CAN G-MEN VIOLATE THE LAW?
Can G-Men Violate The Law? From THE NEW REPUBLIC THE Department of Justice faces an unpleasant duty. It is especially unpleasant for the new Attorney General, who is deeply loyal to his...
...Possibly there are legal points that still require investigation...
...Justice Holmes called wiretapping "dirty business...
...One of these, J. Edgar Hoover, has confessed that G-men, under his direction, have engaged in wire-tapping, a practice that has been unlawful since 1934...
...Jackson Is too scrupulous to do that...
...Justices Roberts and Frankfurter, speaking for the Supreme Court, have condemned the practice, the one saying that it is "inconsistent with ethical standards and destructive of personal liberty," the other speaking of It as "the poisonous tree...
...The Department of Justice has taken no action...
...The bill would forbid the hiring of labor spies, strikebeakers and strikebreaking agencies...
...President William Green announced he would write Sen...
...It was pointed out that the figures may be merely a reflection of the total amount of advertising carried...
...A tabulation of the advertising appearing and warranting further investigation by the FTC, which is charged with the duty of preventing false and misleading ads, shows that in the magazine field 38.5 of the ads were in the fiction group, including the so-called "pulp magazines...
...Find Phone Ads In Big Journals WASHINGTON, D. C— Smaller publications had less phoney advertising, figures published by the Federal Trade commissipn here indicate...
...When Hoover conducted raids and committed violations of civil liberties from 1919 to 1924, the responsibility was laid on orders from Attorney Generals Palmer and Daugherty...
...But even if any Attorney General had instructed him to violate the statute, Hoover would not be protected...
...At that time Congress made wire-tapping a felony, punishable by as much as two years in prison and a $10,000 fine...
...Of course Hoover himself was never to hlame...
...INCIDENTALLY, the impression has been given that anything wrong done by Hoover has been the fault of his superiors, the several Attorney Generals tinder whom he has served...
...It is claimed that after Congress passed the law no Attorney General told Hoover to obey it...
...his superior, as a conspirator in the crime, would be punishable with Hoover...
...Immediately upon its completion the Department of Justice should either state the facts and its legal opinion fully if it clears Hoover, or else it should indict...
...The excuse offered is that in 1931 an Attorney General permitted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to tap wires...
...The federal government cannot by silence and inactivity allow Hoover's confession to be treated lightly...
...Various courses are open...
...Justice BrandeiB spoke of It as an Instrument of tyranny...
...and he continued to let his agents tap wires...
...if so the legal study should be swift...
...Alben W. Barkley, Democrat floor leader, urging that the bill be placed on the senate calendar for quick action...
...One is to whitewash Hoover...
...Improper FBI actions in Detroit against Spanish Loyalist sympathizers, in New York against the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, in Brooklyn against the 17 accused of plotting to overthrow our government, are charged to Attorney General Murphy...
...Anti-Spy Measure Action Is Urged WASHINGTON, D. C—The A. F. of L. this week went into action in behalf of one of the most Important bills in labor's legislative program— the La Follette-Thomas measure to outlaw "oppressive labor practices...
...Hoover, who is a lawyer, argues that he thought his men were committing this crime lawfully...
...When the leading figure on the New York Stock Exchange, closely related to the House of Morgan and highly regarded in big business and financial circles all over the country, confessed, Dewey indicted him within 24 hours...
...Will it be Attorney Oeneral Jackson's fault if nothing is done about Hoover's recent failure to observe the law against wire-tapping...
...Farm Journals had 14.1 per cent of the ads meriting further Investigation by the FTC, home and women's magazines, 12.3 per cent, opportunity and sales magazines, 8.9 per cent and movie fan magazines, 7.4 per cent...
...Senator Wheeler, whose committee, with the backing of the Roosevelt administration, drafted the statutory ban on wire-tapping, has asked the Department of Justice to prosecute "all those violating the law regardless of who they might be...
...The crime la not a mere technical infringement of an unpopular law, like the prohibition statute Mr...
...Illegalities in raids on gangsters and the FBI's orgy of self-advertising are blamed on Attorney General Cummlngs...
...His wire-tapping was permitted by Attorney General Mitchell...
...prohibit employers from sending their armed guards off company property, and outlaw private industrial arsenals of machine guns, The proposal is the culminition of a prolonged investigation by the La Follette Civil Liberties committee which exposed private armies and stores of ammunition used by labor-hating industrialists to smash unions...
...He described the measure as essential to protect labor's rights against ruthless bosses...
...TWO weeks have passed since Hoover confessed...
...In the newspaper field, 56.8 per cent of the ads warranting further examination were m papers with average daily circulations of over 100.000, 26.7 per cent were in papers with daily circulations of from 40,000 to 99,000, and 14.4 per cent were In papers with average daily circulations of 40,000 and under...
...Or Hoover.can be reprimanded, suspended, dismissed or indicted...
...It is especially unpleasant for the new Attorney General, who is deeply loyal to his subordinates...
Vol. 10 • April 1940 • No. 17
