H. RES. 936
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP72-00337R000200080023-3
Release Decision:
RIFPUB
Original Classification:
K
Document Page Count:
11
Document Creation Date:
December 21, 2016
Document Release Date:
February 18, 2004
Sequence Number:
23
Case Number:
Publication Date:
April 20, 1970
Content Type:
REGULATION
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918T CONGRESS
2D SESSION
. RES. 936
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 20, 1970
Mr. WYMAN (for himself, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. WAGGONNER., Mr. SIKES, Mr. DUN-
CAN, Mr. COLLIER, Mr. JOHNSON of Pennsylvania, and Mr. BURKE of Flor-
ida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on. Rules :
RESOLUTION
Whereas, the Constitution of the United States provides in
Article III, Section 1, that Justices of the Supreme Court
shall hold office only "during good behavior", and
Whereas, the Constitution also provides in Article II, Section 4,
that Justices of the Supreme Court shall be removed from
Office on Impeachment for High Crimes and Misdemeanors,
and
Whereas the Constitution also provides in Article VI that
Justices of the Supreme Court shall be bound by "Oath or
Affirmation to support this Constitution" and the United
States Code (5 U.S.C. 16) prescribes the following form of
oath which was taken and sworn to by William Orville
V-O
J. 37-001----coo p, 5/20/2003
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Douglas prior to his accession to incumbency on the United
States Supreme Court :
"I, William Orville Douglas, do solemnly swear
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the
United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;
that I take this obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well
and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which
I am about to enter. So help me God."
and
Whereas, integrity and objectivity in respect to issues -and
causes to be presented to the United, States Supreme Court
for final determination make it mandatory that Members
thereof refrain from public advocacy of a position on any
matter that may come before the High Court lest public
confidence in this constitutionally co-equal judicial body be
undermined, and
Whereas, the said William Orville Douglas has, on frequent
occasions in published writings, speeches, lectures and state-
ments, declared a personal position on issues to come before
the United States Supreme 'Court indicative of a prejudiced
and non-judicial attitude incompatible with good behavior
and contrary to the requirements of judicial decorum obliga-
tory upon the Federal judiciary in general and members of
the United States Supreme Court in particular, and
Whereas, by the aforementioned conduct and writings, the said
William Orville Douglas has established himself before the
public, including litigants whose lives, rights and future are
seriously affected by decisions of the Court of which the said
William Orville Douglas is a member, as a partisan advocate
and not as a judge, and
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Whereas, by indicating in advance of Supreme Court decisions,
on the basis of declared, printed, or quoted convictions, how
he would decide matters in controversy pending and to be-
come pending before the Court of which he is a member, the
said William Orville Douglas has committed the high mis-
demeanor of undermining the integrity of the highest con-
stitutional Court in America, and has wilfully and deliberately
undermined public confidence in the said Court as an institu-
tion, and
Whereas, contrary to his Oath of Office as well as patently in
conflict with the Canons of Ethics for the Judiciary of the
American Bar Association, the said William Orville Douglas
nevertheless on February 19, 1970, did publish and publicly
distribute throughout the United States, statements encour-
aging, aggravating and inciting violence, anarchy and civil
unrest in the form of a book entitled "Points of Rebellion"
in which the said William Orville Douglas, all the while an
incumbent on the Highest Court of last resort in the United
States, stated, among other things, that :
"But where grievances pile high and most of the
elected spokesmen represent the Establishment, violence
may be the only effective response." (pp. 88-89,
"Points of Rebellion," Random House, Inc., Febru-
ary 19, 1970, William 0. Douglas.
"The special interests that control government use
its powers to favor themselves and to perpetuate regimes
of oppression, exploitation, and discrimination against
the many." (ibid, p. 92)
"People march and protest but they are not heard."
(ibid, p. 88 )
"Where there is a persistent sense of futility, there
is violence; and that is where we are today." (ibid,
p. 56)
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"The two. parties have become almost indistinguish-
able.; and each is controlled b ~ the Establishment. The
modern day .dissenters and protesters are, functioning as
tle, loyal opposition. functions in, England,, They; are the
;mounting 1-oice of political opposition to .the status quo,
calling for revolutionary changes in our institutions.. Yet
the powers-that-be faintly echo Adolph Hitler." (ibid,
p..57)
"Yet American protesters need not be submissive.
A speaker who resists arrest is acting as a free man."
