vol. 23, no. 10

American

Civil Liberties

Union

A

` i

F] .

Volume XXIII

San Francisco, California, October, 1958

Number 10

~ ACLU Wins

Two. `Security |

Risk' Cases |

:

Access to classified military information was granted last

month to two persons who faced loss of their jobs as alleged

security risks. Both persons received clearances only after

appearing before hearing boards at which they were repre-

sented by Ernest Besig, the ACLU's local executive director.

In the first case, the Atomic En-

ergy Commission granted a clear-

ance to an employee of the Radia-

tion Laboratory at the University

of California and a student at the

University of California, who was

accused of being affiliated with (c)

the Labor Youth League. It was

claimed that he had been "`identi-

fied as posting a sign at the Co-

operative House at 500 Landfair

Avenue, Los Angeles, California,

on August 17, 1952, advertising a

meeting of the Labor Youth

League, which was to be held that

evening."

Second Charge

A second charge alleged "that

he had been observed in attend-

ance at the Labor Youth League

meeting on August 17, 1952. You

addressed the meeting after the

guest speaker, and appeared to

officially end the meeting."

These allegations were assert-

edly based on the testimony of a

"reliable informant." The em-

`ployee denied the charges and, at

the hearing, submitted over 40

affidavits from associates who

stated that. as far as they knew he

had never had any connection

with the Labor Youth League.

In fact, some of them stated they

had heard him express strong

opposition to the League.

Informant Not So Reliable

At the hearing in Oakland on

June 10,.the "reliable informant"

confronted the accused. He

- claimed he had seen the employee

place an advertisement of the

meeting on top of some mail box-

es at the Cooperative House in

Los Angeles, and that he had seen

him at the August 17, 1952, meet-

ing. He admitted that he had

neither heard the employee ad-

dress the meeting nor officially

end it. As he was leaving the

meeting, he heard a voice coming

from the front of the room and

merely `assumed that it was that

of the employee who had assert-

edly been seated near the speaker.

The testimony of the "reliable

informant" was otherwise so ex-

travagant that he discredited him-

self. For example, he labeled 65

per cent of the 175 to 200 students

residing at the cooperative house

as Communists.

- Second Case

The second security clearance

was handed down by the Office of

Industrial Personnel in the case

of an employee of an electronics

firm in Palo Alto. In this case, it

was alleged that in 1949, while a

student at the University of Col-

orado, the employee had attended

a meeting of the Marxist Study

Club, which was addressed by a

member of the Communist Party

and that, after the meeting, he

had attended a dinner at the home

of a known Communist.

It was also alleged that the em-

ployee had been on a member-

ship list of the Hollywood branch

of the-National Council of the

Arts, Sciences and Professions in

1951, and that in 1948 he had

been. a member of the `Wallace

for President" Club at the Univer-

sity of Colorado.

"Active in `AYD

It was also claimed that he had

-Continued on Page 4

In This Issue oe

ACLU Court Docket Rae es p.3

Letters to the Edito:

No Reason Given For

Banning Trip to Brussels .p. 3

`One New Board Member;

Nine Re-elected '....... p.3

Parties May Solicit Funds

House to House)....... p. 2

Radio and TV Coverage of

Court Hearings Opposed .p. 2

S.F. Cop Demands Removal

of Nude from At Show .p. 4

Motier of

Four Fig hts

Deportation -

The Board of Immigration Ap-

peals last month reopened depor-

tation hearings in the case of an

alien who had been ordered de-

ported to Australia because of

membership in the Communist

Party from 1946 te 1948. The

alien is the wife of a U. S. citizen

and the mother of four small chil-

dren.

After the alien was ordered de-

ported about a year ago, the U. S.

Supreme Court handed down its

decision in the Rowoldt case, in

which it was held that an alien

could not be deported because of

past membership in the Commu-

nist Party unless such association

"was meaningful. The Board was

urged to reopen the present case

in order to apply the yardstick of

the Rowoldt decision.

Prior to entering the country in

1945, the alien had never heard

of the Communist Party and, at

the time she joined in Reno, she

was under the impression that it

was working for socialized medi-

cine, which she had enjoyed in

Australia. She never did gain any

real understanding .of the politi-

cal purposes of the Communist

Party and, over her husband's ob-

jections, she quit. Under these

circumstances, the ACLU has ar-

gued that her membership was

merely nominal and is not the

meaningful association required

by the Rowoldt case.

The case has now been sched-

uled for a local hearing on Octo-

ber 7.

Cee p.2

Kistler Found

Guilty In

Obscenity Case

It took' a Municipal Court all-

male jury in San Rafael five hours

to decide on September 19 that

Donald Kistler, Jr., was guilty of

selling and exhibiting an: obscene

film and posteards. A motion for

a new trial was scheduled to be

argued before Judge Harold J.

Haley on September 29.

Everybody thought that the

main evidence at the trial would

be "Adam" magazine, which Kist-

ler had continued to sell despite

District Attorney William Weis-

sich's admonition not to sell it.

(All the other dealers heeded

Weissich's censorship of the mag-

azine.)

"Adam" Forgotten

But at the four-day trial, noth-

ing was heard about "Adam" mag- |

azine, and of the 512 items which

the police seized (including 6 ball-

point pens, 26 gag boxes, 9 books,

18 coins, 9 miscellaneous book-

lets, 2 mink bow ties, etc.), only

the film and postcards were intro-

duced in evidence against Kistler.

The film and the postcards

were in a paper sack in a bottom

drawer behind the counter of

Kistler's shop. The latter claims

they weren't for sale and that he

was merely holding them as secu-

rity for a $50 loan. The arresting

officer discovered the paper sack

in searching the place.

One Witness Besides Cop

One witness besides the arrest-

ing officer testified for the prose-

gution. The witness was a news-

paper distributor who admitted

he had had a disagreement with

Kistler and who claims Kistler

had shown him the postcards and

the film. This Kistler denied. (c)

Weissich argued at length be-

fore the jury about how the film

and pictures were damaging to

children, although there was no

showing that children had patron-

ized Kistler's store.

Kistler was represented by At-

torney Carl Shapiro of Fairfax

-and Albert M. Bendich, ACLU

Staff Counsel.

Bars Refusing Service

To Negroes May

Be Disciplined

The State Department of Alco-

holic Beverage Control ruled last

month that refusal to serve a

customer a drink because of race,

creed or color is grounds for dis-

ciplinary action against the liquor

licensee.

The ruling was made in the

case of a bar called Sunrest Cor-

ner, in San Francisco. Three Ne-

groes complained they had been

denied service last April 7 be-

cause of their race. The charges

were dismissed, however, because

of insufficiency of the evidence.

This is the first time the De-

partment has considered disci-

plinary action against a licensee

because of alleged refusal to

serve a customer whose race,

color or creed he didn't like.

