Evening star., 1962-10-07
Gen. Walker Insane?

1t has adhered faithfully to the law IN
confining former Major General Walker
to a mental institution. Maybe so. But
If this is correct, the law affords nc
visible protection to an individual In
General Walkers situation.
He was arrested last Monday on
serious charges in connection with the
riot at the University of Mississippi.
Taken before United States Commits
sioner, he was advised of his legal
rights General Walker waived his right
to counsel and to preliminary hearing.
He was assured that he would be tried
in Mississippi on the charges against
him, and bail was set at 100000. With
that, he was flown to a Federal prison
hospital in Springfield, Missouri, with
every reason to believe that he would
be eligible for release on bail when he
got there.
General Walker didn't know that
the Department of Justice on the
following day would bring mental COM
mitment proceedings against him in
Mississippi which would result in his
being denied release on bail in Missouri.
In fact, it is not clear when the de-
cision to seek commitment was made.
But 1t must have been made not later
than about noon on Tuesday. An hour
earlier, according to Representative
Alger of Texas, he was being assured
by the Attorney General personally that
General Walkers transfer to Springfield
xx,if1N he 20 hot
there is a mental hospital connected
with that prison." He was also assured,
Mr.. Alger told the House, that there
would be no barrier to General Walkers
release if he posted the bail fixed by
the court
Meanwhile, the wheels were turning
swiftly in Washington. Someone decided
that the General should be committed
for mental observation at Springfield.
The chief pSychiatrist of the Federal
Prison Bureau prepared an affidavit
for submission to Federal Judge In
Mississippi - not in Missouri, where
General Walker was.
This affidavit is an interesting
document. It's essential conclusion Is
that General Walkers recent behavior
may be indicative of an underlying
mental disturbance" The basis for his
conclusion, the psychiatrist said, was
reading of newspaper stories, unspeci-
fled indications" in an unidentified
medical history" and "other informa-
ton" of an undisclosed nature available
to me-"
Armed with this flinasy weapon the
United States Attorney in Mississippi,
doubtless on instructions from Wash
ington, appeared before Federal Judge
Claude Clayton, sitting in oxford. The
attorney told the judge that on the
basis of the information from the
psychiatrist, he had reasonable cause"
to believe that General Walker may be
presently insane or so mentally incom-
petent as to be unable to understand
the nature of the proceedings againSt
him or to properly assist in his own
defense With this, the Judge signed
the commitment papers, and the United
States Attorney in Springfield there
upon said that General Walker would
be held for from so to 80 days for
mental examination and that he could
not be released on bail.
It is important to note, we think,
that the sole question is whether the
General, who certainly has offered no
defense of insanity, is able to under
stand the nature of the proceedings
against him and to assist in his own
defense Without in any way condoning
his behavior, we have seen nothing
which indicates that he lacks this de-
gree of mental capacity. And we do
not think that this inference is over
come by an undocumented conclusion
that he may be" suffering from "an
underlying mental diSturbance"-wh
ever that means.
This is question, however, which
must be decided in the courts And,
thanks to the availability of the writ
of habeaS corpus, the Department of
Justice must show cause in Springfield
on Tuesday why General Walker should
not be released on bond. Beyond that,
the Department has been ordered by
a Springfield Federal court to certify
the "true cause" of General Walkers
detention. The full story of the Walker
case should be developed in the course
of these proceedings.
Meanwhile, there is ample reason,
we think, to be concerned over a pro-
cedure under which an accused man