Court Opinion

ID: 9420690
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:55:42.727222+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:26.629506
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Black,
dissenting.
Today#jtRe Court holds that law-abiding persons, neither charged with nor convicted of any crime, can be held in jail indefinitely, without bail, if a subordinate Washington bureau agent believes they are members of the Commu*548nist Party, and therefore dangerous to the Nation because of the possibility of their “indoctrination of others.” Underlying this harsh holding are past decisions of this Court declaring that Congress may constitutionally direct the summary deportation of aliens for any reason it sees fit. I agree with Mr. Justice Douglas for the reasons he gives in his dissenting opinion in Harisiades v. Shaughnessy, 342 U. S. 580, 598, that these prior declarations-should now be reconsidered and rejected. This would /dispose of these cases. But the Court today not only .adheres to, but greatly expands the constitutional doctrine of the former cases. The Court also-relies on the Internal Security Act of Í950, 64 Stat. 987, for its holding. Mr. Justice Frankfurter presents strong arguments for construing the Act so as to reach an opposite result. But even if authorized by that Act, as the majority holds, the denial of a right to bail under the circumstances of these cases strikes me as a shocking disregard of the following provisions of the Bill of Rights: Eighth Amendment’s ban against excessive bail;1 First Amendment’s ban against abridgment of thought, speech and press;2 Fifth Amendment’s ban against depriving a person of liberty without düe process of law.3 Before a detailed discussion of my several grounds of dissent it is necessary to state the facts and the precise issues the records present.
Respondent Zydok, petitioners Carlson and others were all arrested (“detained”) in connection with proceedings which might lead to their deportation. A subordinate of the Commissioner of Immigration, not the *549Attorney General, directed that they be held in prison without bail. Of necessity, consideration of these deportation proceedings by bureaus and courts may last for years. Carlson’s has already dragged on for over four years. Moreover, even deportation orders at the end of such proceedings might not end their indeterminate jail sentences since the foreign countries to which they are ordered might refuse to admit them. Such' refusals have prevented deportation in thousands of cases.4 Thus denial of bail may well be the equivalent of a life sentence, at least for Zydok, 56 years old, and Carlisle whose health is bad. Such has become the fate of ordinary family people selected and classified, on secret information, as “dangerous” by Washington bureau agents.
Zydok’s case illustrates what is happening. He has lived in this country 39 years, owns his home, has violated no law, is “not likely to engage in any subversive activities,” has a wife, two sons, a daughter and five grandchildren, all born in the United States. Both sons served in the armed services in World War II. Zydok himself, then a waiter, sold about $50,000 worth of U. S. war bonds and “donated blood on seven occasions to the Red Cross for the United States Army.” This jailing of Zydok, despite a patriotic record of which many citizens could well be proud, is typical of what actually happens when public feelings run high against an unpopular minority.
While the Court gives Zydok a momentary technical respite, its holding means that he too, pursuant to the Government’s present program, can and will be held in jail • without bond as a “dangerous” character. The others, with equally enviable records as law-abiding persons, are not even given a technical respite. Mrs. Stevenson is the wife of a citizen and is the mother of a young man who *550is also a citizen. Her son has long been subject to attacks of undulant fever. He and his 70-year-old grandmother need Mrs. Stevenson’s help as does her husband who does her housework while shé is “detained” as “dangerous” to our national security. The District Judge tried to persuade the representatives of the Immigration Bureau and the Attorney General to agree for him to enter an order fixing bail for her and for Mr. Carlisle. His request was refused.
The record does not leave us .in doubt as to why bail was denied Mrs. Stevenson, Mr. Carlisle, or any of these allegedly “dangerous” aliens. Denial was not on the ground that if released they might try to evade obedience to possible deportation orders. The District Judge in No. 35 conceded that “there is nothing here to indicate the Government is fearful that' they are going to leave the jurisdiction”; he said, “I.am not going to release men and women that the Attorney General’s office says are security risks”; he also said, “I am not going to turn these people loose if they are Communists, any more than I would turn loose a deadly germ in this community. If that is my duty let the Circuit Court say so and assume that burden.” 5 These remarks to counsel show that he kept these people in jail only because he thought Communists, as such, were too dangerous to the Nation to'be allowed to associate with other people. The Court of Appeals’ denial of bail was also based on the premise that Communists were too dangerous to the Nation to be left out of jail, not on the premise that deportation would be delayed or frustrated by granting bail. 187 F. 2d 991. *551And the Solicitor General has admitted here that the only evidence advanced to support their detention without bail was that they had been active in the Communist movement.” The majority here also appears to rest on the same basis. It must, unless it is now drawing inferences that some might flee and be unavailable for deportation. As the Government admits, there is not a vestige of support for such an inference.6 Besides, an alien “who shall willfully fail or refuse to present himself for deportation . . . shall upon conviction be guilty of a felony, and shall be imprisoned not more than ten years . . . .” 64 Stat. 987, 1012.
