◆ SpookStack

0-19 (Rev. ¢-7-56} . ” — ee ai Court Made we cee 2 y Merlo I. ror ipa tor, The Washington nl 1H upreme Court’ xs finishing its term on the crest 6 the greatest floodtide of civil rights. decisions in Its history. In recerit weeks it has hit one major chord of freedom after another, .So broad has been the sweep of its ‘opinions in this sphere that the Court “ds opice niore’a topic of gnimated. discus- sion in living rooms, on street corners } : and in the halls of Congress. « i 4 . The court has not aroused’ sa much , interest in its deliberations since t ’ found many ofthe hastily deyised .te- covery measures of the New Déal to be _ unconstitutional in the mid-thirties. To some, any analogy between what the Court did then and what it has done in ‘recent months may seem far-fetched, But one has only to listen to the angry ‘outbursts in the Sepate to realize the | Mmilarity of the reactions, . * a \ | The Judicial Conscience” F course there ‘are profound con: trasts between the upsetting of the New Deat antidepresston measures and 1. the restraints now laid upon: Congress ; and the Executive Branch, The net effect fof the Cpurt’s action in the, middie a hd . , thirties was to handicap the ‘Govern... . ar “Some Have Pinched _— ad * ment tm its use of regulatory, power in. the economic sphere, The current TH ; atraints are Iaid in large measure on fact that both in 1935-8 and in- 1937 the Court broadly interfered with the exer. Ise of governmental p on for she ’ ie th either Aree mn Se A + at ; i is nat, to be supe law-enforcement and investigating agen- _ ‘eles. This does not, however, alter the, ,of our freedoms, ‘Some “appear to have por re — ot ‘Since. 1930s Has 1 t ee, , i 7 - > oo. - instance the Court deliberately adopted | ‘an offensive against executive and ¢o gressional policies. The Court does n work that way. Rather, it renders jud ment in isolated cases submitted to by private individuals as well as by the Government. Its conclusions reflect no | gtudied campaign bit only the impact of the judicial conscience.on the maler legal controversies of the day. : ‘Because of | this piecemeal approach,” the sweep of the Court's decisions in re ‘cent months is especially‘ noteworthy, It has acted to curb the excesses of congressional investigators; to assure Artal-by jury to civilians who aécompany © our atmed forces abroad; to right the consequences of unfair administrative "procedures ‘in loyalty cases: té invali- date, the use’ of confessions exacted — through prolonged questioning of ar- Tested persons before they are arraigned or informed of their rights; to upset the conviction of Communists under a loose -, + Interpretation of the Smith Act; to ‘re- quire the disclosure of, certain FBI re- ports deemed essential to a proper de-.. fense of accused persons; ‘to outlaw seg- regated Beating in city buses; to compel the Issuance of a Heense te practice law AO ® former Communist, and to strike down excessive censorship in Detroit. © - ae aa TIS TRUE that not a of the recent” civil rights decisions add to the ‘total j pinched Mberty ih’ touchy Places, nota: bly the - obscenity decisions. But. the, record in geteral constitutes an {mpore" tant new chapter in the history of Amert-? ? can congtitutional Fights, Be gms e ade Sc Trotter Tele. Room Holloman Gandy Wash, Post and Times Herald Wash, News Wash, Star N. Y. Herald —WW Tribune N. Y. Journal- American N.Y. Mirror N. Y. Daily News —W_ N. Y. Times Daily Worker The Worker New Leader Date SUN 30 WSF 130 195: Neose ——__._