Case Name: VETERANS OF THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE v. SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL BOARD
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1965-04-26
Citations: 380 U.S. 513
Docket Number: No. 65
Parties: VETERANS OF THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE v. SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL BOARD.
Judges: Mr. Justice White took no part in the decision of this case.
Reporter: United States Reports
Volume: 380
Pages: 513–517

Head Matter:
VETERANS OF THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE v. SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL BOARD.
No. 65.
Argued December 9, 1964.
Decided April 26, 1965.
Leonard B. Boudin argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Victor Rabinowitz and David Rein.
Kevin T. Maroney and Bruce J. Terris argued the cause for respondent. With them on the brief were Solicitor General Cox, Assistant Attorney General Yeagley and Robert L. Keuch.
Melvin L. Wulf and Marvin M. Karpatkin filed a brief for the American Civil Liberties Union, as amicus curiae, urging reversal.

Opinion:
Per Curiam.
Petitioner was ordered by the Subversive Activities Control Board to register as a Communist-front organization under § 7 of the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950, as amended, 64 Stat. 993, 50 U. S. C. § 786 (1958 ed.), and the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed. 117 U. S. App. D. C. 404, 331 F. 2d 64. We granted certiorari, 377 U. S. 989. In this case, the order to register was based almost exclusively on events before 1950, and very largely on events before 1940. The hearings themselves were concluded in November 1954, more than 10 years ago. On so stale a record we do not think it is either necessary or appropriate that we decide the serious constitutional questions raised by the order. See American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born v. Subversive Activities Control Board, ante, p. 503. The judgment is vacated and the cause remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Mr. Justice White took no part in the decision of this case.
[For dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice Black, see ante, p. 511.]