Alan Barth Speaks at

Annual Meeting Nov. 7

The annual membership meet-

ing of the ACLU of Northern

California will be held at the

Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Sutter

and Powell Streets, San Fran-

cisco, on Friday evening, Novem- :

ber 7, at 8 o'clock.

Alan Barth, distinguished edi-

torial writer of the "Washington

Post" and author of "The Loyal-

ty of Free Men," iand an eloquent

speaker, will give the main ad-

dress. Chairman of the meeting

with be Professor John Henry

Merryman.

Also appearing on tthe pro-

gram will be Lawrence Speiser,

who will speak briefly about the

tax exemption loyalty oath suits

which he won before the U. S.

Supreme Court, and Ernest

Besig, the Union's local director,

who will report on the Union's

achievements during the year.

There will be a "coffee hour"

after the meeting.

The Chairman of the Program

Committee is Emily Skolnick.

Further information about the

meeting will appear in the No-

vember NEWS. In the meantime,

please save the date.

irrational and

|

|

Merryman Testimony

Censorship

No Cure for

Obscenity

Censorship exacts too high a price from society-in limit-

ing freedom of the press and providing opportunities for

abuses in law enforcement. Furthermore, it leads to greater

social evils than those it professes to cure.

This was the warning of ACLU Board Chairman John

Henry Merryman when he testi-

fied September 10 at an Assem-

bly subcommittee hearing on

pornographic literature in the

San Francisco State Building.

The Stanford associate profes-

sor of law and law librarian rep-

resented the Northern California

ACLU Branch, which had been

invited to take part. Also testi-

fying were a Baptist minister, a

San Mateo County municipal

judge, a nudist leader and several

other witnesses.

Censorship Fails

ACLU's stand is that "censor-

ship under existing and proposed

laws fails and must continue to

fail to achieve its professed

objective,' Dr. Merryman re-

ported in a detailed explanation

of the civil liberties abuses aris-

ing under censorship laws.

Comparing censorship of por-

nography to national Prohibition

in the U. S., Dr. Merryman de-

clared: {i

"The demand for pornography

exists and is being met by boot-

leggers . . . Meanwhile, the ille-

gality of allegedly obscene pub-

lications adds to their glamour,

creates a criminal group which

exploits them and _ otherwise

actually magnifies, rather than

diminishes, the social problem it

is supposed to control."

Opposing the ACLU view, the

Rev. Cecil Osborne of Burlin-

game's First Baptist Church

called for stronger obscenity

legislation and stricter enforce-

ment.

"Sex-mad magazines are creat-

ing criminals faster than jails

can be built," the clergyman in-

sisted. And he cited cases of

delinquents who blamed obscene

or violent publications for their '

behavior.

Dr. Merryman quoted results of

long-range studies on delinquen-

ey which refuted the Baptist

pastor's contentions.

Delinquents Are Non-Readers

Delinquents usually are non-

readers, he explained. And cer-

tain researchers have concluded

that reading isn't even worth in-

vestigating as a factor in delin-

quency, because its influence is

so negligible.

The Kinsey studies also show

"the relative unimportance of

literature in sex thoughts as com-

pared with other factors in" so-

ciety," he continued, also quot-

ing one writer:

"Because sex maniacs may read

pornography does not mean that

they became what they are be-

cause of their reading, but that

their reading became what it is

because of them."

Censorship invariably results

_ in suppression of freedom of be,

lief and expression. And censor-

ship of obscenity has always been

indiscriminate,"

Dr. Merryman said. "Possibly be-

cause of the type of personality

who likes to be a censor..."

Giving a censor the power to

classify material as obscene and

to suppress it as being "without

redeeming social importance" is

a violation of basic American

principles, Merryman insisted.

The Meaning of Freedom

Pointing out that the U. S.

government had suppressed many

great works at one time or an-

other, he asked, "What do free-

dom of belief and expression

mean if those who govern are

given the power to determine

what is "socially important" and

what is not?"

Postal and customs officials can

bar material from the mails and

remove it from incoming ship-

ments without advance notice or

hearings "of any kind-and in

complete secrecy. And, he added,

policemen use the threat of pros-

ecution, even though their vic-

tims may not be - violating any

law.

Dr. Merryman also deplored

the fact that persons and groups

can use censorship laws to en-

force their own standards on a

community.

"Our reaction to obscenity i is a

complex thing based in part on

our views as to taste, morality

and religion," he said, posing

such questions as:

"Are these matters ideally

suited to legal control, or are

they better left to the family,

the school and the church?" and

"Does not the existence of these

laws tend to justify us in ab-

dicating our own responsibilities

as parents?"

Morality Can't Be Legislated

Municipal Judge Thomas L.

Bocci, Jr., of San Mateo County,

oppose `d censorship on the

- ground that "Morality cannot be

legislated."

The judge's recommendation

was that society could cope with

the pornography problem "only

by a return to religion and an

uplifting of moral values."

Representing the National

Nudist Council, Robert Clogher

of Holy City in Santa Cruz Coun-

ty also opposed extension of por-

nography legislation. Further

control, he said, might interfere

with distribution of official Coun-

cil magazines. And these publica-

tions, which feature photographs

of nudists, are not lewd, because

pictures of the naked human

body are not necessarily obscene,

he insisted.

No Evidence That

Reading Leads

To Delinquency

Three psychologists at Brown

University, Drs. Nissim Levy,

"Lewis Lipsitt and Judy F. Rosen-

blith, recently examined the basic

proposition of would-be censors

"that when individuals are sub-

jected to certain kinds of stimu-

lation ("smutty" or aggressive)

there is a greater likelihood of

their committing anti-social acts

(i.e., of their being sexually or

aggressively delinquent)."

"In summary," said the psychol-

ogists, "we assert that there is no

reliable evidence that reading or

other fantasy activities lead to

anti-social behavior.

"There is evidence that such

reading or fantasy activity is not

an important contributor to delin-

quent behavior. Shall we then

allow our freedoms to be inter-

fered with because of the possi-

bility that it may be an influence

in some cases? This is a value

judgment we must make, We fur-

ther assert that there are other

salient influences in the creation

of delinquency (sexual or other)

which might better merit our at-

tention. Ag citizens we object to

organized (extra-familial) censor-.

ship."

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION NEWS

Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California,

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

Second Class mail privileges authorized at San Francisco, Calif.

