Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-06-10
Present lynching Bill
Might Be Extended 10
Picket Line Victims
Measure Held So Drown
1t Could Be Invoked for
Citizens Hurt in Disputes
By David Laurence


Court Of the United States rem.
dered its historic decision broad
ening the Federal power over bust.
ness and industry, there has beer
a tendency In some quarters II
seek Federal power also over phys
ical violence and disorder and II
rely less and less on the States.
Now comes the Senate Com
nittee on the Judiciary TO repor
favorably a bill that is designed
on its face TO punish police oficerl
of the States for failing to pro-
tect persons charged with crime
The ostensible purpose is to pre-.
vent lynching, but the law is 81
drawn that 1t could conceivably
protect citizens who are attacked
on the picket line in labor dis
putes.
II the Federal Government il
to protect one class Of citizens, il
logically follows 1t must protect
all.
The crime Of lynching. for ex-
ample, is indefensible. Prodded BY
an indignant public opinion. man,
States In the South and else
where have sharpened their pro-
cedures so as to protect criminals
and assure them Of a trial. But
many groups in Congress are not
satisfied with these efforts anc
hence legislation to punish sher.
IFS and police chiefs when they
fail to do their duty has beer
recommended by q Senate COM
mittee.
Language Significant.
The language of the bill Ii
significant. The first sentence
says:
ITO guarantee, insofar as 1t lies
within the constitutional power Of
the Congress so to do within the
subject matter Of this act. thai
each and every citizen OF the
United States be secured IN the
equal protection of the laws OF the
United States, and Of the several
States, and that no citizen OF the
United States be deprived OF life
liberty, or property without due
process Of law. the Congress. in
the exercise Of all powers which
1t possesses, does hereby legislate
with respect to the crime OF lynch
ing as hereinafter described"
Then follow some definitions
and q lynch mob" is described ir
terms that could as readily 1T q
mob on the picket lines in labor
dispute. Even II the courts should
rule that depriving o citizen Of his
liberty by mass picketing is not
exactly "lynching," the fact thai
the courts upheld one form Of
Federal supervision Of local crime
would mean that it. held constitu-
tional any other measures Of dis.
cipline the Congress might wish
to apply to State or, local police
officers who fail to preserve Law
and order. 1t opens up a whole
new field OF Federal power.
A. lynch mob" is defined in the
bill 40 follows: ANY assemblage
Of two or more persons which
shall. without authority Of law
exercise or attempt to exercise, by
acts Of physical force against per-
son or property. any power of cor
rection or punishment over any
person with the purpose
Of imposing a punishment. shall
constitute q lynch mob within the
meaning Of this act"
NLRB Action Cited.
Again and again as innocent
citizens are beaten up or theil
property damaged-often theil
autos are overturned or stoned at
the factory sates-the police looh
the other way. Sometimes this /.
because the police chief Is part Of
o political administration and thu
mayor gets his principal political
support from labor-union votes
Sometimes 1t is the employee,
group which is in cahoots with the
local police.
Not long ago the National Labor
Relations Board. finding that 6
local police chief was affiliated
with an employer company or wa,
under the domination of such ar
employer, reached out and an.
piled the National Labor Relations
Act against the police chief
Whether the police chief was OF
was not an ally of the employer
Is not relevant to the constitu-
tional issue. Up to now the Fed.
eral Government has not possessed
the right to try local police offi.
GERS for failing to do their duty
or for pursuing local police func.
tons which involved partisanshir
in labor controversies.
Certainly mass picketing has
never been defined as q Fedora
crime. The Federal police power
however. has been exerted by Con.
gress In the passage Of O law for.
bidding employers TO transport
strikebreakers across State lines
It also has been applied by Con,
sress in forbidding extortion OF
racketeering In interstate com.
merce, and the labor unions have
sought repeal Of this law.
Now for Congress to assert thai
It Is constitutional for the Fedora
Government to punish local polio,
officers introduces deviation from
accepted practice. The Supreme
Court some day may be obliged Il
rule on the extent to which ths
Federal Government may back VI
the right Of any citizen to live un'
molested by any form OF ,lynchinl
or violence when local officers an
Indifferent.
Reproduetion right reserved.