CIVIL LIBERTIES ADVOCATES ASSAULT FROM AMERICA S RIGHT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100060019-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 18, 2011
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: November 10, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/01/18: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100060019-4
ARTICLE UU'VPM D
024 PAGE CHRISTIAN SCI iC . i? `dIr0R
10 November 19?1
en's rights, says Shattuck.
First of two articles an civil liberties and -~
,
the Reagan White Clouse. vive the engines of intern;
House Un-American Activ
By Julia Malone _ ; , :~?.~
? 9 he adds: (The ACLU is w
Staff correspondent of circulating in the House of.
The Christian Science Monitor ? ;
reinstate the defunct HUAC, which once in-
:: Washington vestigated suspected communists.)
In the American Civil Liberties Union of- f "At the same time we have the Reagan ad-
fice a few' blocks from the Capitol. John ! ministration." says the ACLU lobbyist. "It Is;
Right.
Shattuck is fielding phone calls from report-, 'often feeling pressures from the New
ers. Attorney?General William French Smith' This makes our- work extremely important!
has just launched a major attack on the fed- and difficult'.. ?:
eral courts for finding too many "implied" The new climate already has reshaped th
rights in the Constitution, and the ACLU is civil liberties organizaton, which once f
responding..; cused on winning its cases in courts but is?in
Reading from a hastily dra[tedstatement. creasingly turning to the political arena. The
scribbled on a :yellow pad, --Mr. Shattuck group has even taken a page out of the New
shoots back that. winning a presidential elec-I Right handbook by going directly' to the
tion does not give the Reagan administration "grass-roots" to try to build local support ' -
license to run the judicial branch, too. ? "We are learning that the definitions of 11
The ACLU. founded 60 years ago to defend berty are fought out In the political arena,"
Individual rights. routinely wades into such says Shattuck. "It is not enough to rely on d
disputes. But even for this controversy-prone cisions of the courts- unless there is popular
-group. which two years ago infuriated much support for the courts.' As part of thee- n
of its liberal membership by backing.the Nazi strategy, the ACLU Is running conferences
Party:s right to march, these-are extraordi- around the'countrq with the theme "cam
narytimes. ;..: paign to.: defend. the-.Bill of ? Rights': in'
'A year ago. Shattuck, legislative director Congrew-.
and chief lobbyist for thg ACLU. thought his Shattuck lists six areas his group consid-
office was busy;, arguing from lope to time ers most pressing:
,with the Carter,administration-and trying to 1. Extending the Voting Rights Act. They
pass bills through Congress. Now. those days. law, which protects the rights of minorities to!
seen) like easy times.. vote. has strong ACLU backing. The House
"The difference is that we are now fighting I already has voted for extension. President
a combination of a hostile government and;. Reagan late last week gave a lukewarm en-
very stron& hostile political force `outside the dorsement of the act, but encouraged the Sen-
government" on civil liberties Issues, he says:' - ite-to?add "reasonable" procedures to allow!
-While administration officials deny that states and localities to bail out of the Voting
they are hostile to civil liberties, the new ad- Rights Act requirements.
ministration and the ACLU have been at cross 2. Protecting the federal courts. Shattuck
purposes almost from the start. Presidential has counted some 40 bills in Congress aimed
counselor Edwin Meese III fired the first shot at stripping. the federal courts of authority to
last May when he called the ACLU part of a rule- on - eases involving abortion. school
"criminals' lobby" because of its efforts on . prayer. and school busing. He calls these bills.'
behalf of convicted criminals. Mr. Meese adangerous precedent for amending the Con- G
later backed away from the statement. but stitution by` a simple act of Congress. short !
not very far. (A _ Department . of Justice circuiting theamendment process.
spokesman recently joked that whenever the.1 3. -Reproductive freedom. -While the Su-i
ACLU and New York Times oppose a stand, preme Court- ruling that granted abortiois
"Thep we think we're right.") . ' , . : rights In 1973 was correct: Shattuck says.
Meanwhile, outside of the government, "There was not enough.political support for it-,'
groups such as Moral Majority; the National l. 'when it came down. Perhaps the way wasn't
Conservative'" Political - Action Committee paved." He Is lobbying against several at-
(NCPAC), and others from the New Itiaht tempts to overturn that decision. including a
have grown powerful. Senate bill that would give legal personhood
"They have their 'view of civil liberties; _ to a fetus. ' -
concedes Shattuck. But it is certainly not )tie 4. Criminal justice changes. He is opposing
ACLU view. which emphasizes-free speech.1 a number of Reagan proposals. Including
separation of church and staeR, abortiap jailing accused criminals without bail It they
rights. and desegregatd schools, as well as are considered dangerous. permitting use in
protection . , of the ; rights . of ? ,criminal court of some evidence gained illegally. and
? defendants.:.'. ::: .. :....., yl limiting a prison inmate's access to federal
The tars r_ ~__t~.S ?1 ~__ _~_Jt__'t_~- ww,,.~n _
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