Barrows v. Jackson Petition for Rehearing After Hearing and Decision on the Merits on Writ of Certiorari to the District Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District
Public Court Documents
July 1, 1953
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Brief Collection, LDF Court Filings. Barrows v. Jackson Petition for Rehearing After Hearing and Decision on the Merits on Writ of Certiorari to the District Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District, 1953. 72847696-be9a-ee11-be36-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/cc8adf4a-d212-446c-8753-8f7972ceb683/barrows-v-jackson-petition-for-rehearing-after-hearing-and-decision-on-the-merits-on-writ-of-certiorari-to-the-district-court-of-appeal-of-the-state-of-california-second-appellate-district. Accessed November 23, 2025.
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IN TH E
Supreme Court of the United States
October Term, 1952.
No. 517.
O l iv e B. B arrow s, R ic h a r d P ik k a r and M. M. O ’Gara,
Petitioners,
vs.
L eola J a ck son ,
Respondent.
Petition for Rehearing After Hearing and Decision
on the Merits on Writ of Certiorari to the District
Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second
Appellate District.
J o h n C. M il e s ,
J. W allace M cK n ig h t , and
Ch a r les L ela n d B agley ,
408 South Spring Street,
Los Angeles 13, California,
Counsel for Petitioners.
Parker & Company, Law Printers, Los Angeles. Phone MA. 6-9171.
SUBJECT INDEX
PAGE
I .
Statement of the case........................................................................ 1
A. An exception to a jurisdictional limitation which had no
exceptions ................................................................ ............. 3
B. The court’s decision is based upon considerations which
petitioners did not have an opportunity to brief or argue,
to-wit: (1) The constitutional rights of classes; (2)
Whether the class designated “non-Caucasian” has any
constitutional rights which might be affected by a judg
ment for petitioners; (3) Whether a judgment for peti
tioners would affect those rights, if any exist................... 23
(1) The constitutional rights of classes............................... 26
(2) The class designated “non-Caucasian” has no con
stitutional rights which might be affected by a judg
ment for petitioners........................................................ 32
(3) Judgment for petitioners cannot affect any supposed
rights of unidentified non-Caucasians........................... 33
INDEX TO APPENDICES
Appendix A. Cover and pages 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the June,
1953, issue of the national Negro magazine “Color.”
Appendix B. Pages 8, 9 and 10 of June, 1953, national Negro
magazine, “Sepia.”
Appendix C. Cover and pages 71, 72 and 73 of the July,
1953, issue of the national Negro magazine, “Ebony.”
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES CITED
Cases page
Buchanan v. Worley, 245 U. S. 60, 62 L. Ed. 149...................14, 15
Civil Rights Cases, 109 U. S. 3........................................................ 35
Coleman v. Miller, 307 U. S. 433.................................................... 6
Comm. Cas. Ins. Co. v. Ind. Acc. Comm., 110 Cal. App. 2d 83,
242 P. 2d 13.................................................................................... 16
Estabrook Co. v. Ind. Acc. Comm., 177 Cal. 767, 177 Pac.
848 ............................................... ......................................14, 16, 17
Greene v. State, 83 Neb. 84, 119 N. W. 6.................................14, 15
Johnson, Estate of, 139 Cal. 532, 73 Pac. 424................................. 20
Joint Anti-Facist Refugee Com. v. McGrath, 341 U. S. 123,
95 Fed. 817.................................................................................... 21
Nowak, Ex parte, 184 Cal. 701, 195 Pac. 405............................... 18
Pacific Indemnity Co. v. Myers, 211 Cal. 645, 296 Pac. 1087.... .
............................................................................................. 18, 19, 20
People v. Globe Grain & Milling Co., 211 Cal. 127, 294 Pac. 5.. 18
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U. S. 510.........7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Quong Ham Wah Co. v. Ind. Acc. Comm., 184 Cal. 26.............
............................................................. ...—14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Security-First National Bank v. Bank of America, 7 Cal. 2d 771,
59 P. 2d 1023.................................................................................. 18
Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U. S. 1.................................................. 3, 7
Terrance v. Thompson, 263 U. S. 197, 68 L. Ed. 255....... 9, 10, 12
Truax v. Corrigan, 257 U. S. 312, 66 L. Ed. 254............... 9, 11, 12
Truax v. Raich, 239 U. S. 33, 60 L. Ed. 131................... 11, 12, 13
Van Camp Sea Food Co. v. Newbert, 76 Cal. App. 445, 244
Pac. 949 ............................................................................. 18, 19, 20
M iscellaneous PAGE
Color, June, 1953, pp. 16-19............................................................ 30
Ebony, July, 1953, pp. 71-73............................................................ 30
Noble and Wolf, Ontario Weekly Notes (1949), p. 488............... 30
Report to the Governor’s Council Meeting of May 25, 1953, p.
2, by California Youth Authority on “Departmental Activities
During April, 1953”...................................................................... 29
Sepia, June, 1953, pp. 8-10................................................ ............... 30
23 Uniform Crime Reports for the United States and Its Pos
sessions, issued by Federal Bureau of Investigation, U. S.
Dept, of Justice, No. 2, Annual Bulletin, 1952 (U. S. Govt.
Printing Office, Wash., D. C.).................................................. 27
Wolfson and Kurland, “Reynolds Robertson and Francis R.
