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University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1965-1967

31858064848116_066

[handwritten]
[n.d. (1965-1970)]

OUR TRADITIONAL LIBERTIES ARE IN ACUTE DANGER 

 We entreat your help in our effort to combat a package of vicious legislation which gravely threatens the freedom and privacy of us all. 
At his recent news conference, President Nixon denied that an era of repression is descending over the United States; yet, a series of crime bills is being sponsored by the White House - bills which pose the most serious challenge to the liberties of the American people since the Alien and Sedition Acts early in the Republic. We urge everyone who reads this to take this challenge seriously, to fight for the preservation of political freedom and for the restoration of sanity and humaneness in the fight against crime. And we urge Mr. Nixon to withdraw support for the portions of these bills which undermine specific constitutional guarantees.

Following is a summary of the bills:

1. S3246 Controlled Dangerous Substances Act of 1969. ( The "Drug control bill"). This bill contains " no-knock" provisions. Police may barge into premises without warning if a judge has been persuaded that such a warning might result in the destruction of evidence. Unreasonable searches and seizures are specifically barred by the Constitution. ( This bill has passed the Senate. Letters urging that the bill be rewritten to delete the no-knock provision should be sent to your Representatives.)

2. S30 ( Passed by the Senate). If passed in the House, this bill provides that :
a) The Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination shall be undermined by forcing reluctant witnesses to testify. This testimony is protected only with respect to its use as evidence ; there is no protection of the witnesses from prosecution as result of findings in the testimony. Although convicted of no crime, a recalcitrant witness could be jailed without bail until he agreed to testify. 
b) The Supreme Court ruling which permits defendants access to material obtained in illegal wiretaps shall be reversed.
c) After a period of five years such illegally obtained evidence could be used in the courts as evidence. 
d) A NEW AND VAGUELY DEFINED CATEGORY OF "DANGEROUS SPECIAL OFFENDERS" SHALL BE CREATED, THIS TO INCLUDE PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN CONVICTED ONCE OF TAKING PART IN A CONSPIRACY. THESE TO BE SUBJECTED TO ARBITRARY SENTENCES OF UP TO THIRTY YEARS. WHERE A JUDGE FAILED TO IMPOSE THE STIFFEST PENALTY THE GOVERNMENT WOULD BE GIVEN TH RIGHT TO APPEAL FOR A HARSHER SENTENCE.
(On May 20th the House Judiciary Committee will begin hearings on this bill. Letters and telegrams should begin flowing into Washington immediately -- to all members of Congress, but to the Judiciary Committee especially. Emanuel Celler, N.Y., Chairman-House Judiciary Comm.)

3. HR14864 The Defense Facilities Security Act. ( Has passed the House and is now under consideration in the Senate.) This bill:
a) Gives the Secretary of Defense broad powers to designate areas of industry and commerce as " Defense" facilities on grounds of some remote future defense use.
b) Gives him equally arbitrary and sweeping authority to deny employment or even access to large areas of commerce and industry including transportation facilities and highways. 
c) Empowers massive investigations by the President of any individual or group, whether or not such a person or group seeks access to classified materials. Presumption: The entire American people is potentially criminal and subversive ( Letters and wires, again, to Senators regarding this bill, expressing your outrage at government paranoia.)

Each of these bills can be applied to , or is clearly directed at. political dissent, not organized crime or crime in the streets. Since each has passed, at least, one chamber, the time to mobilize in defense of our civil liberties is now. We have an excellent opportunity at this time to push this campaign because of the momentum generated by the strike of hundreds of colleges and universities in protest of the war in Asia and repression of dessent at home. 
Among the severest critics of these bills is John Lindsay, " Either out of ignorance or out of calculated political cynicism, our citizens are being told that crime will stop if we erase the Bill of Rights, that unity will come if we suppress dissent, that racial conflict will end if we ignore racial injustice and that protest will cease if we intimidate the people who report it. We have seen all too clearly that there are men - now in power in this country - who do not respect dissent, who cannot cope with turmoil, and who believe that the people of America are ready to support repression as long as it is done with a quiet voice and a business suit. And it is up to us to prove that they are wrong . . . " 
National Committee to 
Preserve the Bill of Right

Saving...

