Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 4, 1963)
8 D THURSDAY. APRIL 4. 1963 MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON Court Answers on School Prayer Issue Listed Again (In Baltimore, Md., recent ly, William J. Murray, III, a 16-year-old atheist, tried to obtain a court warrant charg ing another 16-year-old hec kled him by waving a rosary in his face and shouting: "I believe. I believe." The inci dent aroused widespread in terest because the U.S. Su preme Court will decide soon, in cases involving young Mur ray and others, whether Bi ble reading and the Lord's Prayer in tax-supported pub lic schools are permissible un der the U.S. Constitution. The issues and highlights of argu ments heard by the court are et forth in the follftwing dis patch.) By CHARLOTTE G. MOULTON United Prats International Washington - (UPB - "When you prayest, enter Into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret Jesus spoke these words in the sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:60). Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black referred to them recently during argu ments on whether Bible read ing and the Lord's Prayer are permissible under the Consti tution as opening exercises in public schools. Passage Eyed The passage may have spe cial significance for Ameri cans trying to think their way through this emotion - charg ed issue. As one lawyer put it, the cases arouse thoughts "about the nature of man and his existence here on earth." Black wrof thn opinion which last term struck down New York's state - composed school prayer. Judging by the outburst that greeted this de cision, almost everybody has an opinion on the subject and wants to express it. The criticism reached such a pitch that one member of the court, Justice Tom C. Clark, took the unusual step of attempting in a public speech to quiet things down. He explained that the deci sion was a narrow one apply ing only to a "state-written prayer circulated by a school district to state employed teachers with instruction to have their pupils recite it in unison at the beginning of each school day In state-owned buildings." ' First Amendment The first amendment says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the They say the provision for excusing any child who does not want to take part in the opening exercise is ample pro tection for those who do not approve of it. The plaintiffs in the Balti more case Mrs. Madalyn E. Murray and her 16-year-old son William, both athlesls challenged a rule requir ing reading the Bible andor recitation of the Lord's Prayer without comment ev ery morning. This rule was set up in 19D5 by the board of school commissioners. Contest Law A Unitarian couple, Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Schcmpp, filed the Pennsylvania case, contesting a state law which requires that 10 verses of the Bible be read without com ment at the opening of each school day. The Schempps have a daughter in Abington, Pa., high school. Mrs. Murray and the Schempps argue that the chal lenged practices favor the Christian religion over others and certain Christian groups over others. Besides being an "estab lishment of religion," they say, the practices also inter fere with the guarantee of free exercise of religion. This, they contend, is because pub lic action must be taken by the children in order to take advantage of their right not to attend a religious ccromo ny. At the same time pros sure is exerted on them to at tend. Verbal Battle The arguments provoked a verbal free - for - all seldom equaled in the sedate court When It was generally agreed that a few moments of silence would not be uncon stitutional, Stewart remarked to Mrs. Murray's attorney: State Decision "Your client could stand there and think about his dis belief." The justice made the point that in America's early days many states had "established" religions. He said one view is that the "establishment" clause was included in the first amendment for the ex press purpose of leaving this matter entirely up to the states. Black came back with the observation that, while the majority has a right to free dom of religion, that right may not be exercised just any where. He pointed out that a group might feel moved to come into the Supreme Court and pray while court was in session but that wouldn't be allowed. He suggested that allowing the majority to select public school prayers reduces the Constitution's guarantees to a kind of local option. Black Skeptical "What happens if you win Black asked a lawyer for Baltimore City. "If you could have three minutes of pray cr, couldn't you have 40? Or take all your