ERNEST BESIG .. . Editor

' Subscription Rates-One Dollar and Fifty Cents a Year

Fifteen Cents Per Copy

Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union

of Northern California

CHAIRMAN: Prof. John Henry Merryman

VICE-CHAIRMEN: Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn

Helen Salz

SECRETARY-TREASURER:. William M. Roth

HONORARY TREASURER: Joseph M. Thompson

HONORARY MEMBER: Sara Bard Field

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Ernest Besig

Philip Adams :

Theodore Baer

Prof. James R. Caldwell

William K. Coblentz

Richard De Lancie

Rabbi Alvin |. Fine

John M. Fowle

Howard Friedman

Rev. Oscar F. Green

Zora Cheever Gross

Alice G. Heyneman

Mrs. Paul Holmer

J. Richard Johnston

Prof. Van D. Kennedy

Prof. Theodore J. Kreps

Radio and TV Coverage of

Court Hearings Opposed

The American Civil Liberties Union in 1953 concluded

that court proceedings, at the present time, should not be

broadcast, televised or photographed. Because of its belief

that freedom of the press is an essential civil liberty, the

ACLU was mindful of the right of the mass media of com-

munication to report trial proceedings. Its policy statement

emphasized that `adequate press and public representation,

in attendance at the trial," contributes to the preservation of

due process. However, because the function of a court pro-

ceeding is to achieve justice, the ACLU decided that due

Rev. F. Danford Lion

Seaton W. Manning

Rev. Robert W. Moon

Lloyd L. Morain

Rt. Rev. Edward L. Parsons.

Clarence E. Rust

Mrs. Alec Skolnick

Fred H. Smith, lV

Theodosia B. Stewart

Stephen Thiermann

Franklin H. Williams

GENERAL COUNSEL

Wayne M. Collins

STAFF COUNSEL

Albert M. Bendich

process might be impaired by radio, television and photo-

graphic coverage of such proceedings.

Since 1953 the ACLU has observed closely the rapid

progress of the mass media in eliminating such objectionable

features as bright lights and exploding flash bulbs and is im-

pressed by these advances. These developments have moved

the, Union to re-examine its 1953 position, to determine if its

objections to radio, television and photographic coverage are

still valid. ;

Our re-evaluation leads to the conclusion that the ACLU

should continue to maintain its 1953 position and support, in

general, the proposed revision of Canon 35 of the American

Bar Association's Canon of Ethics which would prohibit tele-

vision and photographic coverage of judicial proceedings. The

complexity of the problem, in which the competing rights of

due process and freedom of the press are involved, requires

that considerably more study be given this issue before any

change is made. The experience of the Colorado courts since

their adoption of the rule allowing trial judges, at their dis-

cretion, to permit televising of judicial proceedings needs to

be more fully evaluated.

The Union's continued support for its 1953 position is

based on these reasons: |

1. The fundamental purpose of a court proceeding is to

seek truth and dispense justice. Certainly the public interest

`in court proceedings must be protected, but the guarantee of

a fair trial is paramount. The knowledge that their testimony

would be seen and heard by countless numbers of people via

radio and television would have such a psychological impact

on witnesses, attorneys and judges that the prime objective of

a trial would be interfered with. Some of these people, rather

than concentrating on the facts in a case, might-consciously

or unconsciously-be more concerned with their radio-tele-

vision appearance. The average witness is nervous in the

strange surroundings of a courtroom and his emotional state

could mar the accuracy of his testimony. This danger is in-

creased when he realizes that his words and movement are

being listened to and observed not by the judge and jury alone

but the public at large. He is no longer a witness; he is an

actor in a courtroom drama. |

2. The right of privacy, which we recognize as an integral

part of the rights accorded all persons in our democracy, ap-

plies to a defendant in a criminal trial. His court appearance

naturally is open to the public, including reporters from the

mass media, but the concept of a public trial does not require

that a defendant surrender all privacy and exhibit himself

for newspaper photographers or television cameras. The right

of privacy also extends to witnesses who are under the pro-

tection of the court. If their privacy is invaded by picture-

taking, it could make them reticent about testifying at trials

and thus weaken the whole trial structure. As the individual

defendant's or witness' privacy may be interfered with on the

the way to the court as well as in the courtroom, the protection

of privacy should extend to a reasonable distance from the

courthouse. a

3. Our judicial system requires that a trial decision be

made by a jury of the defendant's peers which has heard all

-Continued on Page 4

Political Freedom -

Parties May

Solicit Funds

House-to-House

Superior Judge Edwin L. Owens of Santa Clara County

last month upheld the right of the Los Altos -Democratic

Council to engage in house-to-house solicitation of funds

for political purposes, ``so long as such solicitation is con-

ducted in a peaceful and orderly manner." He, therefore,

enjoined the City of Los Altos

from interfering with such solici-

tations by the Council.

Since October, 1956, the City of

Los Altos has refused to allow

the Democratic Council to en-

gage in house-to-house solicitation

of funds. The refusal was based

upon an ordinance which pro-

hibits house-to-house solicitation

for the sale of goods, wares and

merchandise.

Contentions Upheld

Judge Owens upheld the con-

tention of the Democratic Coun-

cil that the ordinance, by its

language, was not applicable to

political solicitations and, even if

it were applicable, it would be

an unconstitutional abridgement

of political freedom. "We must

remember," said Judge Owens,

that the freedom herein involved

-freedom to freely and widely

disseminate political views and

to propagate these views through

the medium of established poli-

tical organizations is one of the

most basic and cherished free-

doms upon which our govern-

ment rests. It follows, therefore,

that any attempt to regulate or

to restrict the exercise of this

basic freedom can be justified

only in the light of some com-

pelling necessity to do so in the

overriding interest of the com-

mon good."

Arbitrary Powers

The ordinance contained an ex-

ception under which the chief ad-

ministrative officer of the city

was permitted to grant a permit

for solicitations by "non-profit

and community, or recreational,

or religious, or charitable, or

educational or similar purposes

and deemed in the best interest (c)

and welfare of the City of Los

Altos and the residents thereof."

The Court relied on decisions of

the U. S. Supreme Court in hold-

ing that this licensing provision

gave the administrative officer

arbitrary powers in granting or

withholding permits.

Political Expression

Needs Money

The Court rejected the conten-

tion of the City that these deci-

sions were not applicable to the

raising of money "for the pur-

pose of enabling the dissemina-

tion and propagating of political

views" as distinguished from

"the act of expression of such

views themselves. We would be

blind to reality," said the court,

"if we did not recognize that the

solicitation of funds for the pur-

pose of the dissemination and

propagation of political views is

too intimately related to the

freedom of expression and pro-

_pagation itself to be so disasso-

ciated, and that the procurement

of funds by a political party for

its political purposes is the life

blood of the organization itself.

Without such means available for

the procurement of funds, the

political organization itself would

soon wither and die. In the Cant-

well case the matter involved

was the solicitation of funds for

the spreading of religious views,

which the court related directly

to freedom of religious expres-

sion. Certainly solicitation of

funds for the furtherance of the

purposes of a political group or

organization must be similarly

related to freedom of political

expression."