[handwritten] [n.d. (1965-1970)] OUR TRADITIONAL LIBERTIES ARE IN ACUTE DANGER We entreat your help in our effort to combat a package of vicious legislation which gravely threatens the freedom and privacy of us all. At his recent news conference, President Nixon denied that an era of repression is descending over the United States; yet, a series of crime bills is being sponsored by the White House - bills which pose the most serious challenge to the liberties of the American people since the Alien and Sedition Acts early in the Republic. We urge everyone who reads this to take this challenge seriously, to fight for the preservation of political freedom and for the restoration of sanity and humaneness in the fight against crime. And we urge Mr. Nixon to withdraw support for the portions of these bills which undermine specific constitutional guarantees. Following is a summary of the bills: 1. S3246 Controlled Dangerous Substances Act of 1969. ( The "Drug control bill"). This bill contains " no-knock" provisions. Police may barge into premises without warning if a judge has been persuaded that such a warning might result in the destruction of evidence. Unreasonable searches and seizures are specifically barred by the Constitution. ( This bill has passed the Senate. Letters urging that the bill be rewritten to delete the no-knock provision should be sent to your Representatives.) 2. S30 ( Passed by the Senate). If passed in the House, this bill provides that : a) The Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination shall be undermined by forcing reluctant witnesses to testify. This testimony is protected only with respect to its use as evidence ; there is no protection of the witnesses from prosecution as result of findings in the testimony. Although convicted of no crime, a recalcitrant witness could be jailed without bail until he agreed to testify. b) The Supreme Court ruling which permits defendants access to material obtained in illegal wiretaps shall be reversed. c) After a period of five years such illegally obtained evidence could be used in the courts as evidence. d) A NEW AND VAGUELY DEFINED CATEGORY OF "DANGEROUS SPECIAL OFFENDERS" SHALL BE CREATED, THIS TO INCLUDE PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN CONVICTED ONCE OF TAKING PART IN A CONSPIRACY. THESE TO BE SUBJECTED TO ARBITRARY SENTENCES OF UP TO THIRTY YEARS. WHERE A JUDGE FAILED TO IMPOSE THE STIFFEST PENALTY THE GOVERNMENT WOULD BE GIVEN TH RIGHT TO APPEAL FOR A HARSHER SENTENCE. (On May 20th the House Judiciary Committee will begin hearings on this bill. Letters and telegrams should begin flowing into Washington immediately -- to all members of Congress, but to the Judiciary Committee especially. Emanuel Celler, N.Y., Chairman-House Judiciary Comm.) 3. HR14864 The Defense Facilities Security Act. ( Has passed the House and is now under consideration in the Senate.) This bill: a) Gives the Secretary of Defense broad powers to designate areas of industry and commerce as " Defense" facilities on grounds of some remote future defense use. b) Gives him equally arbitrary and sweeping authority to deny employment or even access to large areas of commerce and industry including transportation facilities and highways. c) Empowers massive investigations by the President of any individual or group, whether or not such a person or group seeks access to classified materials. Presumption: The entire American people is potentially criminal and subversive ( Letters and wires, again, to Senators regarding this bill, expressing your outrage at government paranoia.) Each of these bills can be applied to , or is clearly directed at. political dissent, not organized crime or crime in the streets. Since each has passed, at least, one chamber, the time to mobilize in defense of our civil liberties is now. We have an excellent opportunity at this time to push this campaign because of the momentum generated by the strike of hundreds of colleges and universities in protest of the war in Asia and repression of dessent at home. Among the severest critics of these bills is John Lindsay, " Either out of ignorance or out of calculated political cynicism, our citizens are being told that crime will stop if we erase the Bill of Rights, that unity will come if we suppress dissent, that racial conflict will end if we ignore racial injustice and that protest will cease if we intimidate the people who report it. We have seen all too clearly that there are men - now in power in this country - who do not respect dissent, who cannot cope with turmoil, and who believe that the people of America are ready to support repression as long as it is done with a quiet voice and a business suit. And it is up to us to prove that they are wrong . . . " National Committee to Preserve the Bill of Right