Thus it clearly appears that these aliens are held in jail without bail for no reason, except that “they had been active in the Communist movement.” From this it is concluded that their association with others would so imperil the Nation’s safety that they must be isolated from their families and communities. On this premise they would be just as dangerous whether aliens or citizens, deportable or not. Since it is not necessary to keep them in jail to assure their compliance with a deportation order, their imprisonment cannot possibly be intended as an aid to deportation. They are kept in jail solely because a bureau agent thinks that is where Communists should be. A power to put in jail because dangerous cannot be derived from a power to deport. Consequently prior cases holding that Congress has power to deport aliens provide no support at all for today’s holding that Con*552gress has power to authorize bureau agents to put “dangerous” people in jail without privilege of bail.
The stark fact is that if Congress can authorize imprisonment of “alien Communists” because dangerous, it can authorize imprisonment of citizen “Communists” on the same ground. And' while this particular bureau campaign to fill the jails is said to be aimed at “dangerous” alien Communists only, peaceful citizens may be ensnared in the process. For the bureap agent is not required to prove that a person he .throws in jail is an alien, or a Com-munist, or “dangerous.” The agent need only declare he has reason to believe that such is the case. The agent may be and here apparently was acting on the rankest hearsay evidence. The secret sources of his “information” may have been spies and informers, a class not usually rated as the most reliable by people who have had experience with them.7 In this record the nearest approach to any identifiable source of information is that some of the jailed persons had admitted past membership in organizations listed by the Attorney General as “Communist,” or “Com*553munist front.” These listings are made by the Attorney General ex parte on secret dossiers containing statements from sources that the Attorney General refuses to reveal. A majority of this Court has held that such listings are illegal. Anti-Fascist Committee v. McGrath, 341 U. S. 123. This alone should be enough to reverse the judgments in No. 35. My own judgment is that Congress has not authorized the Bureau of Immigration to hold people in jail without bond.solely because it believes them “dangerous.” Nor do I think that Congress has power to grant any such authority even if it had attempted to do so.
First. Section 23 of the Internal Security Act, 64 Stat. 987, 1011, provides that “Pending final determination of. the .deportability of any alien taken into custody under warrant of the Attorney General, such alien may, in the discretion of the Attorney General (1) be continued in custody; or (2) be released under bond in the amount of not less than $500, with security approved by the Attorney General; or (3) be released on conditional parole.” I read this language as attempting to authorize the Attorney General to hold aliens without, bail within his discretion. I think that means the Attorney General’s discretion, not that of a subordinate in the Bureau of Immigration. This record does not show that these people were jailed by virtue of an exercise of discretion by the Attorney General. Decision to put deportable aliens in jail without bond (with very minor exceptions) was made by subordinates in the Bureau of Immigration. I agree with Mr. Justice Frankfurter that this decision to jail aliens en masse was not based on the kind of “discretion” the Act intended. But I further think § 23 should not be construed as permitting the Attorney General to delegate this tremendous power to others.
The Government finds a power to so delegate in provisions of the Alien Registration Act of 1940, 8 U. S. C. *554§ 458 (a) and in the President’s Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1950, 5 U. S. C. (Supp. IV) following § 133z-15. These provisions are in such broad general terms that they could be read as allowing the Attorney General to delegate all his discretionary duties. But the gravity of a discretionary power to seize people and keep them in jail without a right of bail warns against implying such an unlimited power to delegate it. It is bad enough to read an Act as vesting even the Nation’s chief prosecutor with power to determine what individuals he prosecutes should be held in jail without bail. Delegating and redelegating this dangerous power to subordinates entrusted with duties like those of deputy sheriffs and policemen raises serious procedural due process questions. I am not willing to imply that Congress has granted power to make such delegations which so ominously threaten the liberty of individuals. Consequently, assuming constitutionality of § 23,1 would hold that it vests power in the Attorney General alone to decide whether a person should be denied bail.
Second. The Fifth Amendment commands that no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process of law. I think this provision has been violated here.
Surely it is not consistent with procedural -due process of law for prosecuting attorneys or their law enforcement subordinates to make final determinations as' to whether persons they accuse of something shall remain in jail indefinitely awaiting a decision as to the truthfulness of the accusations against them. In effect that was done here. I have already referred to the trial judge’s statement in No. 35 that he was not going to release people the Attorney General deemed to be bad security risks. Moreover, the immigration official’s mere belief based, on statements coming from unidentified, persons was accepted by both trial-judges as casting on each alleged '‘alien Communist” the burden of proving he was not a Communist by *555clear and convincing evidence. And their refusal to incriminate themselves by denying the immigration officer’s suspicions was accepted as sufficient proof to keep them behind the jail doors. I think that condemning people to jail is a job for the judiciary in accordance with procedural “due process of law.” 8 To farm out this, responsibility to the police and prosecuting attorneys is a judicial abdication in which I will have no part.
