Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—AUGUST, 1963—PAGE 9
Deans, Professors Urge
Adherence to Law Rule
A total of 129 deans and pro
fessors in 25 law schools of
Southern universities joined in a
statement last month urging ad
herence to “the rule of law in
race relations under the Consti
tution of the United States.”
The statement, released to news
media in Nashville on July 7, said the
founders of the federal government
made the Constitution “the supreme
law of the land,” binding on all judges
regardless of contrary provisions in
state constitutions and laws.” It noted
the requirement that all federal and
state executive and judicial officers
must take an oath to support the fed
eral constitution.
A news release prepared to summa
rize the statement said “the false idea
that our national law may be disre
garded has been urged under several
forms, . ■ • (but) no form of the idea
can justify violations of the supreme
law of the land.
It declared that such violations of
laws and principles are harmful to the
nation by dividing it at home and dis
crediting it abroad “where our enemies
use them (violations) as their best
propaganda.”
The statement called for both “order”
and “justice” and said “civil duties
are as basic as civil rights,” adding that
“lawlessness breeds lawlessness on both
sides.”
The release concluded:
“Some signers of the statement have
criticized it on the ground it does not
go far enough and fails to stress the
moral issues. Other signers wished to
have it made plain that in their view
formal or token violation of a declared
law may properly be resorted to where
this is the only way to challenge in
good faith its validity, and that even
non-violent assemblages cannot be
justified under the guaranty of peace
able assembly when they unreasonably
obstruct lawful activities of others. No
disagreement on the legal conclusions
stated was voiced from any law school.”
Text of Statement
iy
ie
»y
of
Following is the text of a statement
on “law and race relations” signed
by 129 deans and professors of law
in 25 Southern universities and re
leased for publication on July 7.
(Subheads are inserted for reada
bility.)
As lawyers and law teachers in the
South, we wish to call the attention of
our fellow citizens to the role of law
in dealing with a current and long-
lasting problem.
Our country, North and South, now
shares in one of the great changes in
history. The readjustment of the re
lations of Negroes and whites here is
but a minor phase of a worldwide
readjustment of peoples. It is of the
utmost importance that we carry for
ward our part of the change with the
ancient virtues of wisdom and justice
and moderation. An understanding of
the role of law in the change can con
tribute something to this end.
Law is a means by which a free peo
ple advances justice and maintains
order. Without it there would be either
despotism or anarchy. The first para
graph of the Constitution of the United
States states these twin purposes of
justice and order, to “establish Justice”
an d “insure domestic Tranquility.”
The advancement of justice through
*aw comes about at times through pub-
lc Protests against injustices believed
0 exist, as our history has often il-
ustrated. The privilege of protest is
guaranteed by the first Article of the
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dist^ 0 had appealed the
cour t’ s action in connection
cinal ass *£nm e nt of teachers, prin-
har? S anc ^ other personnel. They also
cou contended that some technical
sch rS f S n ° w are ava ''able in white
be kf ° n ' y an< d that Negroes will not
kcb 3 • attend a post high school
beer, 'j 3 ' sc hool until all 12 grades have
^desegregated.
•*. as 1 e the court said the school board
a; ca , no * obligated to provide all tech-
beeau C ° Urses to Negroes before 1969,
ties anH mone 5ri space, facili
ty^ ! raaie d personnel, it said Judge
8i e Dr r} ou ld direct the board to study
Lbatta m an<d to P resen t a plan.
StenT 10053 began desegregation last
h’egj-oe 6r "bth the enrollment of 50
three JL hiracial classes in the first
3 p] ar| grades in certain schools, under
first r a PP rov ed by Judge Wilson. The
^hools Ur tt ra des of all elementary
?ate(i n are scheduled to be desegre
gate month, according to the
Masses * If“ also calls for biracial
^de ex tended through the 12th
111 1968.
N
as bvill e Leader
Get
„The
s Ohio Post
, , 'cade,, f Mlll er Smith, one
jfe for ,1 or desegregation in Nas
resiled 6 past 12 years, on July
v h - pastor of First Bapt
L® headed ar +i? ld Negro minister w
m a Shio r tlle . Na shville Christi
t .. j^utioek ° Unc il will become pasl
d ’0h io ® a Ptist Church in Clev
Bill of Rights which protects “the right
of the people peaceably to assemble”
and “to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.” The denial of
this peaceable right by officers of the
law is itself a violation of the law.
