The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-08-10
WICKERSHAM
PROBE BARES
!: JAIL HORRORS
iTortureS of Third Degree
by u. S. Police ASSaiIed
by Commission.
SIDESTEP MOONEY CASE
Report TO Hoover Called
! laWIeSSnesS in Law
Enforcement
BY PAUL r. MALLON
United Press STAFF Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10-The
Wickersham commission today, in
reporting widespread use Of the
third degree, cited especially ten
cities in what it called the naked
ugly facts" Of police brutalities and
unfair prosecutions.
1t called its report to President
Hoover, lawlessness in law enforce
ment."
1t sidestepped the Mooney Bill
ings case, which in a previous re-
port it had called shocking to ones
sense of justice" The ten cities in
which 1t said police third degree
methods were employed were: New
York, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland,
Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Seattle, Newark and Detroit.
Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati
and Ell Paso we're absolved of criti-
cism on such counts and no conclu-
sion was announced on Dallas, Tex.
Hits at Prosecutors
The zeal Of politically ambitious
prosecutors has resulted in "a de-
plorable prostration Of the processes
OF justice" the commission said.
A thorough revision of American
criminal procedure was recommend
ed. States and congress were urged
to act at once. Eleven suggested
corrections were submitted to Mr.
Hoover by the commission. Public
opinion is appealed to as the pri-
mary means of bringing unfair
prosecutors and police Ito time"
Magistrates should be authorized
to examine prisoners instead of
leaving them at the mercy of po-
hcemen's fists and night sticks, the
commission suggested.
The Billings case was
passed over with the explanation
that the commission could not sit
in Judgment on California courts.
Torture Methods Cited
Medical methods Of mentally or
physically torturing prisoners until
they confess to get relief were cited
by the, commission; necktieS were
pulled about the Threats of prison.
ers; they are beaten with fists, rub
Der hose and telephone books: wa
ter was poured in the nose to stran-
gle one: Negroes in Texas were
logged with the cat o. nine tails;
unprintable abuses of men are COM
mon.
Investigation also was made OF
log cases in the appellate courts in
which third degree methods were
charged between 1920 and 1880.
From these cases the commission
concluded the practice was wide
spread in small towns.
1t pointed out that Is OF 106
guilty verdicts were reversed by the
appellate courts because of use OF
the third degree.
Threats and methods of intini-
dalton are used frequently" the
commission stated. Physical bru-
tally, illegal detention and refusal
to allow access of counsel is COM
mon.
Brutality Is Charged
Brutality and violence in making
an arrest also are employed at
times before a prisoner reaches Jail
in order to put him in a frame of
mind which makes him more amen
able to questioning afterward.
THE third degree brutalizeS the
police, hardens the prisoner against
society and lowers the esteem in
which the administration of justice
is held by society"
THE commission has been urged
from many sources" the report said,
defending its failure to act in the
Mooney Billings case, ito consider
and make report with respect to
a controversy which has ragged for
some time past as to the trial and
conviction for murder of Thomas j.
Mooney and Warren K. Billings in
the courts of the state of California
(for alleged connection with the San
Francisco Preparedness day bomb
outrages).
''It is suggested that this report
should be made in connection with
our study of IawlesSness in law en-
forcement.'
Beyond Its Province
THE commission months ago de-
cided that it was beyond its prov
ince to investigate individual cases
with q view to making recommen-
dationS as theier disposition, partic-
ularly in state courts, for the reason
among others that the commission
has not power to examine witnesses
or redetermine facts.
with regard to the contentious
concerning the recantation of testi-
mony given in the trials of Mooney
and Billings after the event, it is to
be remarked that on second hearing
by the supreme court of California
on an application for pardon made
by Billings, the witnesses concerned
appeared in person at public hear
ing by that court, where they were
examined and roSS-eXamined, after
which the court, one justice alone
dissenting, upon thorough review
of the testimony, refused to recon-
mend a pardon.
obviously this commission could
not undertake to review that action.
This commission was not appointed
TO sit in review upon the judgment
of the courts of any state