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ACLU ANSWERS POSTHASTER GENE! ~~ Ina letter to Postmaster General Arthur E, Sumerfield, : the 1stter's charge thet certain organizations "produce an almost inevitable cry. ‘censurship! «> and confuse license with liberty" when the post of. obscene material from the mails. |. The letter, signed by executive director Patrick Murphy Malin and Elmer Rice}: chairman of the Union's Wationa” Council on Freedom from Censorship, defends the - > ACW's right to "inform the putlic of the threat to freedom that ... censorship ‘Tep= resents," and reaffirms the ACLU's uppositicn to any. goverment’ action that’ would)” :: weaken the freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. , it the samo time it makes clear that the ACLU's efforts have not eiibraced des: & “fense of obscenity, . It says, "On nwierous occasions we have asserted the right of; the community to protect itself from such material by criminal prosecutions under b=, scenity laws." Asserting that it c:es not confuse license with liberty, the ACIU.,: states that where a clear and present danger exists from the publication of written er spoken material and there is no time for counter~argument or other means available. to handle the danger the ACLU does not oppose curb on such expression,’ “ However, the ACWW criticized the Post Office Departient's use of pre-censorship, “ "The power of goverrment to deal with obscene material should not be confused with the power to determine arvitrarily what reading material shall reach the American: e .. People + the power of pre-censurship where the safeguards of a jury trial are ‘cor “": pletely lacking," it asserts. 7: 2. ret : The letter reminds the Postmast Office censorship is based, its power to decide what reading material the American people should be allowed read. We express our concern about cencorship because that is precisely what the Department has done in a number of cases where the charge of obscenity was raiseds' It cites the ban on the mailing of uire Magazine, reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Department's recent fiasco involving the Greek classic lysistrata Prove the importance of vigilance over the Post Office's activities. . ° “We believe that the faith that the Constitution expresses in the good sense the people to accept or reject material on the basis of their individual choice, ‘cons: taired in the prohibition agairst denial of free speech in tho First Amencment, needs reaffirmation when a goverrment department violates that amendzent p!' the ACLU reat BIBLE CLASS DISPUTE ARISZS Iii VERNOWT -” . The question of Bible classes in certain public schools in Vermont is now in dispute, Paul Blanshard, writer on religious problems and a resident of Vermont,’ | protested to state authorities against continuation of the classes. Classes are ‘co! ducted under auspices of New England Fellowship of Evangelicals in Boston which that the instruction is "non-sectarian, non-compulsory, moral and religious." 1 dispute is unresolved. 9. Pore — B! It has drawn comment from Dro Frank He Yost of Takoma Park, Maryland, a leading’ clergyman in the Seventh. Day Adventist Church, who says: "It must be insisted upon, that children from homes of diverse faiths, or no faith, be protected from having: to. listen, in a public school, attendance upon which is compulsory, to religious. teachirg to which they do not subscribes It mist be insisted upon also that the- machinery of the public school, paid for. from public tax money, removed by law. f: the pockets of citizens of every faith and no faith,” shall not be used to propaga’ | ary one religion, however popular locally; several religions; or ary composit reiigion,, set up for a given purpose by-a group'of citizens in.a given & program for teaching religion to public sch x “Dr. Yost adds: ’ "Ibv, in the midst of this controver tunity for the clergy of the United St: is the concern of us and of th For the first time in history, Negro ‘trolley car operators will \ ployed by the District of Columbia's Capitol Transport Company o r 3 fox ‘many years bitterly opposed by both the compary and the unione..A proposed pact’ would eliminate discriminatory hiring Practices in New. York's brewing industry. oyers and four of five unions agreed to the pact. LS, Teamsters Union,. The "phony luxury" of job discrimination now costs the 30 billions of dollars a year, according to Elmo Roper, nationally~know public opinion analyst. mo 7 oa