◆ SpookStack

‘AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNI 170 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 10, NY. ION, ROGER N. BALDWIN ERNEST ANGELL ARTHUR GARFIELD HAYS PATRICK MURPHY MALIN Chmn, No! Comm, Chma, B'd of Directors MORRIS L. ERNST. . Counsel ORegen 55990. : “plan Rettman, Pabile Reletlons bi _ Weekly Bulletin 1563. . March 2,°1953'? “ACLU ASKS PROBE OF POLICE BRUTALITY PACT IN NEW YORK CITY et Justice Dept, and the New York City police whereby the FBI would observe a han ff policy when charges of brutality against New York policemen were raised, 2. According to the New York World~Telegram and Sun, which disclosed the allegea agreement, investigation of such cases was to have been undertaken by_ the city police | ACLU has asked for an investigation into the alleged secret pact between the! | themselves. The paper charged that the arrangement had been made by Police Commis. sioner George Menaghan and the former chief of the Justice Department's criminal division, James P. McInerney, When it was made known to former Attorney General |James_P._McGrannery_in_January,-said-the-newspaper,-the-agreement-was-abrogate In a letter to Attorney General Herbert Brownell, ACLU's executive director,*~ Patrick Murphy Nalin, said: "We, of course, have no way of mowing of the accurai of these reports, but the source is so well respected that it seems to us that th charge should immediately be investigated.,...We urge that you ask the grand jury-7¢* soon to probe the brutality charge against the New York police, to investigate als whether or not this agreement was in fact entered into and if so, whether it was‘ai’ violation of federal law," Malin's statement, joined in by the New York Civil Libertics Union, continue "The World-Telcgram and Sun's disclosure only highlights what is a growing civil: % libertics problem in our city - police brutality. In 1950 the NYCLU investigate 40 different complaints; this total was doubled in 1951; the past year has seen nu. marked reduction in the numbcr of cases coming to our attention, It is difficult jbo, obtain data relating to pending civil damage actions against the city resulting’ from: police brutality, false arrest, or other abuses of police authority; but a conserva=. tive estimate is that they amount to more than $3,000,000,"" oof. a * / ACLU is only one of many civil groups that has demanded an investigation of: leged pact, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is other organization secking a federal investigation. . - Meanwhile, a federal grand jury in New York has beon reviewing brutality” against New York police, . - . welt a ACLU IN CHICAGO PRESSES FIGHT AGAINST "THE MIRACLE" BAN’ ACLU has now gone into Cook County circuit court. to get clearance for shoi in Chicago of the motion picture "The Miracle't . sect a .. In @ suit filed against tayor Martin Hd. Kennelly and’ Timothy’ J. O'Connor, acting commissioner. of police, the Chicago division of ACLU asked the court to dociarc unconstitutional the censorship provisions of the city's municipal code, The Uniony% together with Charles Liebman, had asked for a permit to show the film, but wero : turned down by Commissioner O'Connor, A later appeal was rejected by Mayor Kenno: ACLU contends that parts of tho municipal code violate both the state constitu tion and the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.3. Constitution. The cede: make: it unlawful to show any movie without a permit. And it says it is the duty of the; police commissioner to refuse a permit for any picture that is "immoral or ob: CCI aye portrays depravity, criminclity, or lack of virtue of a class of citizens....,and ° exposes them to contempt or tends to produce a breach of the pea : This, ACLU maintains, is contrary to tho law of the 1 nance doprives people of the freedom of speech and of the press constitutional provisions, font a = hy 2 a GOLA WHEKLY SERviesg:,405 DaMATion ruahisHes