J2 WEDNESDAY, JULY 11. 1962 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. OREGON
Extreme Interpretations of Supreme Court Prayer Ruling Rejected
American life. Pfeffer empha
sized that the court was "try
ing to protect, not destroy,
of reli-
Editor'i Notes Not line it
truck down racial segrega
tion in public schools In 1954
has the Supreme Court caused America's tradition
as much confusion as it did in I giou freedom."
Its recent decision on oliicial
prayers In schools. In the fol
lowing dispatch, three noted
constitutional lawyers reject
extreme interpretations of the
prayer ruling but differ about
its precise meaning and scope.
By LOUIS CASSELS
Washingtpn -rtJPD- Much of
the public outcry against the
Supreme Court's June 25
prayer decision reflects mis
understanding of what the
court actually held, according
to three noted constitutional
lawyers.
The three men interviewed
by UPI were Philip B. Kur
land, professor of constitu
tional law at the University of
Chicago; Leo Pfeffer, co6nsel
of the American Jewish Con
gress; and Fr. Charles M.
Whelan, S.J., law professor ut
Georgetown university, Wash
ington, D.C. All are widely
regarded as experts on the
First Amendment to the Con
stitution, which was at issue
in the prayer case.
Although they differed
among themselves as to the
precise meaning and scope of
the controversial 8-1 ruling,
they were of one accord in re
jecting some of the extreme
interpretations that have
been aired recently.
The court, they agreed, did
not make it a crime for school
children to pray of their own
volition. It did not forbid
mention of the Deity in na
tional ceremonies and patrio
tic oaths. It did not "repudi-
aie America s religious heri
tage, "banish God from pub
lic me, or decree that gov
ernment in this country must
henceforth be "atheistic."
"I've heard all of those
things said about the decision,
and they are all quite fool
ish," said Kurland. "The
truth is that nothing very
drastic happened in this par
ticular ruling."
Fr. Whelan said It was
"actually a very' narrow de
cision" which will have no
revolutionary impact on
The three authorities agre
ed that the ruling was con
cerned with only one ques
tion: The constitutionality of
officially sponsored religious
exercises in public schools.
They differed only in their
judgments of how far the
court went in forbidding such
exercises.
Fr. Whcian said it didn't go
very far at all. He noted that
the majority opinion, by Jus
tice Hugo L. Black, "laid
great stress on the fact that
the prayer held unconstitu
tional (New York state's 22
word "regents prayer") was
composed by state officials."
"The majority did not say
that mere recital of a prayer
in a public school class
room would be unconstitu
tional," he said. "I think this
omission must be taken as de
liberate and significant. The
key words in the decision arc
the court's statement that 'in
this country, it is no part of
the business of government to
compose official prayers for
any group of the American
people to recite , . .' "
Lord's Prayer Banned?
Q. What is the effect of the
decision on public school pray
ers which were not written by
state officials? Specifically,
how does it apply to the
widespread practice of open
ing the school day with the
Lord's Prayer?
A. If a case challenging use
of the "Our Father" or Lord's
Prayer came before the pre
sent justices, I have little
doubt that they'd rule it out.
But I do not think they have
done so in the June 25 deci
sion. Pfeffer contended, how
ever, that the court clearly in
tended to included the Lord's
Prayer, and all other official
ly prescribed prayers, within
its ban.
He said the key words of
the majority opinion are to be
found in the statement that
"each separate government in
this country should stay out
of the business of writing or
sanctioning official prayers,
and leave that purely religious
function to the people them
selves and to those the people
choose to look to for religious
guidance."
The phrase, "or sanction
ing," he said, definitely in
cludes prayers which are pre
scribed or authorized by gov
ernment officials, even though
not composed of them.
"The 'regents' prayer' is
about as non-sectarian as a
prayer can be," he said. "If
it is unconstitutional, I do
not see how you can possibly
justify the use of the Lord's
Prayer, which Is indisputably
a Christian prayer, taken
from the New Testament."
Pfeffer also took the view
that the majority opinion, by
"clear implication," spelled
the death knell of all religioui
exercises in public schools,
including devotional reading
of the Bible and religious holi
day observances tucn as
Christmas or Hanukkah cere
monies. Prof. Kurland, author of
"Religion and the Law," a
major study of Supreme Court
rulings on church-state rela
tions, staked out middle
ground between these two in
terpretations. He agreed with Pfeffer that
the majority opinion covers
the use of the Lord's Prayer
as well as prayers especially
composed for schools by state
officials.