(ibid, p. 6)
"We must realize that today's Establishment is the
new George III. Whether it will continue to adhere to
his tactics, we do not know. If it does, the redress, hon-
ored in tradition, is also revolution." (ibid, p. 95)
and thus wilfully and deliberately fanned the fires of unrest,
rebellion, and revolution in the United States,, and,
Whereas, in the April 1970 issue of Evergreen Magazine, the
said William Orville Douglas for pay did, while an incum-
bent on the United States Supreme Court, publish an
article entitled Redress and Revolution, appearing on page
41 of said issue immediately following a malicious carica-
ture of the President of the United States as George III,
as well as photographs of nudes engaging in various acts
of sexual intercourse, in which article the said William
Orville Douglas again wrote for pay that :
"George III was. the symbol against which our
Founders made a revolution now considered bright and
glorious.... We must realize that today's Establish-
ment is the new George III. Whether it ,will continue to
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adhere to his tactics, we do not know. If it does, " the re-
dress, honored in tradition, is also Revolution."
and
Whereas, the said William Orville Douglas, prepared, authored,
and received payment for an article which appeared in the
March 1969 issue of the magazine, Avant Garde, published
by Ralph Ginzburg, previously convicted of sending obscene
literature through the United States Mails, (see 383 U.S.
463) at a time when the said Ralph Ginzburg was actively
pursuing an appeal from his conviction upon a charge of mali-
cious libel before the Supreme Court of the United States,
yet nevertheless the said William Orville Douglas, as a sit-
ting member of the Supreme Court of the United States,
knowing full well his own financial relationship with this
litigant before the Court, sat in judgment on the Ginzburg
appeal, all in clear violation and conflict with his Oath of
Office, the Canons of Judicial Ethics, and Federal law (396
U.S. 1049), and
Whereas, while an incumbent on the United States Supreme
Court the said William Orville Douglas for hire has served
and is reported to still serve as a Director and as Chairman
of the Executive Committee of the Center for the Study of
Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California, a polit-
ically oriented action organization' which, among other
things, has organized national conferences designed to seek
detente with the Soviet Union and. openly encouraged stu-
dent radicalism, and
Whereas, the said Center for the Study of Democratic Institu-
tions, in violation of the. Logan Act, sponsored and financed
a "Pacem in Terris II Convocation." at Geneva, Switzer-
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land, May 28-31, 1967, to discuss foreign affairs and U.S.
foreign policy including the "Case of Vietnam" and the
"Case of Germany", to which Ho Chi Minh was publicly
invited, and all while the United States was in the midst of
war in which Communists directed by the same Ho Chi
Minh were killing American boys fighting to give South
Vietnam, the independence and freedom from aggression
we had promised that Nation, and from this same Center
there were paid to the said William Orville Douglas fees
of $500 per day for Seminars and Articles, and
Whereas, paid activity of this type by a sitting Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States is contrary to his Oath
of Office to uphold the United States Constitution, violative of
the Canons of Ethics of the American Bar Association and is
believed to constitute misdemeanors of the most fundamental
type in the context in which that term appears in the United
States Constitution (Article II, Section 4) as well as failing
to constitute "good behavior" as that term appears in the
Constitution (Article III, Section 1) , upon which the tenure
of all Federal judges is expressly conditioned, and
Whereas, moneys paid to the said William Orville Douglas from
and by the aforementioned Center are at least as follows :
1962, $900; 1963, $800; 1965, $1,000; 1966, $1,000;
1968, $1,100; 1969, $2,000; all during tenure on the United
States Supreme Court, and all while a Director on a Board
of Directors that meets (and met) biannually to determine
the general policies of the Center, and
Whereas, the said William Orville Douglas, contrary to his sworn
obligation to refrain therefrom and in violation of the Canons
of Ethics, has repeatedly engaged in political activity while
an incumbent of the High Court, evidenced in part by his
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authorization for the use of his name in a recent political
fund-raising letter, has continued public advocacy of the rec-
ognition of Red China by the United States, has publicly
criticized the military posture of the United States, has au-
thored for pay several articles on subjects patently related
to causes pending or to be pending before the United States
Supreme Court in Playboy Magazine on such subjects as in-
vasions of privacy and civil liberties, and most recently has
expressed in Brazil public criticism of United States foreign
policy while on a visit to Brazil in 1969, plainly designed to
undermine public confidence in South and Latin American
countries in the motives and objectives of the foreign policy
of the United States in Latin America, and
Whereas, in addition to the foregoing, and while a sitting
Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, the
said William Orville Douglas has charged, been paid and
received $12,000 per annum as President and Director of
the Parvin Foundation from 1960 to 1969, which Founda-
tion received substantial income from gambling interests in
the Freemont Casino at Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as the
Flamingo at the same location, accompanied by innumerable
