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Faculty Receives 'Witness Data
by Al Karr
Emerald Columnist
A report on the "Rights of a
Witness Before it Congressional
Investigating Committee" has
been placed in the hands of every
faculty member. Idea behind the
report is to brief faculty mem
bers on said h-gal rights, in case
anyone of them might some day
find themselves before such a
committee.
No such event Is expected.
though, and
there Isn't
anyth ing in
the wind
about any
kind of inves
11 g a tipn at
Oregon. It's
Just a report
for the facul
ty’s own in
formation and
a nrieiing for
a remote future possibility which
will probably never occur — on
far a* anyone now known.
The report was prepared by
Edward Morton, associate pro
fessor of law until hla death win
ter term. It was put together
after Joel V. Berreman, profea
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nor of sociology and president of
the UO chapter of the A A UP,
appointed a committee to Investi
gate the investigation matter.
The AAUP — American As
sociation of University Profes
sors — is a "labor union" of col
lege faculty members. It is con
cerned with such matters as sal
aries, academic freedom, and the
like. Charles Q. Howard, profes
sor of law, is chairman of the
committee appointed by Berro
man.
The report is concerned with
some legal, but pretty basic, rea
soning. It states that a congres
sional investigating committee
doesn't have the power to ask
questions about one’s political
beliefs or affiliation. It also says
that even though the question
may tie lawfully put to a witness,
he still rnay have the constitu
tional privilege to refuse to ans
wer.
Why doesn't such a committee
have the right to ask questions
about political belief or affilia
tion ? ’Cause Congress can't leg
islate on political beliefs, the in
vestigations aren't conducted for
a legislative purpose and they
are an encroachment on the func
tion of the courts. So says the
report.
The obvious purpose of the
First Amendment, says the re
port, is to close to Congress any
entry into the area of political
opinion and peaceful political ac
tivity. "If we were to allow
the Congress, by questioning wit
nesses and intimidating them, to
affect a citizen’s political activi
ty, we would be subverting the
basic notion of political freedom
and be making the government
the master.’’
As for the purpose of the
probes, the report says they are
not preparation for law-making
— the declared goal of the chair
men “seems to be the exposure of
persons thought by the investi
gators to be tainted with treas
onable ideas.’’
And the report says the “in
quisitions" conducted by such
committees as those of Senators
McCarthy and Jenner and Con
gressman Velde frequently u
surp the judicial function — that
of determining the guilt of par
ticular individuals.
Five comments are made re
garding the contention that if a
question calls for an answer that
would tend to implicate the wit
ness in criminal activity, he is
privileged to refrain from ans
wering.
1. The witness may withhold
such testimony if he has com
mitted an offense under federal
law, according to the Fifth
Amendment.
2. A witness, even though per
fei tly innocent of any offense,
may claim the privilege if there
would be any tendency whatso
ever to incriminate himself by
such testimony because of cir
cumstances. The report gives the
example of a person who buys
rags and kerosene the day before
a big fire which was probably
started by those instruments. He
can refuse to testify about his
purchase, even though lie didn’t
start the fire.
Tiiis is a privilege which shows
the fallacy of inferences that “I
refuse to testify on the grounds
that my answer might tend to
incriminate me" means the'wit
ness is a “Fifth Amendment
Communist.”
3. There should be no inference
of guilt from elnim of the priv
ilege. Counsel to witnesses are
advised by the report to try to
challenge a committee on
grounds of its jurisdiction, to
avoid this inference of “Fifth
amqpdment communism."
A. A witness should claim the
privilege at the earliest possible
moment, because if he starts to
answer, “implied waver" indi
cates that he must complete the
answer without claiming the i
privilege.
5. Apart from the Fifth
Amendment, a witness may re
fuse to answer a nebulous ques
tion such as the one asking whe
ther Owen Lattimore was a
“sympathizer with Communists
interests." Because of the vague
ness of such a question, the re
port says, even an answer be
lieved by the witness to be com
plete and truthful might be in
effect equivocal, and thus per
Jurous.
The report is an expression of
some valuable legal considera
tions, in these times of irrespon
sible investigations. If such time
tested court safeguards of indi
vidual rights were honored by
the “investigators” themselves,
they might come closer to earn
ing the respect now given the
courts of the country. But as a
practical matter, a congressional
investigation debacle is not the
most likely scene for dispassion
ate fairness.
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Campus
by Mary Egan
Em«r*ld Lrvmg Organizations Editor
At Alpha Tau Omega ...
New president of ATO is Jim Jones. Other new officers elect
ed recently include Jerry Beall, vice-president; Don Crawford,
secretary; Hill Dometiighini, house manager; Bob McCracken,
rush chairman, and Phil Lynch, social chairman.
At Beta Theta Pi...
Wielding the gavel over the Betas this next year will be Andy
Berwick. He will be assisted by Chandler Sogge, vice-president;
Gil Lieberman, secretary; Don Imbrie, recorder; Doyle Higdon,
social chairman; Dick hettig, house manager; Emerson Harvey,
scholarship chairman, and Jim Duncan, rush chairman.
At Phi Delta Theta
The Phi Delts have selected Peter Williams as their new presi
dent. House manager for-the group is Jim Spieckerman. Other
officers elected include Don Gartrell, vice-president; Bob Sogge,
warden; Fred Haswell, chaplain; Dick Reneberg, social chair
man, and Larry Hibbard, secretary.
At Delta Gamma ,..
Lois Powell is the newly-elected president of the DG’s. Vice
president is Mary Wilson; chapter secretary, Mary Constance;
corresponding secretary, Jean Sayre; house manager, Nancy
Budlong, and treasurer, Janet Sayre.
J wo of the DG’s are now wearing Phi Delt pins. Jean Sayre
has Dud Carlson s pin, and Dick Lewis has pinned freshman
Denise Kenyon.
At Delta Delta Delta ...
Recent engagements announced at Tri Delta include Loretta
Dyer to Jack Rawls, Delta Upteilon; Hope Holgerson to Joe
Anstett, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Jean Peterson to Dick Peters,
Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Marilyn Parrish was married to Dan Dill
(Please turn to page six)