"The court held that the
machinery of government can
not be used to require or en
courage the saying of any
prayer in a public school," he
said.
He also was inclined to
think that Bible reading will
go the same way as prayer
when the court takes up,
probably at its next term,
three pending cases from
Pennsylvania, Maryland and
Florida which challenge the
constitutionality of reading
passages of Scripture at the
opening of each school day.
But he shared Fr. Whelan
view that the court dcliberate-
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ly refrained from deciding
any more than it had to in the
prayer case. And he warned
that it is perilous to assume
that its future rulings will
always be consistent with the
apparent logic or philosophy
"The court is not unaware
of public clamor and reaction
to its rulings," he observed.
He noted that the court, in
the 1948 McCollum case, held
"released time" religious
classes unconstitutional on the
grounds that they involved a
"utilization of the tax-supported
public school system to aid
religious groups to spread
their faith."
"That decision touched off
a national furor comparable
to the one we've been having
over the prayer decision." he
said. Four years later, in the
Zorach case of 1952, the court
ruled that released time class
es were all right provided
they were not held on public
school property. Since the
location of the classes had not
been a "major issue" in the
earlier ruling, Prof. Kurland
said, the Zorach decision can
only be viewed as a "retrac
tion." He suggested that this his
tory is worth bearing in mind
in any attempt to guess how
the court may apply the logic
of its prayer ruling to other
manifestations of religious be
lief in U. S. life.
Q. You say the ruling
means that no agency of gov
ernment may prescribe any
kind of prayers in public
schools. What about individ
ual teachers? If they want to
have classroom prayers, on
their own initiative, can they
do so?
A. In principle, a teacher is
an officer of the state, and
comes under the same restric
tions as the Board of Regents
or any official agency. In
practice, if there was broad
agreement in a community
about religious matters, and
if the parents of all or most
of the children requested the
teacher to make some provi
sion for voluntary prayers at
the start of the day, I can
not imagine that anyone
would hale her into court
for doing so. After all, the
police aren't going to be
snooping around the class
rooms looking for bootleg
prayer sessions.
ON CRUISE
Midshipman Third Class
Ralph S. Lobdell, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Vincent N. Lobdell,
1007 Murray ave., is partici
pating in a midshipmen's
summer cruise aboard the at
tack aircraft carrier USS
Forestal, operating out of
Norfolk, Va. The cruise will
last from five to seven weeks.
All Naval Academy and
Navy Reserve Officers' Train
ing corps midshipmen partici
pate in summer cruises
aboard ships as part of the
military training adminis
tered to the future officers.
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APARTMENT TOWERS-This artist's sketch illustrates three
circular bO-story towers scheduled for construction by Chi
cago developers. The towers will feature an elevated road
way winding four times around the entire project in ascend
ing the spiral. The project will include a school, swimming
pool, a small forest and a non-denominational chapel for all
faiths. (UPI)
Motel Bankruptcy Disrupts Lodging For Seattle. Fair
Seattle - ll'PD - Letters were
in the mail today to more
than 800 depositors who
found themselves without
lodging .for the Seattle
World's Fair when Traveler's
Village, a trailer-motel east
of Lake Washington became
involved in bankruptcy pro
ceedings. The action was the result
of a two-hour emergency
meeting here Monday night of
Hatfield Concedes
Chances . Restricted
Salem - HOT - Gov. Mark
Hatfield conceded Tuesday
that the value of a proposed
fact-finding committee in the
northwest iron workers'
strike "is definitely restricted
from the very beginning if it
does not have the support and
cooperation of both sides."
The iron workers union ac
cepted the setting up of such
a committee, but contractors
dismissed the suggestion as a
blind alley to a settlement.
Hatfield restated his call
for the contractors and union
to resume talks "and stay in
session until a settlement."
Hatfield said the fact find
ing committee idea was part
of an attempt to "explore
every avenue."
directors of the World's Fair
Corporation. Joseph Gandy,
fair president, said the action
resulted from a "ground
swell' of public support and
offers of financial assistance
from the business community
to underwrite a repayment
plan if needed.
Many of those who lost de
posits totaling $95,000 had
been referred to the establish
ment by Expo-Lodging Serv
ice, the fair's housing coordin
ation bureau.
Deposits Guaranteed
The letter sent out Monday
night stated "the fair will
guarantee you the amount you
paid in deposits through court
action" and asked all deposi
tors to assign their claims to
the fair.