readings from the sacred book of one reli gion or sect? He wondered what would happen if. some one moved to substitute the Book of Mor mon for the Bible in Balti more. As for the results of the program on non-participating "Arenl you denigrating the Bible?" he asked. "If the Bi ble is anything, it is the great est religious document the world lias ever had. But you say you are reading it for some other reason." He wondered why the Penn sylvania law referred t" the Bible as Ihe "Holy Bible" if it were not a religious docu ment. Douglas, a minor partici pant, jumped into the fray when a lawyer insisted on the right of a majority to deter mine a school prayer. "Then there would be a contest as to which church could get control of the school board," he remarked. Both White and Brennan wondered why it was neces sary to excuse children if only general morals, and not religion, were being taught. Is Sectarian "You don't excuse the chil dren from arithmetic, do you?" Brennan asked. White noted that the Douay version of the Bible has sectarian as pects. Further, he noted that the Bible reading in the Ab ington school is done over a loud speaker. "Is there any place in school a pupil could go and not hear it?" he asked. (Nothing is in the record on this subject because no one ever asked to be excused. I Harlan seemed to feel that the court had reached a turn ing point. He suggested that the justices must decide whether they should not re examine the whole line of church - state cases of recent years. These include, among oth- j ers, the McCollum decision of ! 1948, wherein the court ruled out a religious teaching plan carried on . in the public schools of Champaign. 111., by a joint Jewish - Catholic Protestant council. More recently the court has ruled that holding a public office in a stale may not be conditioned on a belief in God. A decision in the Bible reading and Lord's Prayer cases is expected some time before the end of the term in June. m What a treat for every occasion! ICE CREAM chamber which was filled to children, Black asked: "How overflowing with an attentive can you assume there is never audience. any pressure on a little cnua The religious affiliations of when he has to step aside? the members of the court are varied. Chief Justice Earl Warren designates himself as a Protestant. Black comes from a Baptist background. Clark and Justices William O. Douglas and John M. Har lan are Presbyterians. Justices Poller Stewart and Byron R. White are Episcopalians. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. is a Roman Catholic and Justice Arthur J. Goldberg is Jewish. Like everybody else, the justices had a lot of Ideas to discuss as each attorney took over the podium to aroue. Only Clark had practically nothing to say. The most outstanding de velopment was a spasmodic verbal duel during the entire argument between Black and Stewart, the lone dissenter in ma nvnrriin i (i ar e-ii The states for many years New York ca5e have, through the 14th Stewart Sunk! amendment, been subject to the same prohibition. " 'No' means 'no.' " Clark said. 'This was all the court decided." Many legal observers who followed arguments on now pending Baltimore and Phil adelphia area cases Insist, however, that unless the court backs away from its New York ruling the same reason ing controls the Lord's Pray er and Bible reading cases. The general contention of state officials is that opening the school day with the Lord's Prayer is part of the national heritage; that the exercises have outgrown their purely religious origins and merely teach moral and ethical pre cepts. Erodes Contact They say that if these prac tices are ruled out they fore see "a steadily increasing ero sion" in other forms of church-state contact. The mentioned chaplains in both houses of Congress, the armed forces, service acade mics and federal hospitals and prisons; exemptions of reli gious organizations from Ihe federal income tax; duducti bility of gifts to religious in stitutions, and the like. FAA Notes Rise in Airport Activities The Federal Aviation Agen cy has announced that in creases in 0rnpi-al nviatinn flying during liifia accounted lor the highest total air traf lie figure ever recorded - 28, 201.000 landings and takcoffs at 270 airports served by FAA control towers. The tower at Chicago's O'Harc International Airport was the nation's busiest, han dling a total of 417,,'IRtl land ings and take-offs, about 99, 000 more than 1961. The tote! pushed !t year's leader, Los Angeles Interna tional Airport, into second place with 344,053 operations. O'Harc also had more Itiner ant, airline and instrument operations than any other air port in