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C 0-19 (11-22-55) C . : / DAVID LAWRENCE LAWRENCE | io Tolson Nichols Boardman | Belmont 4 Mason pee obt wed (PR onde Eb ie” ontusion in the Supreme Court Red Victory Seen in 3 Jurists’ Dissent Treating Communists as Political Party f¢ The confusion inside the S Yigurtene cour Court of the United grow with each ‘s decisions, This time thé-Communist Party cin boast of ie Teste Wty, Three of the nine justices have accepted the persistently ex- pressed alibi of the Commu- nists in this country that they _political 4 are “Just apothey party.” The Congress repeatedly has proclaimed by Jaw that the Communist Party is not a political party but a conspiracy ‘which waits for the oppor- ‘tune moment to overthrow the Government of the United States. The three justices of the Supreme Court who have ac- cepted the argument of the Communists that they are just a politica) party are Chief Justice Warren, Justice Douglas and Justice Black, The opinion of the court tn the case held that an employer in California was justified in discharging an employe be- cause of membership in the Communist Party and that it. was covered by the con- tract between the union and the employer. Justices Harlan, Reed, Burton, Clark, Minten and Frankfurter concurred in the ruling of the court. But Justice Douglas, writing a dissenting cpinion in behalf of Chief Justice Warren, Jus- tice Black and himself, said it wasn't a matter of a local con- tract and that the doctrine expounded by the majority ‘yiolates First Amendment guarantees of citizens who are workers in our industrial plants.” Then Justice Dougies writes: “TER Betier iilustrate my difficulty by a hypothetical cast. A union enters into a er ~bargaining agree- oe. a ak eng “ea epee ae ee Yas ~ Te Ty ment with an employer that allows any employe who is a Republican to be discharged for ‘just cause.’ Employers can, of course, hire whom they choose, arranging for an all- Democratic labor force if they desire, — “& union has no such liberty if it operates with the sane fion of ‘the State or the Fed- éral government behind it. It is then the agency by which governmental policy is ex- pressed and may not make dis- criminations that the govern- ment may not make. “But the courts may not be implicated in such a discriml- natory scheme. Once the courts put their imprimatur on such a contract, government, speak- ing through the judicial branch, acts. And it is govern- mental action that the Consti- tution controls. “Certainly neither a Siate nor the Federa) Government could adopt a political test for workers in defense piants or other factories, It is elemen- tary that freedom of political thought is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment against interference by the States, and against Federal regimentation by the First Amendment. “Government may not favor one political group over an- other. Government may not disqualify one political group from employment. And if the courts jend their support to any such discriminatory pro- gram, Shelley vs. Kraemer teaches that the Government has thrown its weight behind an unconstitutional scheme to discriminaté against citizens by reason of their political ideology. That cannbt be done in America, wnlese we forsake our Bil) of Rights.... 5 | 0 “The court today allows be- Nef, not conduct, to be regu- lated.” This means that Bobert tching of the Eypd..for ublic, who thinks the Communist Party is “just an- other political party” and who is spending Ford's millions to advocate -that doctrine in America, has found staunch support in the views of three members of the Supreme Court. It means also that the wwcse same justices reveal an incon- sistency with their refusal last weck to review a case In which two workers had appealed against a court decision com- pelling them to join a union, though it was against their Teligious beliefs as protected under the First Amendment of ealen a the Constitution. Justice Douglas offered in support of his view in the Calliornla case just decided that Chief Justice Hughes in 1937 had ruled that a State couldn't punish Communists for holding a public meeting. But that was long before the true meaning of the Commu- nist consplracy was exposed, as it has been in the last 10 years, and safeguards writ- ten into law by Congress. Justice Douglas says a de- fense plant may need to pro- . tect itself against sabotage but that the worker wasn't gullty of any acts of sabotage. This means that the doctrine of prevention {is being dis- carded, and, if the argument ds fully accepted, the Congress and the States must wait till bombs are thrown and. com- Plicity of an individual is actually proved before pre- cautions can be taken against the hiring of agents of the Communist espionage and sab- olage apparatus. It’s fall just ae “political ideology” Jus- tices Warren, Doug and Black. (Reproduction “Rignts Reuervad) Cea A EM REE Rata operas” INDEXED-M 5 Q-7 — eee NOT RECO, CED M7 Jun 1c 1956 nh —___ Rosen Tamm Nease Winterrowd Tele. Room Holloman Gandy Wash. Post and Times Herald Wash. News Wash, Star _A-3l N.Y. Herald Tribune N. Y. Mirror N.Y. 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