conflicts of interest and overlapping financial maneuvers fre-
quently involved in litigation the ultimate appeal from which
could only be to the Supreme Court of which the said Wil-
liam Orville Douglas was and is a member, the tenure of
the said William Orville Douglas with the Parvin Founda-
tion being reported to have existed since 1960 in the capacity
of President, and resulting in the receipt by the said William
Orville Douglas from the Parvin Foundation of fees aggre-
gating at least $85,000, all while a member of the United
States Supreme Court, and all while referring to Internal
Revenue Service investigation of the Parvin Foundation
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while ,a Justice of the United States Supreme Court as a
"manufactured case" intended to force him to leave the
bench, all while he was still President and Director of the
said Foundation and was earning a.$12,000 annual salary
in those posts, a patent conflict of interest, and
Whereas, it has been repeatedly alleged that the said William
Orville Douglas in his position as President of the Parvin
Foundation did in fact give the said Foundation tax advice,
with particular reference to matters known by the said Wil-
liam Orville Douglas at the time to have been under investi-
gation by the United States Internal Revenue Service, all
contrary to the basic legal and judicial requirement that a
Supreme Court Justice may not give legal advice, and partic-
ularly not for a fee, and
Whereas, the said William Orville Douglas has, from time to
time over the past ten years, had dealings with, involved
himself with, and may actually have received fees and travel
expenses, either directly or indirectly, from known criminals,
gamblers, and gangsters or their representatives and as-
sociates, for services, both within the United States and
abroad, and
Whereas, the foregoing conduct on the part of the said William
Orville Douglas while a Justice of . the Supreme Court is
incompatible with his constitutional obligation to refrain
from non-judicial activity of a patently unethical nature, and
Whereas, the foregoing. conduct and other activities.. on the part
of the said William Orville Douglas while a sitting Justice
on the United States Supreme Court, establishes that the
said William Orville Douglas in the conduct of his solemn
judicial responsibilities has become a prejudiced advocate
of predetermined positions on matters in controversy or to
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become in controversy before `the High Court to the demon-
strated ,dtrinzentof American Jurisprudence, and
Whereas, from the fore oin and without reference to what-
ever g, ~~,. ...:.
additional relevant information may be developed
through investigation under oath, it appears that the said
William Orville Douglas, among other things, has sat in
judgment on a; cause involving a party from whom the said
William Orville Douglas to his knowledge received financial
gain, as well as that the said William Orville Douglas for
personal financial gain, while a member of the United States
Supreme Court, has encouraged violence to alter the present
form of government of the United States of America, and
has received and accepted substantial financial compensa-
tion from various sources for various duties ' incompatible
with his judicial position and constitutional obligation, and
has publicly and repeatedly, both orally and in writings, de-
clared himself a partisan on issues pending or likely to be-
come pending before the Court of which he is a member:
Now, therefore, be it
1 Resolved, That-
2 (1) The Speaker of the House shall within fourteen
3 days hereafter appoint a select committee of six Members of
4 the House, equally divided between the majority and the
5 minority parties and shall designate one member to serve as
6 chairman, which select committee shall proceed to investi-
7 gate and determine whether Associate Justice William
8 Orville Douglas. has committed high crimes and misde-
9 meanors as that phrase appears in the Constitution, Article
10 II, Section 4, or has, while an incumbent, failed to be of the
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10
good behavior upon which his Commission as said Justice is
conditioned by the Constitution, Article III, Section 1. The
select committee shall report to the House the results of its
investigation, together with its recommendations on this res-
5 olution for impeachment of the said William Orville Douglas
6 not later than ninety days following the designation of its full
7 membership by the Speaker.
8 (2) For the purpose of carrying out this resolution the
9 committee, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit
10 and act during the present Congress at such times and places
11 within the United States whether the House is sitting, has
12 recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, and to
13 require by subpena or otherwise, the attendance and testi-
14 mony of such witnesses and the production of such books,
15 records, correspondence, memorandums, papers, and docu-
16- ments as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued under
17 the signature of the chairman of the committee or any mem-
18 her of the committee designated by him, and may be served
19 by any person designated by such chairman or member.
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91sT CONGRESS
2n SESSION H. ? RES. 936
RESOLUTION
Creating a Select Committee to conduct an in-
vestigation of certain activities of William
Orville Douglas, Associate Justice of the
United States Supreme Court, to determine
whether impeachment proceedings are war-
ranted.
By Mr. WYMAN, Mr. Scour, Mr. WAGGONNER,
Mr. Sys, Mr. DuNcAN, Mr. Cor.i.mR, Mr.
JOHNSON of Pennsylvania, and Mr. BUEXE
of Florida
Arse. 20,1970
Referred to the Committee on Rules
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