually re-

sult in a diminution of our security through driv-

ing Boe men out of scientific and governmental

work.

Professor Gellhorn's findings are the first of a

series of works on the impact of certain govern-

mental programs on civil liberties, made possible

by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to.

Cornell University. It. is devoutly to be hoped

that this book, `"`must"' reading for those concern-

ed with the effect of loyalty and security pro-

grams on the nation's scientists and civil liberties,

will be widely read in high governmental circles.

a

Pages

Report On The Present Status Of The

alifornia `Loyalty Oath' Controversy

A new legal challenge of the Levering Act will

be filed early in December by Attorney Wayne

M. Collins, following refusal of the Superior Court

in San Francisco county to grant an order tempo-

rarily restraining enforcement of the law. The

_ new action will be in the nature of a petition for

a writ of mandate to be filed in the California

Supreme Court. :

The Levering Act is generally thought of as

requiring merely a loyalty oath of "civil defense

workers," including all public employes, but it is

more than that. Not only is an oath or affirma--

`tion required to support and defend our State and

Federal Constitutions, as well as a declaration

that the person does not presently and will not in

the future, advocate nor belong to a group advo-

cating the violent overthrow of the government,

but the employee is compelled to acknowledge

membership in subversive groups during the past

five years. In addition, the Act also conscripts

public employees for civil defense work.

The law provides that "all public employees are

hereby declared to be civil defense workers sub-

ject to such civilian defense activities as may be

assigned them by their superiors or by law.' No

other persons are constripted for civil defense

work, only public employees. And, their duties

are unspecified. i

The question has been raised whether such con-

scription does not constitute an unlawful exercise

of Federal war powers by California. Moreover,

the law is discriminatory because it places obli-

gations only upon those who receive public pay

checks. The private employee is exempted from

civil defense activities. On the other hand, under

our Federal Selective Service Act, all males be-

tween certain ages are subject to service in the.

armed forces. It would seem arbitrary and un-

reasonable to impose compulsory public service

of any kind upon a limited class of citizens. Thus,

it is argued that the Levering Act discriminates

against public employees and denies them the

equal protection of our laws. In fact, the main

legal attack on the statute will be directed against

the conscription provisions of the law.

A second important legal issue will be whether

_ the Act impairs the obligations of contracts. Ura -

der the Constitution, after parties have entered

into legal contracts, the Legislature may not come

along and change those contracts. That argument

will be raised particularly in the cases of teachers

who enjoy tenure. It is not unlikely, however, that

the courts will hold that tenure is not a contract,

and, that, in any case, the obligations of contracts

may be impaired in an emergency.

Other legal arguments against the, law may re-

ceive scant consideration. The Act does curtail

freedom of speech and association, but, it is an-

swered that public employees do not have to sur-

render their constitutional rights. They may

always resign their public jobs and continue to

enjoy their rights to the full. Likewise, it would

appear that arguments that the Act violates the

privilege against self incrimination and that the

Act is a bill of attainder, have little legal merit.

It is apparent that the chances for successful

legal action are none too bright. While a strong

policy argument can be made against the Lever-

ing Act, the courts at this period in our history

seem to be ready to sacrifice liberty for alleged

security.

It is highly doubtful, however, whether the law

may be applied to employees of the University of

California, although the Attorney General has

ruled that it may. One hundred and sixty-six

faculty and non-academic employees have not

signed the new oath. In addition, 679 hourly

rated employees have failed to take the oath.

These employees have continued to draw their

(Continued on Page 4, Col. 2)

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds

"`Objector's' Conviction

The United States Supreme Court, by a 4-4

vote, has automatically sustained an 18-months

-gentence imposed on Larry Gara, a Quaker teach-

er, for telling divinity student Charles Rickert

to stand by his principles and refuse to let him-

self be coerced into registering. The incident oc-

curred at an Ohio Mennonite College as Rickert

was being arrested for refusing to register for

the draft. The ACLU had filed a brief as friend

of the court before the Circuit Court of Appeals,

contending that Gara's freedom of speech was

violated because there was no clear and present

danger of any evil resulting from his speech. Gara

is now on parole. :

In recent weeks, the Supreme Court has acted

on other civil liberties cases. It refused to review

the decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals at

New Orleans in the "Lost Boundaries" censor-

ship case, in which the ACLU had cooperated with

producer Louis De Rochemont in seeking a deci-

sion that motion pictures are entitled to the "free

press" protection of the First Amendment. The

Atlanta Censorship Board had refused to approve

the film. The Appeals Court, in its decision, held

that motion picture censorship is constitutional

despite recent statements in Supreme Court opin-

ions to the contrary.