George McLeod, chairman of

the council, declared Judge Ed-

win J. Owens' opinion demon-

strates again "that in a democ-

Friday evening,

racy such as ours civil rights are

everybody's responsibility. It is

up to each individual and each

group in every community to keep

vigilant if we are to preserve our

full constitutional freedoms."

The suit was filed by George

MacLeod, president of the Los

Altos. Democratic Council, David -

S. Niveson, Myra Campbell and

Peter Szego, the remaining offi-

cers of the Council. McLeod and

Gunn of Palo Alto were attorneys

for the Council.

Marin Chapter Civil

Liberties Conference

November 21-22

The Marin Chapter of the AC-

LU announced last month that it

will hold a civil liberties confer-

ence on November 21 and 22 on

the theme, "Are You As Free As

You Think You Are?"

The conference will open on

November 21,

with a keynote speech. Then the

following day, Saturday, a variety

of workshops will be held which

tentatively include the following:

(1) Separation of Church and

State, with particular emphasis

on public schools; (2) Bigness:

Big Business, Big Labor, Big Gov-

ernment; (3) Security Regula-

tions; (4) Academic Freedom; (5)

Censorship, with particular em-

phasis on the government with-

holding of information; (6) Civil

Rights; (7) Vagrancy Ordinances.

Further details about the con-

ference will appear in the Novem-

ber issue of the NEWS. Gordon

P. Robinson is chairman of the

Planning Committee.

Separation of Church

And State Discussed

In `Look' Article

The September 20 issue of

"Look Magazine" carries an arti-

cle on current issues involving

the principle of separation of

Church and State. It appears

under the title, "Catholic, Protes-

tant, Jew: The Conflicts That

Divide Us."

With respect to the teaching

of religion in the public schools,

Patrick Murphy Malin, national

director of the ACLU, is quoted

as follows: "We don't want the

public schools to become the in-

struments for the encouragement,

or discouragement, of religion.

We want to see that they don't

bring forth students oriented in

some preordained way toward

religion. That's the job of parents

and: churches."

Letters

To the Editor

A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE .

Editor: In your Bulletin for

May of 1958 you print a proposed

Labor Union Bill of Rights. In

this you state that Congress has

accepted as a legitimate exten-

sion of collective bargaining a

"Closed Shop" contract, and you

take no exception to this accept-

ance. Thus, it would seem that

you sanction the granting of pow-

ers to labor unions, which, under

the Constitution, even` the gov-

ernment itself does not possess,

namely, the right to force an indi-

vidual to join a union if he wants

to work and live, even though he

may be conscientiously opposed

to doing so. I could not in good.

conscience join many labor un-

lons-in fact, so long as member-

ship is compulsory, I could not, in

good conscience join any labor

union.

You have defended, and rightly

so, those who, for reasons of con-

science, have declined to take tax

exemption loyalty oaths. Like-

wise, you have defended, and

again perhaps rightly so, those

who refuse to divulge informa-

tion to the Un-American Activi-

ties Committee, at least partially,

because this has meant (in some

cases) the loss of a job. You have

also pleaded the cause, not so

rightly so, in my opinion, of those

who object to the reading of the

Bible in schools, the giving of

Christmas plays, ete., none of

which materially affect the liveli-

hood of the individual.

It seems to me that if you are

going to be consistent, you should

work for the curtailment of the

rights of labor unions to the point

where they would have to be

sensitive to the needs and wishes

of their members in order to sur-'

vive. I'am a firm believer in la-

bor unions, if they function as

they should, but I do not believe

that anybody should be forced

to join such a union against his

will, and, furthermore, I believe

that labor unions would be far

more helpful to society, as, a

whole, if they could not depend

upon force of "law" to compel

2 membership. I would very much

like to see you take a stand on

this important subject-Fred D.

Fellow. :

and

CHRISTMAS PLAYS

Editor: Each year the January,

February, March and April edi-

tions of the ACLU NEWS carry

numerous spirited letters on all

aspects, practical as well as theo-

retical, of the Christmas play

problem. Then, as spring fever

and summer lethargy take over,

the fury seems to subside, and lit-

tle tangible progress appears to

have been made in resolving this

"church-state" issue.

May I suggest a change in tim-

ing, so that members who get

irate on this subject might. com-

mence writing their letters now,

in time for the September, Octo-

ber, and November editions? In

that way, perhaps some of the

nastier situations can be avoided,

prior to the holiday season, and

we can have "Peace on Earth,

Good Will Toward Men," at least

here in Northern California.

Merry Christmas, or

Happy Chanuko; and if

neither fits, Happy New Year!

-Marshall`H. Kuhn.

1956-58 ACLU Report

Now

All ACLU members soon will

receive a copy of the branch's bi-

ennial report, now in publication.

The 28-page brochure will give

details on the civil liberties work

members helped support in the

past two years and background

information on the issues in-

volved.

Mrs. Ivan Majdrakoff, a free-

lance artist known professionally

as Julia Pearl, contributed her

services for artwork and layout.

A new ACLU member, she lives

in Redwood City and does free

lance work for Sunset Magazine,

as well as other design and craft

work,

Being Published

Mrs. Majdrakoff has exhibited

, at the San Francisco Museum of~

Art and earlier won awards at the

Minneapolis Institute of Art and

the Museum of. Modern Art in

New York City. Her husband also

is an artist. :

The forthcoming report will

cover branch activities from June

1956-1958. Before 1954, ACLU is-

sued reports every year, but in-

creasing printing costs led to

adoption of the biennial publica-

tion.

ACLU NEWS

October, 1958

Page 2

=

"ACLU Court Docket

The ACLU of Northern Cali-

fornia, through its staff counsel,

Albert M. Bendich, with the co-

operation of. volunteer ACLU

attorneys, is presently handling

the following 12 court cases in-

volving civil liberties issues:

Tax Exemption Loyalty

Oath Test Suits

VETERANS

Speiser vs. Randall, et al. Pend-

ing before the U. S. Supreme

Court on a motion for a rehearing

filed by the Tax Assessor. Last

June 30, the U. S. Supreme Court

in a 7-to-1 decision held the law

to be unconstitutional because it

places the burden of proof on the

applicant for tax exemption.

Prince vs. City and County of San.

Francisco. Same issues as Speiser

case, Also pending before U. S.

Supreme Court on a motion for

a rehearing filed by the Tax

Assessor, after a favorable deci-

sion by the U. S. Supreme Court.

Lehrer vs. Hall. Same issues as

Speiser and Prince cases. Pend-

ing in Marin County Superior

~ Court awaiting outcome of fore-

going U, S, Supreme Court cases.

Dilworth Act Case

San Francisco Board of Educa-

tion vs. Mass. Dilworth Act dis-

missal of former San Francisco

City College English instructor

who refused to answer questions

of House Committee on Un-

American Activities, reversed by -

State Supreme Court on Decem-

ber 21, 1956, because Mass was

not given hearing as to his rea-~

sons for refusing to answer the

Committee's questions. To be re-

heard in trial court.