ihe country. Van Nuyl Airport in Cali fornia retained its lead of last year m general auation itin erant operations with 141,983 lakeoffs and landings. Medford, in total aircraft operations, was in ill 1th place with 54.261. Under the head ing ol itinerant aircraft op erations for the calendar year 1962 the Medford tower rank ed 190th with 38,328. it Stewart began it by remark ing that he had never read anything in the first amend ment about "a wall of sep aration between church and state," a phrase frequently used in church - slate contro veries and mentioned by the first attorney to speak. "Why can t the child who doesn't want to participate Just walk away? he inquired. btewart said there was a tendency to lump the two clauses of the first amend ment together when actually they sometimes conflict, it a majority wanted to open the school day with prayer, the practice might be called an "establishment," he said. But stopping it would interfere with free exercise by them of their religion. He said he was not advanc ing an answer to the conflict but merely pointing it out. Stewart also suggested that Ihe Baltimure case might merit a trial to determine the compulsions on a reluctant participant to conform and the results If he does not. Chief Justice Warren ques tioned a state argument that the main issue is between theism (belief in a supreme being) and non-theism. "Aren't there many groups whoh believe as fervently in God as anyone alse who op pose this?" he inquired. He mentioned Jewish groups. The chief justice was also interested in Hawaii, where there are many Buddhists. He posed the imaginary situation of 51 Buddhist children and 49. Christians in class togeth er. The majority would then choose a Buddhist ceremony to open classes and the Chris tians would walk out? He asked. Flnan Doubtful (The answer by Maryland Atly. Gen. Thomas B. Flnan was "Yes.") Goldberg found it hard to follw the slate argument that Ihe opening exercise is not "religious." Mppr "Your grandchildren will grow up under Communism!" v NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV u : t VLasfrJ Will rht Sovi.i fhral com trui? Will your grandchildren llv undm Communitm ? Forgtt God? Solute tho SuV.vj mil, ? NtVOfl" MHl ft. Bill MT tilat fo II.. 1 , . mi nra oppose Communism.' One lure dray. Help Wm Am I What dpas it do? h bTOtdcMU the news of freedom to 79 million people hehnul ,he Iron Curtain. Ii helps keep them from turning to Communism. It pose. . nujot ohwade to the Russians starting war. Hut Radio Tree lurt.pe depend, on """cans lor its esisteme. Will ou help? Gie a dollar? Oi.e 5 dollars ... or more? Give Now To . . ; RADIO FREE EUROPE The American People's Counter Voice lo Communism Use the envelope your newspapcrboy leave JT ,or a generous contribution to (jm T kmuiu FREE EUROPE MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE mmSB del monte 79m im. Jl. V CHOICE OF CRUSHED - TID-BITS CHUNKS Pineapple DEI MONTE ATPuren dicncu 4" PRUNES 100 No. 303 Tins J No. 303 S J No. 211 tins 89 DEI MONTE FRUITS FOR SALAD 3 $1 No. 303 Tint DEL MONTE FRUIT COCKTAIL 1 ApriCOK 89 4S89 Del Monte Halves M No. A A PEACHES 4 Z 89 Del Monte Sliced M No. A A PEACHES 4 2? 89 ki ; ft DEL MONTE f q DEL MONTE MS PINEAPPLE 3 - 1 TOMATO JUICE DEL MONTE SOLID PACK TOMATOES DEL MONTE STEWED TOMATOES am; MONTE CREAM STYLE 4N 0 89 CORN DEL MONTE CATSUP 5 14-oz. Bottles 89 DEL MONTE TOMATO SAUCE 10 s 89 I 'if DEL MONTE SPINACH DEL MONTE BABY GREEN 4 No. 303 tins LIMAS $100 DEL MONTE Early DC A C Garden TLMJ DEL MONTE m Ei?cv GREEN BEANS 4 DEL A10NTE WHOLE KERNEL No. 303 tins s1 CORN 3 4 4 5 5 46-oz. tins No. 303 tins . No. 303 Tins 88 88 88 88 88 No. 303 M lib tins No. 303 UP 11C tins MEDFORD 'S FINEST MEATS SINCE 1940 Fresh FANCY 1 GRADE aaBBBsFsaaBBBY jBBasaaesaasaV O No 1 M " A afl ''"A BBBa Ll Fryers , uu,.i ib. I FRESH Q pounds f) pord mm o j j oo i U,29 (3-B. AVERAGE) CUT UP FRYERS FRESH PORK SPARERIBS Small Lean Tender Sides From "Choice' Eastern Pork 49: 79 .b. 98 b. 12-or. jar 59' $J.39 b. Pork Chops All Center Lean Chops Beef Roasts "Choice" Boneless Tips-Rumps Fresh Oysters Smill Pacific Sirloin Steaks Boneless Choice Minced Ham ' Nebergall't" Sliced (Lsrge Bologna) Horn Loaf Our Own Make It's Really Delicious Knnolocr Dnrl I mmm , -J. rk, c. ...... -v., rwir ..viii rwuai .BPiN "w : y ib. ib. jy ib. FANCY FRUITS & VEGETABLES M c Ib --JLsJI No. 1 Fancy jf jffe BANANAS 1 0 LARGE SIZE Jg A ARTICHOKES 13 FANCY LARGE SPEAR g A ASPARAGUS 1 S ea c Ib CRISP, GREEN (f A CELERY I 21 39 LARGE, SOLID LETTUCE J Our Own Pure Pork Sausage 2 Pounds 89 mm m DELIVERY Phone 773-7444 222 West Main Sf NEXT TO POWER COMPANY CLOSED SUNDAYS v N