The equality of all citizens in the
exercise of civil rights is guaranteed
by the Constitution and by the prin
ciples of a free people on which our
government rests. The denial of equal
rights to a part of our people is a
violation of our law and our principles.
These matters, basic to our govern
ment and embodied in our national
law, have occasionally been obscured
by the false idea that our national law
may be disregarded and put aside by
State officials or private citizens. The
men who founded our government per
ceived this danger and put into our
Constitution a provision to meet it. The
words of the Constitution deserve to be
repeated now when some would ignore
them:
This Constitution and the Laws of the
United States which shall be made in
Pursuance thereof . . . shall be the
supreme Law of the Land; and the
Judges in every State shall be bound
thereby, any Thing in the Constitu
tion or Laws of Any State to the
Contrary not withstanding.
Observe that the Constitution and
federal laws are made “the supreme
Law of the Land,” and that the Judges
in every State are bound by them “any
Thing in the Constitution or Laws of
any State to the Contrary not with
standing.”
Contrary Ideas
The idea that our national law may
be disregarded has been put forward
in different forms. One form is the so-
called doctrine of interposition of the
State between the nation and the in
dividual citizen. This doctrine under its
old name of nullification was rejected
over a hundred years ago by President
Andrew Jackson. Its natural conse
quence, secession, led to the tragedy
of the Civil War. Its use by the fifty
States today would pull our country
to pieces. It is a backward doctrine that
is as out of date as feudalism.
Another form the idea takes is that
the Tenth Amendment to the Consti
tution reserves to the States and denies
to the United States all power over
local matters. The Fourteenth Amend
ment, however, requires the States to
exercise their powers with full regard
to the elements of fairness the later
Amendment specifies. These elements
of fairness demanded by the Four
teenth Amendment include “due process
of law” and “the equal protection of the
laws.” Whatever may be the broad
powers reserved to the States by the
Tenth Amendment, these powers must
be exercised in a manner consistent
with due process and equal protection.
Power in Supreme Court
A similar false idea recently asserted
is that the invalidation of the separate-
but-equal doctrine is not binding, be
cause it is not compelled by the ex
press words of the Constitution but
only by what the Supreme Court has
said the Constitution means. This argu
ment leads on to anarchy for it implies
that every person is entitled to inter
pret the law for himself and to act
accordingly. Here again the founding
fathers, knowing that under a system
of law there must be a body with the
power of final interpretation, answered
the argument for anarchy by placing
DELAWARE
First Negro Member Appointed
To State’s Board of Education
DOVER
Negro, for the first time, has
been named to the State
Board of Education.
Dr. Woodrow Wilson, a Claymont
dentist, took the oath of office on July
25, along with William F. Allen, an
other new member.
Wilson, a Republican, succeeds Mar
vel O. Watson of Dover, while Allen,
a Democrat, was named to take the
place of Howard English of Laurel.
Dr. Wilson’s appointment to the six-
member board gave a third seat to
New Castle County, while reducing
Kent to one.
Gov. Elbert N. Carvel told newsmen
during the morning of July 21 that he
had asked a Negro to serve on the
board “because 20 per cent of the pop
ulation is Negro.”
Later that afternoon he announced
that Dr. Wilson had accepted the in
vitation to serve. Dr. Wilson was sworn
into office the next day as the board
met to reorganize. J. Ohrum Small,
New Board Members
Dr. Woodrow Wilson, William F. Allen.
the power in the Supreme Court. The
Judicial Article of the Constitution be
gins:
“The Judicial Power of the United
States shall be vested in one Supreme
Court” (with such inferior courts as
Congress may establish).
It makes plain that the judicial power
vested in the courts extends to the
interpretation of the Constitution itself:
“The Judicial Power shall extend to
all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising
under this Constitution, (and) the
Laws of the United States,”
Nearly a hundred and fifty years ago
it was held, through Chief Justice Mar
shall, that the Supreme Court of the
United States, not a State Supreme
Court, is the final interpreter of national
law.
‘Footless’ Reliance
Yet another form is an appeal to the
terms of the statute of a State, or to
a promise by a candidate in a political
campaign that he would resist the en
forcement of national laws he disliked.
