I Boo016 How' Goes the BILL of RIGHTS?
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I boo016 HoW' Goes the BILL of RIGHTS? ET&IlNAL VIGILANCE IS TWE: IlRICE 01= ......... LI BERTV FLORiDA ATLANTIC U«WERSlf( LIBRARY The Storg 01 the Fight lor Civil Libertg~ 1935-36 SOCIALIST· LABOR COLLECTION American Civil Liberties Union 31 Union Sq. West New York City ~181 /une1936 CONTENTS PAGE Civil Liberties in the Bill of Rights 3 Review of the Year, to June, 1936 ;................... 5 Record for the Year 12 Courts 12 Laws ~ 13 . Labor's -Rights 18 Sedition 21 Political Prisoners 22 Unemployed 25 Assemblage 27 Aliens 28 Mob 'Violence and Lynching 29 Negroes' Rights 31 Censorship 33 Search and Seizure 36 Freedom in Schools and Colleges 38 Professional Patriots 42 American Indians 42 Colonies 43 Program of Activities 45 Local Committees 47 ~r~~~!~ati.. ·:::·.·.·.·.·.·.:::·.:·.:·.·.·.·.·.·.·.:·.· ::::..:: ..:..:: ::: :..::..:..::..: :: ..::::: :..:..::::::::::..::: :..:.. :::::..:::: ..:::..:..:..:..:::: :~ Erie County (Buffalo, N. Y.) 50 Iowa 51 Maryland 51 Massachusetts 52 New Jersey 53 New York City 55 Northern California 65 Portland (Ore.) 68 St. Louis :................................................................................................................... 68 Seattle 69 Southern California 71 Organization 75 Finances 77 Publications 79 Treasurer's Report 83 Officers of National and Local Committees and State Chairmen 91 Committees of the Union; Defense Agencies 95 Civil Liberties in the Bill of Rights These are the sections of the Bill of Rights of the federal consti tution which constitute the basis of civil liberty: ARTICLE I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of re ligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; of the right of the people peace ably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ARTICLE IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. ARTICLE V. No person shall be held to answer for'a capital or other infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life and limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or prop erty, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation. ARTICLE VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which districts shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have c0mpulsory process of obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel in his defense. [ 3 J How GOES THE BILL OF RIGHTS? ARTICLE VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. ARTICLE XIV. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. .No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. [4J Review of the Year (To June, 1936) THE attack by reactionaries and employers upon the rights of labor and of radical movements has continued without let-up, though the sum total of serious cases of interference dropped sharply from last year. That year, 1934-35, recorded a greater variety and number of serious violations of civil liberties than any year since the war. While active suppression has been less, intimidation of working-class and radical movements is unabated. The greatest single attack upon American liberties is the resort to force and vio lence by employers, vigilantes, mobs, troops, private gunmen and compliant sheriffs and police. These bulk·far larger and more serious than restrictions by law. The atmosphere created by the hysterical attacks of extreme re action, led by the Hearst press, on all progressive and liberal move ments as "agents of Moscow," makes headway for labor and radical movements more difficult. Despite the absurdity of the reactionary barrage against all reform measures, from those of the New Deal to the child labor amendment, as Communist manoeuvres, the red scare still works. A counter-move against these attacks resulted in the passage by the Senate of a resolution introduced by Senator LaFollette for a sweeping country-wide investigation of violations of civil liberties and collective bargaining, the first such congressional investigation in American history, which for the first time will put the reaction aries on the defensive. Increased resistance to repression of labor's rights has marked the year, particularly evident in the independent movement within the A. F. of 1. to create industrial unions in mass production industries, and in the growth of independent political action based upon work ing-class and farmer interests. All but a few phases of the struggle for civil liberty during the year, as the following pages reveal, show improvement. No further restrictive higher court decisions were handed down. A few were even encouraging. No new repressive legislation was passed by [ 5 ] How GOES THE BILL OF RIGHTS? Congress. In the states, the few restrictive laws passed affected teaching-a teacher's loyalty law and a flag-salute law in Massa chusetts, and in New York a state-wide investigation of alleged radicalism in the schools. No new prosecutions for opinion under the sedition or criminal syndicalism laws were instituted, and the number of so-called politi cal prisoners declined. Organization of the unemployed proceeded with less interference, with few such clashes between police and demonstrators as marked previous years of the depression. Mob and vigilante violence dropped sharply from the previous year, though lynchings almost doubled. Public censorship of plays, mo tion pictures, books and periodicals remained unchanged, and on the whole showed a slight tendency for the better. Though strikes were fewer among industrial workers and prac tically non-existent among organized farmers, repression marked almost every conflict. Troops were called out in 19 instances to police strikes. This, with the record of 24 instances in 1934, is the longest in many years. It illustrates the determination of em ployers and their agents to break strikes, by armed force if neces sary, now that labor injunctions are more difficult to get. Thirty strikers were killed in conflicts with police and armed guards in 1935, and six more up to June 1, 1936-eontinuing the long record of fatal violence against those struggling for collective bargaining. Despite the better record in major cases, hundreds of petty arrests took place as usual in strikes, demonstrations and radical political activities. The International Labor Defense reports almost 18,000 listed cases of such arrests in 1935 alone. Although the semi-Fascist shirt organizations which flourished a few years ago, are practically extinct, the secret organization of the Ku Klux Klan in the south and on the West 'Coast, and the startling exposure of the Black Legion in Michigan and neighboring states, indicate a widespread tendency to terrorism, directed particularly against radicals and minority religious and racial groups. The one field in which the record of the year was distinctly worse was that covering freedom in the schools and colleges-not so much in terms of actual cases, as of pressure. The reactionary propaganda of the Hearst press and of the professional patriotic organizations created an atmosphere in which loyalty oath bills and [6] How G,OES THE BILL OF RIGHTS? compulsory flag saluting supported the demands for patriotic con formity, and indirectly intimidated thousands of teachers. Al though opposition was strong among teachers' organizations, school officials and the press, all movements for the repeal of restrictive laws failed. The schools and colleges are plainly on the defensive against "patriotic" attack, despite an almost total lack of evidence to justify the suspicions and charges. T HE federal government, outside the enforcement of parsh de- portation laws, played a very slight role in repression. The only serious charge to be brought against any federal department in volved Army and Navy pressure on Congress for sedition bills and their propaganda against civilian pacifist and radical movements. Protests were made to the President against such improper attacks by military authorities on civilians. A War Department manual, which was quite too frank in advising the use of military force against strikers and demonstrators, was officially withdrawn after much protest. The federal relief administration encouraged organization and collective bargaining both by relief workers and the unemployed. Harry Hopkins, WPA administrator, issued a specific order up holding those rights. The National Labor Relations Board, while not yet functioning freely because of court attacks on its authority, has worked to encourage labor's rights all over the country. The censorship over the mails by the Post Office Department did not record the exclusion of any political publication, nor any serious book or periodical on the ground of obscenity. While deportation of aliens for mere political opinions continues under the stringent statutes, the Department of Labor has endeavored to soften the law's severity.