◆ SpookStack

ee In the atmosphere exisling in this country today, the charge that someone is a Communist is so common that hardly anyr one active in public life escapes it. Every member of this court has, on one occasion or another, been so designated. And a vast restority of the members of the ether two branches of Govern- ment have fared no better. Jf the mere fact that some- one has been called a Communist is to be permitted to satisfy a requirement of prebable cause, T think if plain that such a re- quirement is wholly without “value. To impose it would only give apparent respectability to a practice which is inherently in conflich with our concepts of Justice and due process, The other such “protection” aforded to critics of the un- American Activities Cornmittee under these decisions is inclided in the majerit’s so-called brt- vncing test. Under that test, we ore fald, this court will per- metoonly these abridgements af personal Leiefs and associations by committee ineuiry that the court believes so important in ferms of the need of the com- mittee for information that such neertoanitweighs the First Amens- Trent vighds af the witoes. and thre atiblic. For my part, To need look no further than this very case to see how little protection this high-sounding slogan re:lly. af- fords. For in this case the majority is holding that the in- terest of the committee in the information sought outweighs that of the witness and the pub- lic in free discussion while, at the same fime, it disclaims any power to determine whether the committee is in fact interested in the information at all. The truth of the matter is that the balancing test, at least, as applied to date, means that the committee may engage in any inquiry a majority of this court happens to think could pussibly be fer a legitimate purpose whether that “purpose” be the true reason for the inquiry or not. This, in my view, the conclu- sion is inescapable that the only real limitation upgn the committee’s power to huruss its opponents is the cuomnnittee's own self-restraint, a charac p-r- istic which probably i:us not been predominant in the com- mitice’s werk over the pst few years, The result of all this is that fram now on anyone who takes a public position contrary to that being urged by thc House rn-American Activities Com- mittee should realize that he runs the Tivo | being sub- poenaed to appear“at a hearing in some far-off place, of being questioned with regard to every minute detail of his past life, of being asked to repeat all the gossip he may have heard about any of his friends and acquaint- ances, of being accused by the committee of membership in the Communist party, of being held up to the public as a subversive and a traitor, of being jailed for contempt if he refuses to co- operate with the committee in its probe of his mind and as- sociations, and of being branded by his neighbors, employer and erstwhile friends as a menace to society regardless of the out- come of that hearing. With such a powerful weap- on in its hands, it seems quite likely that the committee. will weather all criticism, even though justifiable, that may be directed toward it. For there are not many people in our so- elety who will have the courage fo speak out against such a formidable oppenent. If the present trend = con- tinues, this already small num- ber will necessarily dwindle as their ranks are thinned by the jails. Government by consent will disappear to be replaced by government by intimidation be- cause some people are afraid that this country cannot survive unless Congress has the power fo set aside the freedom of the First Amendment at will. Il can only reiterate my firm conviction that these people are tragically wrong, This country was not built by men who were afraid and it cannot be pre- served by such men, Our Con- stitution, in unequivocal terms, gives the right te euch of us to say what we think without fear of the power of the Govern- rent. That principle has served us so well for so long that TI cannot believe if necessary to allow any governmental group to reject it in order to preserve its own existence. Least of all do 7 believe that such a privi- lepe should) be accorded the House Un-American Activities Committee,