The reliance on the terms of a State
statute is footless in light of the Con
stitutional provision that the Laws of
the United States are the supreme
Law of the Land. The appeal to a
campaign promise is overridden by a
greater oath. For the successful candi
date when sworn into office takes an
oath with the people as witnesses to
uphold the Constitution of the United
States. The official who would deny
controlling effect to our national law
violates his oath of office as well as our
fundamental law.
Men who have taken the oath of
office are under an even more manifest
obligation than the ordinary citizen to
observe the law. In violating the law,
they inflict a grave injury to our coun
try at home. These men inflict an even
graver injury on our country abroad.
They discredit it and give aid and com
fort to our mortal enemies in these
dangerous times. These thoughtless
persons, while not in the camp of our
enemies, do our enemies’ work.
There is the other element of law
that must be observed, “to insure
domestic tranquility.” Order is no less
an essential part of law than justice,
and civil duties are as basic as civil
who has headed the board for the
past two years, was re-elected presi
dent.
Dr. Wilson, in an interview after his
appointment, said “the racial climate
here is much better than we think it
is. The fact that I was appointed to
this post seems to prove that there is
not a deeply segregated pattern. The
governor wasn’t told to name a Negro.”
Dr. Wilson, 43, said his appointment
came as a surprise, although Gov. Car
vel had approached him earlier in the
month.
Ihe Negro member was born in
Philadelphia, attended Germantown
H gh School and Lincoln University
and served a term in the Army. He is
a graduate of the school of dentistry
at Howard University in Washington,
D.C. He moved to Wilmington in 1946.
Schoolmen
Dr. Parres Named
To Federal Post
Dr. John G. Parres, who long has
advocated the collection of racial sta
tistics in the schools, has resigned as
director of research and publications
in the State Department of Public In
struction to accept a position with the
U.S. Office of Education in Washington.
Dr. Parres, who held the Delaware
post eight years, will work in the Edu
cational Statistics Division, concentrat
ing on legislative statistics.
Prior to coming to Delaware, Dr.
Parres was a teacher, assistant princi
pal, and coach in Kentucky for three
years, and teacher and coach in Penn
sylvania for nine years.
Dr. Parres declined to pinpoint any
reason for his resignation in Dela
ware, other than to note that “every
one needs a change of scenery once
in a while.”
In his Delaware position, he often
compiled information and made it
available to Southern Education Re
porting Service. He said he often had
difficulty obtaining information on de
segregation.
“Some school superintendents told me
they were color blind,” he said, “but
I told them I’m not, and to send in
the racial data.”
rights. Lawlessness breeds lawlessness
on both sides. It may quickly get out of
the control of those who initiated it in
a minor way and turn into uncontrolled
mob violence. Those who in their zeal
for change would violate the law ham
per the means by which their purpose
may be achieved. They, too, defeat the
ideal inscribed over the building of
the Supreme Court of the United States,
“Equal Justice Under Law.”
★ ★ ★
Following are Southern law school
deans and professors listed as signers
of the statement on "law and race
relations,” with their universities
listed according to the Directory of
Law Teachers for 1963.
Herbert R. Bear, Henry Brandis Jr.
(dean) Thomas W. Christopher, John
P. Dalzell, Richard E. Day, Dan B.
Dobbs, Mary W. Oliver, J. Dickson
Phillips, Daniel H. Pollitt, Maurice T.
Van Hecke—University of North Caro
lina.
Richard V. Bamdt, John Mixon, A. A.
White—University of Houston.
Ralph C. Barnhart (dean), Charles
N. Carnes, E. B. Meriwether, Eugene F.
Mooney, Frederic K. Spies, Albert M.
Witte—University of Arkansas.
John S. Beasley II, Elliott E. Cheat
ham, Daniel J. Gifford, Paul J. Hart
man, James C. Kirby Jr., Edmund M.
Morgan, Leo J. Raskind, Thomas G.
Roady Jr., Paul H. Sanders, Theodore
A. Smedley, John A. Spanogle Jr.,
Herman L. Trautman, John W. Wade
(dean)—Vanderbilt University.
Herbert N. Bernhardt, Ernest L. Polk
III, Coleman Karesh, David H. Means,
Charles H. Randall Jr.—University of
South Carolina.
Alan R. Bromberg, Charles O. Galvin,
Roy R. Ray, J. W. Riehm (dean), A. J.
Thomas Jr.—Southern Methodist Uni
versity.
