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Weakly Bullatin 716 - “Ze —s_—s ACLU ANSWERS POSTHASTER GENE! # 2, Be sera mur oN crNsositer In a letter to Postmaster General Arthur Ej Summerfield, the ACLU has repli 3 the lstter's charge thet certain organizations "produce an almost inevitable ery, of -'censurship! «5 and confuse license with liberty" when the post of fice ip "4 obscene material from.the mailss oo Se: aS EP rp sh st ‘The letter, signed by executive director Patrick Murphy Malin and Elmer Rice}: “3 chairman of the Union's National Council on Freedom from Censorship, defends the ~*~ - ACLU's right to “inform the putlic of the threat to freedom that ... censorship rep=-. resents," and reaffirms the ACLU 's oppositicn to any: goverrment’ action that’ would}: weaken the freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment » a ee 4 Payee, _ At the same time it makes clear that the ACLU's efforts have not embraced dese ‘fense of obscenity. It says, “On nwzarous occasions we have asserted the right of; 4. the community to protect itself from such material by criminal prosecutions under obq seenity laws." Asserting that it cses not confuse license with liberty, the ACLU. states that where a clear and present danger exists from the- publication of written er spoken material and there is no time for counter-argument or other means available - to handle the danger the ACLU does not oppose curb on such expressions“. - | ie wo: However, the ACLU criticized the Post Office Department's use of pre-censorship,; "The power of goverrment to deal with obscene material should not be confused with:: the power to determine arbitrarily what reading material shall reach the American; _. People ~ the power of pre-censurship where the safeguards of a jury trial are 'com- ": pletely lacking," it asserts?) 0 we PRs Ran tha thoes aa 1 ae an be, The letter reminds the Postmaster General that the ACLU's opposition to Post™. Office censorship is based, "on a long history of dispute with the department over ‘7 its power to decide what “reading material the American people should be allowed to “read. We express our concern about cencorship because that is precisely what the Departmert, has done in a number of cases where the charge of obscenity was raised,’ It cites the ban on the mailing of Es:juire Magazine, reversed by the U.S e Supreme; Court, and the Department's recent fiasco involving the Greek classic Lysistrata to prove the importance of vigilance over the Post Office's activities. ._- “We believe that the faith that the Constitution expresses in the good sense of% the people to accept or reject material on the basis of their individual choice, con= tained in the prohibition against denial of free speech in ths First Amendment, needs reaffirmation when a goverrment department violates that anendment 2" the ACLU remrke BIBLE CLASS DISFUTE ARISSS Iii VERMOID - os The question of Bible classes in certain public schools in Vermont is now dispute, Paul Blanshard, writer on religious problems and a resident of Vermont, protested to state authorities against continuation of the classes, Classes are” ducted under auspiceg of New England Fellowship of Evangelicals in Boston which says that the instruction is "non~sectarian, non-compulsory, moral and religious." Th dispute is unresolved, : eo tty wo totes Pan ° . : & « ~ x a It has drawn comment from Dr. Frank He Yost of Takoma Park, Maryland, a leading clergyman in the Seventh. Day Adventist Church, who says: "It must be insisted upon, that children from homes of diverse faiths, or no faith, be protected from having. to zisten, in a public school, attendance upon which is compulsory, to religious..-. Seachirg to which they do not subscribes - It must be insisted upon also that th machinery of the public school, paid for from public tax money, removed by. law. fro; . the pockets of citizens of every faith and no faith, shall not be used to propagate “ary one reiigion, however popular locally; several religions; or any composite _. religion, set up for a given purpose by -a group‘of citizens i ;2 given locali V9 8 program for teaching religion to public school children’. 2 er ow. ca tte ee : awe “Dr. Yost adds: ““NKow, in the midst of this controversy,’ 4s‘an excellen oppor tunity for the clergy of the Unitéd States to rise up as a body and says’ 'Religio is the concern of us ‘and of the parents we shepherd, Leave it to us." pe cee . oa. Ses. 2. . GIvin LIBERTIES BRIEFS: _ wat : _ For the first time in history, Negro bus’and trolley car operators will been - | ployed by the District of Columbia's Capitol Transport Company, The move was for. ‘many years bitterly opposed by both the company and the uniono..A proposed pac W would eliminate discriminatory hirirg practices in New. York's brewing industry ha failed to be ratified for lack of a unanimous vote of employers and ‘unions ‘invol ran All employers and four of five unions agreed to the pact, ,- Lone holdout was Loc ‘. 1345, Teamsters Union,. he “phony luxury" of job discrimination now costs the _. 30 billions of dollars a year, according to Elmo Roper, nationally~know public * opinion analyst. mo re ee - we ee OTe