Third. As previously pointed out, the basis of holding these people in jail is a fear that they may indoctrinate people with Communist beliefs. To put people in jail for fear of their talk seems to me to be an abridgment of speech in flat violation of the First Amendment. I have to admit, however, that this is a logical application of recent cases watering down constitutional libérty of speech.9 I also realize that many believe that Communists and “fellow travelers” should not be accorded any of the First Amendment’s protections. My belief is that we must have freedom of speech, press and religion for all or we may eventually have it for none. I further believe that the First Amendment grants an absolute right to believe in any governmental system, discuss all governmental affairs, and argue for desired changes in the existing order. This freedom is too dangerous for bad, tyrannical governments to permit. But tho.se who wrote and adopted our First Amendment weighed those dangers against the dangers of censorship and deliberately chose the First Amendment’s unequivocal command that freedom of assembly, petition, speech and press shall not be abridged. I happen to believe this was a wise choice and that our free way of life enlists such respect and love that *556our Nation cannot be imperiled by mere talk. This bélief of mine may and I suppose does influence me to protest whenever I think I see even slight encroachments on First Amendment liberties. But' the encroachment here is not small. True it is mainly those alleged to be present or past “Communists” who are now being jailed for their beliefs and expressions. But we cannot be sure more victims will not be offered up later if the First Amendment means no more than its enemies or even some of its friends believe it does.
Fourth. I think § 23 as construed and as here applied violates the command of the Eighth Amendment that “Excessive bail shall not be required Under one of the Government’s contentions, which the Court apparently adopts, the Eighth Amendment’s ban on excessive bail means just about nothing. That contention is that Congress has power, despite the Amendment, to determine “whether or not bail may be granted, or must be granted, and the Constitution then forbids the exaction of excessive bail . . . .” Under this contention, the Eighth Amendment is"a limitation upon judges only, for while a judge cannot constitutionally fix excessive bail, Congress can direct that people be held in jail without any right to bail at all. Stated still another way, the Amendment does no moré than protect a right to bail which Congress can grant and which Congress can take away. The Amendment is thus reduced below the level of a pious admonition. Maybe the literal language of the framers lends itself to this weird, devitalizing interpretation when scrutinized with a hostile eye. But at least until recently, it has been the judicial practice to give a broad, liberal interpretation to those provisions of the Bill of Rights obviously designed to protect the individual from governmental oppression. I would follow that practice here. The Court refuses to do so because (1) the English Bill of Rights “has never been thought to accord a right to bail in *557all cases . . .” and (2) “in criminal cases bail is not compulsory where the punishment may be death.” As to (1): The Eighth Amendment is in the American Bill of Rights of 1789, not the English Bill of Rights of 1689. And it is well known that our Bill of Rights was written and adopted to guarantee Americans greater freedom than had been enjoyed by their ancestors who had been driven from Europe by persecution. See Bridges v. California, 314 U. S. 252, 264-265. As to (2): It is true bail has frequently been denied in this country “when the punishment may be death.” I‘fail to see where the Court’s analogy between deportation and the death penalty advances its argument unless it is also analogizing the offense of indoctrinating talk to the crime of first degree murder.
Another governmental contention is this: “The bail provisions of the Eighth Amendment and of the statutes relating thereto have always been considered as applicable only to criminal proceedings. Since deportation proceedings are not criminal in character, the Eighth Amendment has no application.” I reject the contention that this constitutional right to bail can be denied a man in jail by the simple device of providing á “not criminal” label for the techniques used to incarcerate. Imprisonment awaiting determination of whether that imprisonment is justifiable has precisely the same evil consequences to an individual whatever legalistic label is used to describe his plight. Prior to this Amendment’s adoption, history had been filled with instances where individuals had been imprisoned and held for want of bail on charges that could not be substantiated. Official malice had too frequently been -the cause of imprisonment. The plain purpose of our bail Amendment was to make it impossible for any agency of Government, even the Congress, to authorize keeping people imprisoned a moment longer than .was necessary to assure their attendance to answer whatever *558legal burden or obligation might thereafter be validly imposed upon them. In earlier days of this country there were fond hopes that the bail provision was unnecessary, that no branch of our Government would ever want to deprive any person of bail. On this subject Mr. Justice Story said, “The provision would seem to be wholly unnecessary in a free government,,since it is scarcely possible that any department of such a government should authorize or justify such atrocious conduct.” Story on . Constitutional Law, 5th ed., Vol. 2, p. 650. Perhaps the word “atrocious” is too strong. I can only say that I regret, deeply regret, that the Court now adds the right to bail to the list of other Bill of Rights guarantees that have recently been weakened to expand governmental powers at the expense of individual freedom.
I am for reversing in No. 35 and affirming in No. 136.

