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Witnesses’ Decisions Notable “-3°¢"*" Civil Liberties Gained © By BANNING E. WHITINGTON 2 A ei et Ao aged, The Supreme Gout, in ita just-concluded 1942-48 term, rein- | forced constitutional safeguards against Government: encroach- | ment on civil] rights and liberties of individuals, - . | | _ This trend was most notable in a series of decisions outlawing nx a | Mr. Mumford ........ Mr. Starke ._........ Mr. Quinn Tamm... Mr. Neage............ _ local ordinances restricting the activities of members of the | Jehovah’s Witnesses religious sect. It also was seen in the ruling rejecting. the Government's contention that membership in the Commun, t Pa is grounds for revoking Citizenship of natural- ized American - , ‘Even in the Monday decision uphold- ing the power of the military to tm- pose curfew orders on West Coast citi- iN gens of Japanese ancestry, Chief Jus- Se eee cause he belonged to the party when he was granted citizenship in 1927, Schneiderman necessarily held a mental reservation in swearing allegiance to tice Harl J e speaking the United States and his oath there- unanimoun cour warned that mnisuse fore was fraudulent. The court heid | of emergency power must be guarded largeiy to the views of Wendell Willkle. against most carefully. He also de-| Who twice appeared before the tribunal | ‘. clared that any war-time restrictions to argue that Communist affiliatlon did \ _ imposed on citizens must be eliminated not bar Schneiderman from citizenship, immediately on conclusion of the| _ The only Federal statute held tnvalid . during the term outlawed_a section of i J] emergency. pi : the Federal firearms act which pro- i MOST NOTABLE OF SERIES hibited any person previously found iF or In what was probably the most not-[BUity of committing # ~érime “from sable of its series of Jehovah's Witnesses dictum of three years ago which held; was deemed proof ef guilt in_ re, that children of members of the sect | c&¥@3under the statute. The y could be expelled from public schools | helt thts Tanguage (do .broad_ to yn #. | for refusing to‘salute the American] valid. , : - i flag, even tho their religious tenets ford’ — bade such worship. . - { The court two weeks ago held th the Constitution guaranteed persor full freedom of religious thought, and that if their beliefs did not permit them to salute the flag no Government agency could compel them to do 59. Three justices who voted with the 1940 majority a@witched their positions and teas voted to overrule the old dictum. -- — . . In other cases, the court outlawed ordinances which required members of the sect to purchase Hcenses before they could distribute their religious tracts and literature and otherwise restricted their freedom in disseminating their ’ religious beliefs. SET ASIDE RULES _ The Oommunist ruling came when the court set aside lower court rulings | providing for denaturalization of Rus- sian-born William Schneiderman, ad- mitted Communist party leader fn Cali: | fornta. “Sha_Goyernment contended=theet—tean-| a" o'7 JUL sok Washi pe gtins Daily Neus - 23-*3 ‘