The Court also refused to review the case of

Johnson v. Matthews, in which the U.S. Circuit

Court of Appeals in Washington had held that an

escaped prisoner, who had been subjected to cruel

and unusual punishment in violation of the Con-

stitution, could not have extradition stopped on

this ground, but had to return to the state from

which he had escaped and seek his freedom there.

The prisoner, Lewis A. Johnson, had been arres-

ted in Ocilla, Georgia on a charge of robbery,

and held in jail without preliminary hearing, in-

dictment or trial, until November 3, 1948 when

he escaped.

Johnson's case was handled by Attorney Joseph

L. Raugh, Jr., acting for ACLU.

In contrast to the Court's refusal to review

these anti-civil liberties decisions, it did agree to

review the decision of the Circuit Court of Ap-

peals at San Francisco holding that private per-

sons may sue other private persons for damages

for violation of their civil rights. Action was

brought originally in the Los Angeles Federal

District Court by Hugh Hardyman and others who

charged that a Democratic Party meeting called

to discuss the Marshall Plan, in November, 1947,

was broken up by force by Orville Collins and.

others connected with the American Legion. The'

Federal District Court at Los Angeles dismissed

the suit on grounds that the circumstances did

not bring it under the civil rights law. The case |

was sponsored by the Union's Southern Cali-

fornia Branch. -

Clegg Outlines Role of FB!

In Combating Communism

Hugh H. Clegg, assistant director of the Fed-

eral Bureau of Investigation, representing J.-

Edgar Hoover, told the N.Y. Herald Tribune

Forum that "the private citizen-can best assist in -

the fight against Communism by working to make

democracy stronger." He said that the successes

of Communism, in the final analysis, can be mea- |

sured by the weaknesses of democracy... Prej-

udice, bigotry, and intolerance have no place in

America."

Mr. Clegg urged the individual citizen to `"`give

attention to the Presidential directive designating

the FBI as the clearing house of subversive in-

formation and report promptly . . . without con-

ducting personal investigations, any information

coming into his possession concerning espionage,

sabotage and subversive activities." Of the FBI's

role in investigating Communism, he said, ``We

are interested in deeds and acts, not thoughts and

opinions .. . In a democratic society an individual

can think what he will .. . he has the right to

think freely and without coercion."

Genocide Pact Outlawing Racial

Destruction Becomes International Law

The Genocide pact, which prohibits any group (c)

or individual from deliberately destroying racial,

national, religious, linguistic or political groups,

_has become international. Five nations recently

ratified the agreement, bringing the total to

twenty-four. Twenty ratifications were needed to

give the document legal standing. The pact will.

become operable and in full force ninety days

from the date of signing.

Dr. Rafael Lemkin, professor of international

law at Yale University, and author of the pact,

said that at least fifteen more ratifications are

pledged by the end of the year.

Though the United States has not yet ratified

the convention, a Senate sub-committee has rec-

ommended ratification with reservations-a pro-

vision that may prove a hindrance, since there is

a ruling that if a nation ratifies with reservations

it can become a party to the convention only if

other parties accept those reservations. :

ACLU has actively supported ratification of

the pact. es

VOLUNTEERS

On the afternoon of the last day of every |

month the A.C.L.U. office faces the job of.

mailing over 2100 copies of the monthly

"News." That means stuffing envelopes. If |

any of our supporters wish to volunteer their

services for this work (we could use two

persons), please telephone the office-EX-

brook 2-3255.

Page 4

AMERICAN CIVIL. LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS (c)

American Civil Liberties Union-News.

Published monthly at 503 Market St., San Francisco 5,

Calif., by the American Civil Liberties Union

of Northern California.

Phone: ExXbrook 2-3255

ERNEST BESIG Editor

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

Post Office at San Francisco, California,

: _ under the Act of March 3, 1879

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year.

Ten Cents per Copy -151.

Financial Report for Fiscal

Year Ended October 31, 1950 |

The ACLU of Northern California ended its

fiscal year on October 31 with a surplus of $52.63

in its Operating Fund. Expenditures for the fis-

cal year reached a record high of $13,861.40, or

about $1200 more than the previous year. At the

same time, the Union's income was $13,914.03,

also a record high and almost $1100 above the

income of the previous year.

Reserve funds on October 31 consisted of

$3500 in U.S. Treasury bonds (which are used

for bail purposes), and a bank balance of $307.70,

after the surplus from the Operating Fund was

added. In other words, reserve funds now ag-

gregate $3807.70.