 “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed; nor cruel and imusual punishments inflicted.” U. S. Const., Amend. VIII.

 “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; . . . .” U. S. Const., Amend. I.

“No person ... shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;...' U. S. Const., Amend. V.

 96 Cong. Rec. 10449; H. R. Rep. No. 1192, 81st Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 7, 9, 10.

 And the District Judge in No. 35 said “When there is a claim, and I don’t know whether it is true or not . . . that these people are security risks and that their release is dangerous to the security of the United States, until that is either disproved or proved I am not going to release them. My first vote in that respect is for the security of the country. We have had 42,000 casualties already.”

 In this state of the record and particularly in view of the Solicitor General’s contrary admission, I am at a loss to understand note 35 in the Court’s -opinion.- It is there intimated that these aliens might flee and be unavailable for deportation. I cannot believe that the Court is . resting, or would rest, its approval of denial of bail on a ground which even the Solicitor General had not deemed supportable by the record. ,

 “Anonymous informations ought not to be received in any sort of prosecution. It is introducing a very dangerous precedent, and is quite foreign to the spirit of our age.” Written near 100 A. D. by Emperor Trajan to Pliny the Younger in response to Pliny’s interesting report of his prosecution of Christians. 9 Harvard Classics, 428. Pliny was “in great doubt” even then as to “whether the very profession of Christianity, unattended with any criminal act, or only the crimes themselves inherent in the profession are punishable Supra, 426. “If they [informers against Christians] succeeded in their prosecution, they were exposed to the resentment of a con-, siderable and active party, to the censure of the more liberal portion of mankind, and to the ignominy which in every age and country, has attended the character of an informer. If, on the contrary, they failed in their proofs, they incurred the severe, and perhaps capital, penalty which, according to a law published by the emperor Hadrian, was inflicted on those who falsely attributed to their fellow-citizens the crime of Christianity.” 2 Gibbon, The History of the Decline- and Fall of the Roman Empire (Oxford Univ. Press), 107, 108.

 See Mozorosky v. Hurlburt, 106 Ore. 274, 198 P. 556, 15 A. L. R. 1076 and note pp. 1079-1083.

 See, e. g., American Communications Assn. v. Douds, 339 U. S. 382; Dennis v. United States, 341 U. S. 494; Feiner v. New York, 340 U. S. 315.