Luckel Act Case

Wolstenholme. vs. Oakland Li-

brary Board. Reinstatement suit

filed after dismissal of senior

librarian for refusing to answer

certain questions of Oakland Li-

brary Board. Alameda County

Superior Court Judge Cecil Mos-

bacher upheld the Luckel Act

and ruled that petitioner had

delayed too long in filing suit.

Appeal pending in District Court

of Appeals.

Deportation

Suit filed in U. S. District Court

on December 31, 1956, enjoining -

attempted deportation of native-

born citizen, whom government

claims expatriated himself while

in the Soviet Union. Immigration

Service ruled plaintiff is deport-

able for prior membership in

Komsomo] in the U.S.S.R.

. Unemployment

Insurance

Syrek vs. State Unemployment

Insurance Board. Denial of unem-

ployment insurance benefits for

refusal to accept Civil Service

employment because of loyalty

oath requirement sustained by

Alameda County Superior Court.

An Appeal has just been filed

in the District Court of Appeals.

False Arrest

And Imprisonment

Himphill vs. Pedrini. $10,000

damage suit filed July 3, 1957,

by a U. S. mail clerk who was

picked up by two plainclothes

S.F. Vag Arrest

Procedures

To Be Changed

According to recent newspaper

reports, vagrancy arrest proce-

dures in San Francisco will be

changed for the better. New Po-

lice Chief Thomas Cahill and Dis-

trict Attorney Thomas C. Lynch

are said to be working jointly on

the matter.

There is a "good possibility"

that the city's traditional "$1,000

Vag" arrest charge-whereby a

-Continued on Page 4

ACLU NEWS

October, 1958

Page 3

a

officers on Market Street early

in the morning of April 1, 1957,

mugged and fingerprinted, and

booked as a vagrant. Next morn-

-ing the case was dismissed by

the District Attorney for lack of

evidence. Co-counsel: Fay Sten-

der of San Jose.

Williams vs. D. Dillon, et al.

Upon leaving a restaurant and

while on his way to work, plain-

clothes officers arrested the

plaintiff, had him mugged and

fingerprinted as a "$1,000: Vag."

Next morning the case was dis-

missed for lack of evidence. A

$20,000 damage suit was filed

July 3, 1957 against the arresting

officer and the Chief of Police.

Co-counsel: Fay Stender of San

Jose.

People vs. Weitzer. Jury trial

in San Francisco Municipal Court.

Artist arrested on May 22, while

talking on sidewalk to three

friends and charged with failing

to obey the order of,a San Fran-

cisco police officer to "move on."

Constitutionality of "move on"

ordinance being challenged, Trial

scheduled in October.

People vs. Hill. Jury trial on

drunk charge in San Francisco

Municipal Court. Tests at Emer-

gency Hospital showed defendant

was not drunk. Trial date to be

set.

Labor Union

Discrimination

Lundquist vs. Marine Engineers

Beneficial Association. Manda-

mus action filed in San Francisco

. Superior Court March 11, 1958,

to compel the reinstatement of

membership in labor union, re-

jected by union because seaman

had been screened by the Coast

Guard, which screening proce-

dure had been declared unconsti-

tutional by the 9th Circuit Court

of Appeals in Parker vs. Lester.

No Reason Given

For Banning Trip

To Brussels Fair

The State Department last

month refused to allow James A.

Kershaw, a member of The Ac-

tor's Workshop of San Francisco,

to participate in the production of

"Waiting for Godot" at the Brus-

sels Fair.

No Reason For Decision

No reason was given for the

Department's action. The daily

press has speculated that it was

because Kershaw once attended

the California Labor School. That

hardly seems sufficient. On the

other hand, the Department's ac-

tion could have been based on

misinformation which Kershaw

was not given an opportunity to

correct.

The Department's timing was

particularly outrageous. Several

months ago the production's list

of personnel was submitted for

the Department's consideration,

and it was only thereafter that a

contract was entered into. Not

until the company was about to

sail for Europe was the workshop

suddenly informed that Kershaw

was unacceptable.

No Relation to Security

Certainly, security can have

nothing to do with the decision.

Kershaw had been granted a pass-

port and he could have attended

the Fair had he wanted to do so.

Obviously, he could do no more

damage to the United States as a

participant in the production than

as a tourist. In any case, security

has no relation to participation in,

a play.

The ACLU condemned the State

Department's action as high-hand-

ed, senseless and unfair.

Public Support eer Trip

The Workshop raised $9000

from San Francisco citizens for

travel expenses of the company.

The State Department, it has been

reported, pays wages and subsis-

tence while the play is being pro-

duced. i

Kershaw, 38, was stage manager

for the production. He resides at

740 Carolina St., San Francisco,

and is employed as a truck driv-

er. His wife has just gone to Paris

to study under Marcel Marceau.

ACLU Protests

Catholic War

Vet Book Ban

The American Civil Liberties

Union has protested a nation-wide

program by the Catholic War Vet-

' erans to banish from public school

libraries books by over 40 writers.

Among the authors of books called

subversive or pornographic are

Maxwell Anderson, William Saro-

yan, Carl Sandburg and Mrs. Elea-

nor Roosevelt.

Public Libraries Targets

The CWV had distributed to its

posts throughout the country a

list of proscribed books, with a

recommendation that each unit

set up a committee to look for the

books in public libraries. It was

also recommended that "respect-

ed members" of the community,

such as teachers and clergymen,

be enlisted in the campaign as a

bulwark against protests by "lib-

erals and the unfriendly press."

The ACLU protest was con-

tained in a letter to Rosario. Sci-

bilia, executive director of the

CWV, from Patrick Murphy Ma-

lin, executive director of the

ACLU. It said that the ACLU "`is

opposed to this campaign because

it strikes at the heart of the prin-

ciple underlying the First Amend-

ment to the United States Con-

stitution, freedom of expression.

The Catholic War Veterans, or

any other organization or indi-

vidual, has the right to protest

the contents of a book and to per-

suade other people not to read it;

this is an expression of freedom

which the First Amendment pro-

tects. But the CWV campaign

goes past mere persuasion into

an organized effort to have the

books removed so that they can-

not be obtained from the library

at all, even if the CWV argument

fails to persuade; such action is

- censorship imposed by a private

group pressure, and is especially

bad in being directed at public

libraries."

The list of proscribed authors

was prepared by Mrs. Ann Smart,

who conducted a similar cam- :

paign in her home town of Lark-

spur, California. The list is pre-

ceded by a statement calling the

authors "extremely well-listed as

to their Communist and, or, Com-

munist-front affiliations." A list

of 200 more disapproved books is

available to CWV posts from Mrs.