Charles Bunn, Lindsey Cowen (as
sociate dean), Hardy C. Dillard, Edward
A. Mearns Jr., F. D. G. Ribble (dean),
Ronald Wertheim, Charles O. Gregory,
A. J. G. Priest—University of Virginia.
John C. Chommie, Richard A. Haus-
ler, Robert A. McKenna, M. Minnette
Massey (acting dean), George H.
Pickar, Jeanette O. Smith, T. A. Wills—
University of Miami.
Delaware Highlights
The first Negro to serve on Dela
ware State Board of Education was
sworn into office July 25.
Gov. Elbert N. Carvel’s statement
that he appointed a Negro to the
State Board of Education because
Negroes comprise 20 per cent of the
population was criticized by Dela
ware’s daily newspapers.
Dr. John G. Parres, a leader in
the collection of racial statistics, re
signed as director of research and
publications with the State Depart
ment of Public Instruction to join
the U.S. Office of Education in
Washington.
The data, without exception, was
submitted by the state’s school districts.
Dr. Parres received his bachelor of
science degree from Western Kentucky
State College, and his Master of Science
and doctorate degrees from the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania.
★ ★ ★
White, Negro School
Aid Funds Changed
A $61,351,145 school construction
bill, which changes the percentage of
state aid paid for both white and Ne
gro schools, was approved July 30 by
the state board of education and the
House Education Committee.
By tradition, the state paid 100 per
cent of construction cost at Negro
schools, but only 60 per cent at white
schools, which raised the remainder by
local taxation.
Under the new formula the state will
pay 60 per cent in each district plus
additional funds based on the number
of Negro pupils in each district.
The proposed formula, however,
must be approved by the General As
sembly, which is likely to be called
back into session to consider the pro
posal.
The original school construction bill
failed in the House when a fight de
veloped over whether Wilmington
schools should receive more than 60
(See DELAWARE, Page 10)
Joseph M. Cormack, Joseph Curtis
(acting dean), James P. Whyte Jr.,
Dudley W. Woodbridge (dean emeritus)
—College of William and Mary.
Melvin G. Dakin, Wex S. Malone, Ro
bert A. Pascal—Louisiana State Uni
versity.
Frederick Davis, George Savage King,
Ben F. Johnson (dean)—Emory Uni
versity.
Martin J. Feerick, Forrest W. Lacey,
Charles H. Miller, Dix W. Noel, Elvin
E. Overton, Harold C. Warner, Don T.
Weckstein, William Wicker (dean) —
University of Tennessee.
Parker C. Fielder, E. Ernest Gold
stein, William O. Huie, Corwin W.
Johnson, Page Keeton (dean), Pierre
R. Loiseaux, Jerre S. Williams, Joseph
P. Witherspoon, Charles Alan Wright—
University of Texas.
Robert W. Foster—University of
Louisville.
Mitchell Franklin, Lowell Turrentine,
W. J. Wadlington III—Tulane Univer
sity.
The Rev. Louis J. Hiegel, John J.
MacAuley (assistant dean), A. E. Pa-
pale, Janet Mary Riley—Loyola Uni
versity (New Orleans).
Thomas Miller Jenkins—Florida A&M
University.
John D. Johnston (assistant dean),
Arthur Larson, Melvin G. Shimm,
Brainerd Currie—Duke University.
Thomas P. Lewis, W. L. Watthews Jr.
(dean)—University of Kentucky.
Edward D. Morgan, Jay W. Murphy,
John C. Payne, D. Dallas Sands—Uni
versity of Alabama.
L. Ray Patterson—Mercer University.
John B. Rees Jr., R. G. Shannon-
house in—University of Georgia.
Kenneth S. Tollett (acting dean) —
Texas Southern University.
Fletcher Baldwin Jr., Kenneth L.
Black, Vernon W. Clark, Harold B.
Crosby, Dexter Delony, Henry A. Fenn
(dean emeritus), John R. Farrell, James
J. Freeland, Mandell Glicksberg, Ernest
M. Jones, Karl Krastin, W. D. Mac
donald, Frank E. Maloney (dean), Ro
bert Barbeau Mautz, Sheldon J. Plager,
L. S. Powers, Walter Probert, Richard
B. Stephens, Walter O. Weyrauch—Uni
versity of Florida.
Vanue B. Lacour, A. A. Lenoir
(dean), Edward L. Patterson Jr.—■
Southern University.