The Union also ended the fiscal year with the

largest paid-up membership in its 16-year his-

tory. There were exactly 1660 members in good

standing, besides 268 separate subscribers to the

"News," or a paid mailing list of 1928. The net

increase of 219 members was greater than in any

year in the Union's history. Seven years ago the

Union's membership stood at 624. Every year

since then the membership has shown an increase.

Here is the way your money was spent from

November 1, 1949 to October 31, 1950:

Income

General Receipts -...............---.-----------.---- $13,914.03

Expenditures

Salaries and Retirement ........ $7946.97 (c)

Printing and Stationery -....... 3033.02

Rent) 2 ee 1038.50

Rostaee 814.73

Telephone and Telegraph ...... 282.16

Furniture and Equipment ...... 296.90

Taxes and Insurance ............... 194.85

lraveume 2 166.38

Publications: 2.2.0 52.10

Miscellaneous ..................... 95.89

Total Expenditures 13,861.40

Sarplus, Oct. 31, 1950... 52.63

Reserve Funds ~

Balance on hand, Oct. 31, 1949 ___......... $ 3,700.44

Ineome:

Sinterest) $ 54.63

Surplus (Oper. Fund) .... 52.63

---. 107.26

Balance on hand, Oct. 31, 1950 -._......... $ 3,807.70

Executive Committee

BS eo 8 S 8 a

American Civil Liberties Union

- of Northern California

"Sara Bard Field |

Honorary Member.

Rt. Rev. Edw. L. Parsons

Chairman .

Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn

Helen Salz

. Vice-Chairmen

Joseph S. Thompson

: Secretary-Treasurer

Ernest Besig

Director -

Philip Adams

Robert Ash

Prof. Edward L. Barrett, Jr.

John H. Brill

Prof. James R. Caldwell

Arnold F. Campo

Wayne M. Collins

Rev. Oscar F. Green

Margaret C. Hayes

Prof. Van D. Kennedy

Ruth Kingman

Seaton W. Manning

Rev. Harry C. Meserve

Mrs. Bruce Porter

Rabbi Irving F. Reichert

_Clarence M. Rust :

Fred H. Smith, IV.

| Dean Carl B. Spaeth

- Prof. Wallace E. Stegner

Beatrice Mark Stern

Dr. Howard Thurman

Kathleen Drew Tolman

A Report On The Present Status Of The

California `Loyalty Oath' Controversy

asa cision anrommNmS-

(Continued from Page 3, Col. 3)

pay while the Regents have pondered their course .

of action. Thus far, the Regents have merely

"requested" all employees to take the oath. At

their meeting in Los Angeles on December 15, the

Regents may authorize a legal test of the Attor-

ney General's ruling which the State Controller

has supported. The contention would be that,

under the State Constitution, control of the Uni-

versity is vested in the Regents and not in the

Legislature. But if the Regents fail to challenge

application of the law to the University and stop

' payment of salaries to non-signers, some of the

latter are expected to file their own legal tests.

While the Act allows employees 30 days after

October 3 to sign the oath, some agencies have

refused to pay non-signers for any work per-

formed within this 30-day period. In Alameda

county, for example, a hospital employee resigned

on October 31 without signing the oath. The

County Auditor has refused to pay the $175 due

him. Likewise, in Berkeley, a school department

employee signed the oath and then repudiated it

and resigned. Her month's salary is being with-

held. In Sebastopol, a former teacher in the Adult

Education Department has been denied payment

for five evenings of teaching during October.

In San Jose, however, the School Department

paid a non-signing employee who worked during

October. In San Francisco, the School Depart-

ment refused to pay a week's salary to a Child

Care Center employee who resigned on October 7.

One day's pay was earned before the law was even

adopted. Following the Union's intervention, the

Controller secured a ruling from the City Attor-

State `Loyalty Oath'

Test Suit Contributions

The ACLU has thus far received $35 ear-

marked for the expenses of the Levering

Act test suits. If any of our readers wish to

make contributions toward this cause, they

will be welcomed. Contributions should be

sent to the ACLU, 503 Market St., San Fran-

cisco 5, Calif. Please be sure to designate the

purpose of the contribution.

ney permitting payment. The Controller stated,

on November 22, that he intended to abide by the

opinion. It reads, in part, as follows:

"Payment after such time is not payment to an

employee, but to'a former employee. The payment

is for services rendered prior to the requirement

of a loyalty oath. This is true because Section 2

of the Act allows for the execution of the oath all

of the period of 30 days to and including the date

for which compensation or reimbursement is

claimed, November 2, 1950. Compensation earned

by a former employee during a period in which he

_was not required to. execute the oath should not

be withheld."