Smart, at a cost of one dollar.

Mrs. Smart said that removal of

the books from school libraries

was not censorship, since "cen-

sorship has already taken place

when these books are chosen."

She added that the obvious pur-

pose of the books classified as ob-

scene was to help the Communist

movement.

Race Bias Charge

In S.F. School

Districting

The unsettled question as to

whether San Francisco school dis-

tricts have been gerrymandered

in order to segregate children on

a racial basis was raised again

last month, as the San Francisco

Labor Council voted to secure

school district maps from Dr. Har-

old Spears, superintendent of

schools.

"We have good reason to be-

lieve that the districts have been

drawn to follow neighborhood ra-

cial patterns, Dan Jackson, presi-

dent of the San Francisco Federa-

tion of Teachers (AFL-CIO) is

quoted as saying.

A year ago the specific issue

arose with regard to Aptos Junior

High School when it was redis-

tricted in such a manner that vir-

tually all Negro children were re-

moved from Aptos and required

to attend Denman Junior High

School. The redistricting was

done because of crowded. condi-

tions at Aptos, but it ignored a

Board policy, adopted August 4,

1936, which declares that "If the

number enrolled in any secondary

schoo] exceeds the number that

can be accommodated, preference

must be given to those pupils who

reside nearest the school."

One New Board :

Meml

er; Nine

Re - Elected

The ACLU of Northern California last month announced

the election of Dr. Julian R. Friedman, 38, of Berkeley, to a

three-year term on its Board of Directors, commencing

November 1.

Dr. Friedman is presently Assistant Professor of Public

Health, Division of Hospital Ad-

ministration, School of Public

Health, University of California,

Berkeley. Dr. Friedman grad-

uated from Harvard University

and Fletcher School of Law and |

Diplomacy. He received his Ph.D.

in Political Science from the

University of California in 1947.

From 1945-1947, he was U. S.

Labor Attache in China. He has

taught at National Fu Tan Uni-

versity, Shanghai, China; London

School of Economics, London;

and the University of California.

He has written articles and

DR. JULIAN R. FRIEDMAN

Birth Control

Suits Filed in

Connecticut |

Five suits challenging the con-

stitutionality of Connecticut's

birth control laws have been filed

in New Haven Superior Court.

The laws prohibit the sale or use

of birth control devices or drugs,

and forbid doctors from giving

`advice on birth control. The va-

rious plaintiffs claim that the

laws violate the Fourteenth

Amendment to the Constitution

by depriving them "of life, liberty

and property without due process

of law." :

Four of the suits were filed un-

der legal pseudonyms. One was

from a married couple who said

they wanted to prevent concep-

tion until they are "economically

able to support children." An-

other said that four previous preg-

nancies had resulted in death of

all the children within 48 hours

of birth, and said that further

pregnancies "may result in per-

manent emotional unbalance."

The other two cited almost cer-

tain damage to and possible death

of parents and children if concep-

tion were to occur.

The only plaintiff named was

Dr. C. Lee Buxton, chairman of

Yale Medical School's department

of obstetrics and gynecology. He

contended that requirements of

~ the laws were in conflict with his

duties as a doctor. He said that if

he fulfilled his professional obli-

gation to his patients by giving

them advice on birth control, he

faced the loss of his medical li-

cense under the law. The laws

were last challenged in 1942, when

the Connecticut Supreme Court

of Errors held them to be consti-

tutional. An appeal to the U. S.

Supreme Court failed on a tech-

nicality, without review of the

constitutional question. The laws

scholarly papers on African Co-

lonial Administration, Chinese

Labor Conditions and Social -

Planning. He is married and has

, two small children.

Dr. Friedman fills a position

on the Board previously held by

Rabbi Alvin I. Fine of San Fran-

cisco. Rabbi Fine is spending a

year in Europe and will not re-

turn until next July. The No-

minating Committee expressed a

hope that he would be re-elected

to the Board upon his return to

the country.

Nine Board Members Re-elected

The following nine persons

were re-elected to the Board for

three-year terms: Attorney Phil-

ip Adams of San Francisco; Pro-

fessor James R. Caldwell of UC;

attorney William K. Coblentz of

San. Francisco; Rev. Oscar F.

Green of All Saints Church of

Palo Alto; Dr. Alexander Meikle-

john of Berkeley, former Presi-.

dent of Amherst College; Profes-

sor John Henry Merryman of

Stanford Law School; Rev. Ro-

bert W. Moon of San Leandro

Methodist Church; Helen Salz,

San Francisco artist; and Frank-

lin H. Williams, Regional Direc-

tor and Counsel of the NAACP.

All thirty positions on the Board

have been filled.

The Board of Directors, on the

recommendation of its Nominat-

ing Committee, re-elected the

following officers for the year

beginning November 1: Chair-

man, John Henry Merryman;

Vice-Chairmen, Dr. Alexander

Meiklejohn and Helen Salz; Sec-

retary-Treasurer, William M.

Roth.

Nominating Committee

This year for the first time, the

Nominating Committee was com-

posed of only two members of the

Board of Directors, Fred H.

Smith and Howard A. Fried-

man, and three non-Board mem-

bers, Professor Carlo L. Lastrucci

of San Francisco State College,

John May, Secretary of the San

Francisco Foundation, and Bar-

bara Steiner, San Francisco at-

torney. : :

Lawyers Guild

Removed from -

Subversive List |

On September 12 the U. S. De-

partment of Justice rescinded its

proposed designation of the Na-

tional Lawyers Guild as a sub-

versive organization. The action

was taken following a five-year

legal effort on the part of the

Guild to challenge the listing by

the Attorney General.

The government claimed that

the reason it dropped its charges

against the Guild was because

some of the witnesses it relied

upon were no longer available.

The Guild had denied the Attor-

ney General's charge that it had

been organized under Communist

Party direction and had followed

ee Party policies since

This is the second organization

that has been removed from the

Attorney General's subversive

list within the past few months.

It took the Independent Socialist

League 10 years in which to se-

have been in effect for 79 years. cure its removal from the list.

Radio and TV Coverage of Membership S.F. Cop Demands Removal

Of Nude from Art Show.

Court Hearings Opposed

Continued from Page 2-

the evidence, not by public opinion. It is conceivable that

radio and television coverage and newspaper photographs

could so arouse public opinion that the rendering of an un-

popular verdict would be very difficult. This is not an in-

dictment of the jury's integrity; it is a recognition of the

power of an inflamed public. i

This concern is substantiated by the fact that, on the basis

of present experience, only sensational court trials will be

televised and.photographed. Perhaps when television has

grown even more than it has, it will consider covering more

than the celebrated, emotionally-charged cases which give

the public a distorted picture of the court's work. But regard-

less of what future television conditions will be, conviction

or acquittal should be-decided in the jury room, free from any

outside pressure. The pressure of dramatic TV coverage

might seriously affect the selection of a jury for a second trial

if the first trial resulted in a hung jury or a mistrial.

