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| CAMERIGAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, 170 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 12°"! Board of Directors oO General Counsel. :-- : IB iss Gandy. oRegon 5-5990 Alon Reltman, Publle mi Weekly Bulletin #1700 — ~ a Ls OHTO ACLU OPPOSES MO/TE PRE-CEW.ORSHIP BILLS 12"): { The Ohio Civil Liberties Union nas lation including precensorship of movies, strongly opposed proposed censorship leg =. YS : te atk ye ORME Morton Icove, Chairman of the OCLU Censorship Committee, and Rev. Jesse Cavileer,:. Cleveland Unitarian minister and O-LU member, presented the ACLU views to a State | : House Judiciary Subcommittee, Citing the Supreme Court!s decision in "The Miracle case, that movies are a means of Communication and entitled to the protection of th First Amendment, Icove maintained that any form of prior censorship of movies is un constitutional, He also pointed out that the proposed bills are not constitutional. because the standards for. censorship-are -vague—and~subj ective-in-nature “1 rcove said he would like to have tha Ohio Attorney General give a ruling now on: the Constitutionality of the proposed laws, He also emphasized that political, social and personal prejudices influence censors, and stated that present Ohio penal statutes can quickly be invoked to control obscene filns, . Cos Tos H r 4 en F. the CCLU also opposed a bill. 7 es "beyond legal limits," by. as "dissolute, "disgust ing ," In addition to three bills on movie precensorship, extending the present obscenity law, Claiming that it go giving such vague definitions of "depraved and immoral" etc, . chainnan of the OHIO CLU, was: A letter protesting the bills, from Oscar Steiner, placed in the record, Steiner claimed that the bills are infringements on freedom. |: 5. of expression and right of free choice, adding that movies are subject to the same standards regarding obscenity as any other t'orm of expression and there are state © lawe providing for criminal prosecution of offenders, Noting that a vast number of 7 films, as well as books, plays, paintings, etc., are objectionable according to the standards of some people and vorks of art when judged by others, Steiner claimed that positive determination is virtually impossible without religious, racial and political prejudices and personal predilections, SO an fteiner also protested the lack of uniform operation of state censorship of movies, because uncensored films are shown on television, Both Steiner and Icove. claimed there is no proof that certain movies stimulate crime and juvenile delinjueny,; Icove suggested that a study be undertaken by a House committee or by qualified faculty: members of Ohio State University into the subject of juvenile delinquency and related Problems such as the effect of movies » comic books, newspapers and magazines, “:. - "The power to censor," Mra Icove concluded, “is the power to regiment, the powe to control thought and to substitute statism fora govemment of freemen under law “le feel that mankind's greatest hope lies in keeping open the channel tion of ideas,n~.- Sa at Cn tenet coe eg e Despite the ACLU protest, the subcomnittee reported a censorship bill which ha oeen approved by the fnl1 House Judiciary Committee, However, the proposal is ex: pected to meet stiff Opposition. In addition to ACLU, movie columnists in the state and theatre exhibitors are aroused by the new censorship driveg=~8s url °° ae The campaign to enact a new law was undertaken after Ohio Courts invalida ed-: the long-standing state censorship law on grounds of vagueness, and received impetu because of public concern over juvenile delinquency and the-alleged (relationship ae between this evil and filns, ~ Sas : ; “ "A REGULAR WEEKLY SF-VICE. FURTHER INFORMATION FURNISHED ON REQUEST. nas fe MS