Legal action in the case
may take considerable time
and fair officials decided to
pay the depositors so they can
carry out their vacation plans.
Travelers Village, inc. noti
fied the fair June 8 it would
be unable to return deposits
to about 1,200 persons who
had made reservations.
Expo-Lodging then station
ed a representative on the sits
to inform visitors as they ar
rived. For three weeks, th
fair provided free emergency
accommodations for those who
had been en route when tha
establishment closed, at a cost
of $20,000.
BRITISH NEED MARINAS
London - IUPD - The British
boat industry is experiencing
the kind of marina shortage
that threatened a couple ot
years ago to throttle the boat
ing boom in the United States.
The Duke of Edinburgh, a
yachting enthusiast, recently
called attention to the problem.
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SHELL
10
Shell dealers list some causes and cures of
sounds, smells
other symptoms that
often puzzle drivers
Even if your car's in good condition, it may act up occasionally. When puzzled, consult
this chart. It doesn't cover every problem, but it will help with some of the more common ones.
ElSlCt
DESCRIPTION LIKELY CAUSE WHAT TO DO
1 . Worn or glazed fan belt. f. Replace tlw belt if it lnoks nam. It could break.
Ilih-pifchcd squeal when J'OU first 2. Loose fan belt. 2. Have the an belt tension checked. A loose belt may
slarl the engine. 3, Water pump seal needs not turn ,l,e gcncrator last enough to charge the battery.
lubrication. i. Atld Shell Crmlinz System Protector tn radiator vnter.
Throbbing roar. Damaged or worn muffler. Rcpncc mufllcr. Your Shell dealer can do this for you.
High-pitched erratic pinging noise- Frra!ic combustion caused Jryrerjheligaje, It contains three anti knock
usually lasts Just a tew seconds. giving carbon deposits ingredients One is TCP. This famous Shell additive
(Often called wild pine.) that flake off and ignite the works to fireproof combustion deposits that could
' ' fuel too soon. otherwise cause wild ping.
1. Badly worn brake yiiy brake trouble should be checked immediately by
Screeching brakes. linings. your Shell dealer. It could be dangerous. If linings are
2. Glazed brake lining. badly worn or glazed, brakes should be relincd soon.
Strong gasoline odor n hen you can't r, , , . Let the car sit a minute. Push the accelerator to the floor
start the car. don t pump it), then try the starter.
I'xhnusl nines. Most noticeable when First, open a window those fumes can make you groggy
driving in (own or when your engine Lcjking tail pipe or muffler. fast. Replace damaged part promptly. Note: Alwavshave
is idling. exhaust system inspected when your car is lubricated.
When cruising, dashboard generator ' V2w;cn m Mu , pUhLfirst station to avoid running battery down.
light goes on-or ammeter needle 2' Fauh; SCI or vo,t- '' i'13" hn bclt' Suggestion: Carry a spare belt it
continuously shows "discharge." ac rcSulat"r' 0r 'sc con" d sav; 'ou ,imc and troub,e-
ncction in electrical system. 2. I lave electrical system inspected to locate the trouble.
llrakc pedal action feels peculiar:
1. Pedal feels spongy. 1. Air in brake lines Brakes u-ith these troubles should be fixed immediately.
2. Pedal slowly sinks to floor under 2. Hydraulic fluid leaking Have )our Shell dealer inspect your brake system.
pressure. past master cylinder piston.
Car pulls In cither side: 1. Water, oil or hydraulic (TJimUwfc. lf you've just driven through water, drive
1. N hen braking. fluid on brake lining, brakes with caution until linings dry. Otherw ise, have brakes
out of adjustment. checked soon-it could be dangerous.
2. When cruising. 2. Uneven or low pressure 2. Check tires for correct pressure. Do this soon. Under-
in tires. inflation can also cause excessive tire wear.
I'ngine temperature suddenly passes 1 B",lcn ,fan ,bclt' (yu pff-fHS 1. Check fan belt. 2. To check coolant
the danger point on jour dashboard a"1hc" '''c da,tcr whcn -follmv "csf rulfs' Lct Sincccil down' Rcmovc radi"
p.,,, 'his breaks.) ator cap slowly using extreme care to avoid scalding. Add
2. Loss of cooling water. water slowly with engine idling. Check for leaks.
Trir fnr SNtrt riM tw fM'tl r.awhr
eomaiairuj Ttr it raiirN by C t. rMnt atltJtl.
Keep this guide in your glove compartment.
r li ci I
jnCbk It may come in handy if your car acts uo.
- - - .