It is interesting to note that the Attorney Gen-

eral made a similar ruling, but that the State

Controller took the opposite position. - :

One curious situation called to the Union's at-

tention involved a probation department employee

and her husband. The former had signed the oath.

As one of her duties, sometime during October,

she escorted a client to a State Institution and, in

accordance with regulations, she was accompanied

by her husband. He was paid his expenses without

signing the oath. Subsequently, however, the wife

was advised to tell her husband to sign the oath

or return the money. He did the latter.

Another unusual case involves a Manteca school

teacher who refused to sign the oath. She had

been drawing pay on a yearly basis, commencing

July 1. Instead of being owed money by the School

District, she owed them money. It was agreed that

she should work until November 29 in order to

earn the money she had already received.

In a couple of communities, non-signers have

continued to work at the risk of never being paid |

for their services. In most communities dismissal

proceedings were immediately brought against

non-signers. In the San Francisco school district,

for example, twelve teachers were charged with

disobeying a State law, unprofessional conduct

and evident unfitness for service. The Board

swept aside arguments that, until the courts ruled

on pending legal cases, the dismissal proceedings

were premature. :

Nobody knows exactly how many employees

refused to take the oath. While there were 42

non-signers in San Francisco, not including 32

election inspectors, the figures for other parts of

the State are sketchy. :

The newspapers noted two non-signing teachers

in Oakland, including one who resigned. Two

Alameda county employees refused to sign, be-

__ Sides one election inspector. The Port of Oakland

"reported two non-signers. Berkeley had a couple

of teachers who refused to sign. San Mateo coun-

ty's three non-signers included a teacher at Bur-

lingame High School. Sebastopol had one non-

signer. Not reported in the preSs were the cases

of most non-signers who resigned their jobs. Ac-

cording to press reports, there were very few

non-signers in Southern California.

One result of the Levering Act was the can-

cellation by the American Friends Service Com-

mittee of an agreement to secure 50 vocational

guidance workers for the Stockton State Hospital.

Moreover, the Quakers decided to pay the $600 -

cost of completing a current week-end project at

Agnews. A summer project at that Institution

will apparently be dropped.

The main deterrent against non-signing was the -

threatened stoppage of pay checks. While many

people were opposed to the oath in principle, they

just could not afford not to sign.

The question that troubled many signers was -

how to answer the part of the oath requiring a

listing of organizations advocating the violent

overthrow of the government to which they had

belonged during the past five years. Did persons

have to list organizations on the Attorney Gen-

eral's list or the Tenney list? In one case, an

employee had joined a hiking club which four

months later disaffiliated from a group on the

Attorney General's subversive list. Did the club

have to be listed? Or, suppose an employee had

belonged to one of the Union's expelled from the

CIO for following the Communist Party line. Did

such an organization have to be listed? And, how

about the National Lawyers Guild? The House

Committee on Un-American Activities recently

claimed it was a Communist front and has re-

quested the Attorney General to put it on his list.

And, how about the rare persons who had be-

longed to the Communist Party? That group has

always denied it advocates the violent overthrow

of the government, and, indeed, the Union knows

of no group which so admits.

The uniform answer the Union gave inquirers

was that the test was whether to the knowledge

of the employee any group he had belonged to

`during the past five years advocated the violent

overthrow of the government. In any perjury

prosecution, the State would have to show that ~

the eee had knowingly misrepresented a

material fact. :

`The State Personnel Board revealed that one

employee admitted membership in the Russian-

American Institute; two persons confessed mem-

bership in the Consumers Union, while the United

Public Workers and the Marine Cooks and Stew-

ards Union were also named. One employee listed

the League of Women Voters.

What will happen to the employee who admits

past membership in a subversive organization?

We know of one school teacher who has admitted

past membership in the Communist Party, al-

though declaring that as far as he knew the group

never advocated the violent overthrow of the gov-

ernment. We assume that the oaths are public

records and, therefore, open to public inspection.

Tf so, all kinds of witch hunters will inspect the

oaths and demand the heads of the persons who

have admitted past membership in subversive -

groups. -

We don't see how this program is saving the

State from Communism. Surely, anv Communists

will have signed without mentioning the fact.

Tt really isn't a loyalty oath that public emplovees

are being forced to take but an oath of conform-

ity. In the process, we are breeding suspicion and

fear instead of mutual trust which is so essential

to a free government. Instead of strengthening

our government, we are making it less secure.

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503 Market St.

San Francisco 5, Calif.

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