4. To give the trial judge the discretion to allow or dis-

allow television coverage, as now operates in Colorado, is to

place a responsibility on the judge which he should not be

required to bear. His role is not that of a censor or television

producer, deciding what portion of the trial may be photo-

graphed. His concentration should be on the facts in the trial,

the witnesses, the jury, the counsel. To the degree that his

attention-and_ thinking-is diverted from his judicial func-

tion, a fair trial is endangered. However, this discretion could

lead to political involvements which should never enter the

court's concern. Tremendous mass media pressure could be

exerted on a judge who holds elective office. Newspapers and

radio-tv stations have the power to influence public opinion,

and judges, with an eye on the next election, could have their

judicial decision as to television or photographic coverage

colored by this influence. - ,

5. The right of the press to report news to the public is a

vital civil liberty which the ACLU vigorously defends. In the

case of judicial proceedings, the press has a right and duty

to inform in this area. But the press' right, as other rights, is

not absolute. It can be limited by overriding considerations,

such as the guarantee of a fair trial.

(Editor's Note: The foregoing statement was issued by the Board of

Directors of the national ACLU. It was not submitted to the branches

or the members of the corporation for approval.)

Sunday Bill

Beaten in N.Y.

Legislature

Reverse Denial

Of Vet Pension

To Communist

The New York State Legisla-

ture's lower house recently de-

feated a "home rule" bill that

would have allowed businesses to

remain open on Sundays in New

York City. An absolute two-thirds

majority was needed to pass. the

measure, which was voted down

by 85-61. The vote was marked

by a division along religious

rather than party lines. Jewish

organiaztions had favored the

bill, and Catholic groups had op-

posed it. ie

The bill would have allowed

persons who observed another

day than Sunday to keep their

businesses open that day. It was

approved by the New York City

Council by a vote of 147, on the

recommendation of Mayor Wag-

ner. The mayor . had - promised

support for the bill during his

1957 campaign for re-election.

The vote in the Council was on

straight religious lines, eleven

Jews and three Protestants voting

for the bill. All seven votes

against were cast by Catholics..

- Three ab-

_ stained.

While the bill was pending in

the legislature, twenty-five Jew-

ish organizations formed an Ad

Hoe Committee for a Fair Sab-

Catholic members

bath Law, which issued a state-

ment saying that the present law

for compulsory Sunday observ-

ance is a violation of the principle

"that no person should be penal-

ized by adhering to religious be-

liefs as long as he does not inter-

fere with the rights of others."

The Coordinating Committee of

Catholic Lay Organizations of the

Archdiocese, representing an ag-

gregate membership of 200,000,

opposed the bill. It termed the

measure "not a fair Sabbath law

but rather a no Sabbath law,"

`and said "it would mean the end

of Sunday observance as we know

it." Protestant opinion was di-

vided on the bill.

After the bill was defeated, The

New York Times observed that

the measure was "personally and

politically embarrassing" to the

lawmakers, since it introduced

religious questions into the As-

sembly. The Times predicted that

the bill would not be revived for

several years.

The United States Court of Ap-

peals ruled recently that the gov-

"ernment could not cut off the.

pension of a wounded World War

II veteran because he had been

convicted under the Smith Act of

conspiring to advocate violent

overthrow of the government.

The ruling came in the case of

Saul L. Wellman, a Communist

Party leader.

The appeals court said that a

Smith Act conviction in itself did

not bring a Communist within

the scope of a Congressional

statute ending veterans' benefits

to persons "guilty of mutiny, sa-

botage or rendering assistance to

an enemy of the United States."

In the court's opinion, Judge

John A. Danaher said the Vet-

erans Administration decision to

withdraw the pension "basically

rested upon Wellman's Smith Act

conspiracy conviction," adding

that there had ben no charges of

overt action-by strikes for ex-

ample-to interfere with the

Korean war effort. Judge Dana-

her noted that Congress had

never made conviction under the

Smith Act a ground for cutting

off veterans' benefits.

The Administrator of Veterans'

Affairs and subsequently the

Board of Veteran Appeals origin-

ally had ruled that Wellman no

longer was entitled to receive a

disability pension. They said his

conviction during a Smith Act

trial in 1954 of advocating violent

revolution disqualified him under

a law providing forfeiture of

benefits for anyone guilty of "ren-

dering assistance to an enemy of

the United States or of its allies."

Wellman had helped an enemy,

the Veterans Administration de-

cided, by being a Communist

while the Korean war was in

progress.

The American Civil Liberties

Union, which represented Well-

man because it felt an important

question of equal treatment un-

der law was involved, filed suit

in Federal District Court at

Washington, D.C. There, Judge

F, McGuire dismissed the case on

grounds that his court lacked

jurisdiction.

Goes Over

4000 Mark

Last month, for the first time

in its history, the membership of

the ACLU of Northern Califor-

nia went above the 4000 mark.

The climb from the 3000 to the

4000 mark took exactly six years,

whereas the climb from the 2000

to the 3000 mark took just a few

-.months during the ACLU's first

spring membership drive in 1952.

Seventy-eight per cent of the

supporters of the ACLU of

Northern California reside.in 29

northern California communities.

The top 29 communities are as

follows: oS

San Francisco ..................1012

Berkeley 020. 800

/ Oakland 2 As 200

Palo zAltog se es 186 |

Mill Valley 2.2.0.0. 107

Menlo Park 22) 8): 76

Sacramento 2c... ee. 76

pian Mateo. 222.00. 0. 74

Los Altos =... 43 ote 66

an Rafael: 32 3. 59

San JOSe 2 fs 57

BL Cerbitoe: 62 es 56

Sausalito .......... Wie aos 52

Richmond ........... es 51

AVIS a on 38

SCAN Cond he 36

ELOSNO: 2 ei as 34

Carmel (28305. ee 29

Redwood `City ............ 29

Orinda 2 32 2 ees uh,

Santa Cruz 22 Da

San Anselmo 2 = 25

Walnut Creek .................. 25

IStOCK (ON 26 uh See 24.

Kenthield).22.. 203 23

(Corte Madera ...:.............. 2,

Hillsborough cent................... i

Lafayette _........... Sees 21

Hayward 2. 20

Wife's Return to

Husband Delayed

By Government

After a delay of two months,

the Passport Division of the State

Department last month issued a

passport to an American woman

who had been trying to rejoin her

English husband in London.

Since 1953, the woman had been

residing in England, where she

accompanied her husband when

he was deported from the United

States as a Communist. Last June

she came to Oakland when her

daughter gave birth to a child..

In order to return to the United

States she was granted a passport, -

but it was good only for return

to this country. Eager to be on

hand when her grandchild was

born, she came to the United

States. .

After the grandchild was born,

she applied for renewal of her

passport but declined to answer

the political questions on the ap-

plication form. The same day,

June 16, the U. S. Supreme Court

handed down its decision declar-

ing that the State Department

could not require political infor-

mation in issuing passports. -

Thereafter, despite a number of

inquiries by the ACLU, two

months elapsed before the pass-

port was issued without explana-

tion. The woman has now re-

turned to her husband in England.

S.F. Vag Arrest

To Be Changed

Continued from Page 3-

person picked up on suspicion

_ was held on $1,000 bail-may be

discontinued, Chief Cahill is

quoted as saying. :

Cahill reportedly believes that

the police, before making vag-

yaney arrests, must investigate

thoroughly and write detailed re-

ports, so that the eases will hold

`up in court.

The "roust" is also said to be

on its way out. Under the "roust",

the police sweep through certain

areas, question persons they be-

lieve to be suspicious, and make

arrests on vagrancy charges.

Cahill is also quoted as saying

that although there will be

changes in vagrancy arrest pro-

cedures, "the people of San Fran-

cisco are still going to be given

the best police protection' pos-

sible."

On September 19, San Fran-

cisco . police. demanded that a.

painting titled "Venus" be re-

moved from the windows of the

Designers Gallery, 2070 Union

Street, because it was "porno-

graphic," but on September 25,

as this story is being written, the

picture is still hanging in its place.

Housewife Complains

Officer John H. Monson acted

after reportedly receiving a com-

plaint from a housewife that she

and her neighbors have children

who must pass by the painting on

their way to school and "`the situ-

ation is disgraceful." She is also

quoted as saying that she was

much "disturbed and shocked" by

the painting.

As a matter of fact, the paint-

ing went almost unnoticed from

September 3 until September 19,

during which time the gallery had

30 or 40 pictures of Bruce Conner,

a young artist, on display. The

show is not scheduled to close un-

til October 1.

Artist From Kansas _

Conner, 24, is from Kansas. He

studied at Wichita University,

Kansas City Art Institute, Ne-

braska University and Blyn Mu-

seum Art School. His pictures

have been shown in a number of

art galleries throughout the coun-

try.

' Officer Monson reported that

the picture in question was titled:

"Nude Paiting of a Kneeling

Woman With Her Legs Apart."

He also reported that it left noth-

ing to the imagination. As a mat-

ter of fact, it is plainly titled Z

ACLU Wins

Two `Security -

Risk' Cases

Continued from Page 1-

been active in the affairs of

American Youth for Democracy

from 1943 to 1946 (membership

was not charged) and that he had

had sympathetic association with -

members of subversive organiza-

tions.

It was also charged that he had

allowed his home to be used for

a party for the benefit of the Na-

tional Guardian and that his au-

tomobile had-been parked in the

vicinity of a schoolhouse during a

meeting of the National Guardian

Folk Song Festival, which fea-

tured one Pete Seeger as an en-

tertainer.

Final Charge

The final charge was that he

currently maintained a close con-

tinuing association with his

brother-in-law, who was alleged to

be a Communist, and with two

other persons who were alleged

to be Communists. An extensive

hearing in this case was held be-

fore a hearing board on last June

20 in San Francisco.

In 1950, the employee was dis-

missed from his job at the U. S.

Naval Air Missile Test Center at

Point Mugu as a loyalty risk on

substantially the same charges

- that were heard by the security

board. oe

ACLU NEWS

October, 1958

Page 4

The first right of a citizen

Is the right oe

To be responsible.

"Venus." It is a black and white

oil painting on a large canvas,

and Venus is on her knees in a

shell. The picture actually leaves

a lot to the imagination of per-

sons other than Officer Monson.

If the police continue to give the

picture advertising, the artist

should be able, to find a buyer at

the price of $250, which he is

asking. _

Objects to Other Pictures.

The officer is also quoted as

saying that he checked other pic-

tures in the gallery and "in my

estimation they're all in poor

taste with overtones of pornog-

raphy." :

When Ernie Burden and Perry

Lindahl, proprietors of the gal-

lery, refused to withdraw the pic-

ture, police made periodic visits

to the gallery in an apparent at-

tempt to intimidate them into re-

moving the picture.

To this writer, the picture is a

serious work of art which was

never intended to be obscene. It

it highly doubtful whether it

would arouse erotic thoughts in

any viewer.

ACLU Promises Help

The proprietors of the gallery

and the artist turned to the ACLU

for advice and assistance. The

ACLU said it would defend any-

one who was arrested for exhibit-

ing the picture:

STATEMENT REQUIRED BY THE |

ACT OF AUGUST 24, 1912, AS

AMENDED BY THE ACTS OF

MARCH 3, 1933, AND JULY 2, 1946

(Title 39, United `States Code, Sec-

tion 233) SHOWING THE OWNER-

SHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIR-

CULATION OF `

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UN- -

ION NEWS, published monthly at San -

Francisco, Calif., for October, 1958. (c)

1. The names and addresses of the

publisher, editor, managing editor,

and business managers are:

Publisher: American Civil Liberties

Union of Northern California, 503

Market St., San Francisco.

Editor: Ernest Besig, 503 Market,

St., San Francisco. ;

Managing editor: None.

Business manager: None. '

2. The owner is: (If owned by a

corporation, its name and address

must be stated and also immediately

thereunder the names and addresses

of stockholders owning or holding 1 per

cent or more of total amount of stock.

If not owned by a corporation, the

names and addresses of the individual

owners must be given. If owned by a

partnership or other unincorporated

firm, its name and address, as well as

that of each individual member, must

be given.) American Civil Liberties

Union of Northern California, | 503

Market St., San Francisco 5, Calif,

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ing or holding 1 per cent or more of

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other securities are: (If there are

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4. Paragraphs 2 and 8 include, in

cases where the stockholders or secur-

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the company as trustee or in any

other fiduciary relation, the name of

the person or corporation for whom

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ments in the two paragraphs show the

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to the circumstances and conditions

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shown above was: (This information

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weekly, and triweekly newspapers

only.)

ERNEST BESIG

(Signature of editor)

Sworn to and subscribed before me

this 22nd day of September, 1958.

(SEAL) ANNE P. LEFHOLZ

Notary Public in and for

the City and Courity of

San Francisco, State

` of California.

(My commission expires Aug. 21, 1961)

SPORE

JOIN TODAY

Gin

Se

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Patron Membership: 2.0506... $100

Sustaining Membership .:... 7... 2.2. 7. 50

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

Family. Membership .-.......... Se a ee 2 10

Annual Membership So. 1.. 0... 2S a 5

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oo AMI ENCLOSED. 22 |

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