Kirkham, Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United
States,” Chap. 38, p. 541 (Matthew Bender & Co., 1951)....... 23
S tatu tes
Civil Code, Sec. 1466............................................................ ........... 34
United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment................... 11
T extbooks
15 Corpus Juris, p. 1301.................................................................. 34
IN THE
Supreme Court of the United States
October Term, 1952.
No. 517.
O l iv e B. B arrows, R ic h a r d P ik k a r and M . M. O ’Gara,
L eola J a ck son ,
vs.
Petitioners,
Respondent.
Petition for Rehearing After Hearing and Decision
on the Merits on Writ of Certiorari to the District
Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second
Appellate District.
Petitioners pray that a rehearing be granted to review
the decision of this Court rendered June 15, 1953, in the
above entitled cause.
I .
Statement of the Case.
On or about the 21st day of October, 1944, petitioners
Barrows [R. 1] and O’Gara [R. 2] and the ancestor in
title of petitioner Pikkar [R. 2], and respondent Leola
Jackson [R. 2], each owned lots in Tract 1462 in the City
of Los Angeles. On or about that date, in consideration
of the mutual benefit to themselves and their respective
properties, said owners, including respondent, executed and
2
caused to be recorded an “agreement imposing restric
tions” [R. 2], By the terms of said agreement each of the
signers promised and bound himself, his heirs, executors,
administrators, successors and assigns, by a continuing
covenant, that no part of his said real property described
therein should ever at any time be used or occupied by any
person or persons not wholly of the white or Caucasian
race [R. 3]. By the terms of said agreement each of the
signers further promised that this restriction should be
incorporated in all papers and transfers of lots or parcels
of land of said signers [R. 3].
On or about February 2, 1950, respondent, Leola Jack-
son, and one Dorothy May Grace, executed a grant deed
to Pearnell Smalley and Florine Smalley [R. 4], Respon
dent, Leola Jackson, failed to incorporate in said deed the
restrictions contained in said agreement against use and
occupancy by persons not wholly of the white or Caucasian
race, which failure constituted the first breach of respon
dent’s contract complained of by petitioners [R. 5].
On or about September 4, 1950, persons not of the white
or Caucasion race moved into and began to use and occupy
the property as to which respondent had contracted that it
would never at any time be used or occupied by persons
not of the white or Caucasian race [R. 4], Said use and
occupancy on or about and after the 4th day of September,
1950, constituted the second breach of respondent’s con
tract complained of by petitioners. As a result of the
breaches of contract, and each of them, petitioners have
suffered actual and severe depreciation in the value of their
property, as alleged in their second amended complaint [R.
5 and 6], Respondent’s demurrer was sustained without
— 3—
leave to amend [R. 16]. The District Court of Appeal
of the State of California, Second Appellate District,
held that the complaint states a cause of action for dam
ages for breach of contract under the common law prin
ciples of California [R. 32, 34] and that the covenant
is constitutionally a valid agreement [R. 34], but that
because of Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U. S. 1, the courts
of California may not permit petitioners to recover their
actual provable monetary damages [R. 56].
The opinion of the majority of this Court held that al
though the contract sued upon is valid and although re
spondent would not be deprived of any of her constitu
tional rights by a judgment for the damages suffered by
petitioners, yet respondent could assert constitutional
rights claimed by “non-Caucasians, unidentified but iden
tifiable” as possible future bidders for unidentified land
from prospective sellers.
A. An Exception to a Jurisdictional Limitation W hich Had
No Exceptions.
An exception should not be recognized to a jurisdic
tional limitation which had no exception without the bene
fit of full and complete consideration in the briefs and
arguments of the parties. The opinion of the majority
in the case at bar is based upon the asserted rights of
unknown persons with no standing in this litigation. In
justification, the majority opinion has held on page 5,
that the rule of standing and interest has application only
in cases challenging the constitutionality of a statute:
“The common thread underlying both requirements
is that a person cannot challenge the constitutionality
of a statute unless he shows that he himself is injured
by its operation.” (Emphasis added.)
4
This distinction between a statute and other state ac
tion is emphasized by the use of the phrase “state action”
in the sentence preceding the one quoted, balanced against
the use of the word “statute” in the sentence quoted, and
is further emphasized by footnote number 3 which uses
the word “statute” in the statement of nearly every case
cited, and the other cases cited obviously involved a
statute.
The distinction relied upon is again emphasized on page
6 of the decision in these words:
“There are still other cases in which the Court has
held that even though a party will suffer a direct
substantial injury from application of a statute, he
cannot challenge its constitutionality unless he can
show that he is within the class whose constitutional
rights are allegedly infringed.” (Emphasis added.)
The reliance upon a distinction between legislative ac
tion and other state action is further developed on page
6 of the majority opinion by the statement of a reason
for the rule of “standing” applying only to tests of
statutes:
“One reason for this ruling is that the state courts,
when actually faced with the question, might nar
rowly construe the statute to obliterate the objec
tionable feature, or it might declare the unconstitu
tional provisions separable.”
Another reason why the “standing rule” should be ap
plied in testing statutes only is given on page 7 of the
opinion to add to the validity of the distinction relied upon
by the majority as a justification for exceeding the “con-
— 5—
stitutional limitation on the jurisdiction of this Court to
‘cases’ and ‘controversies.’ ” (See Majority Opinion p. 5.)
“It would indeed be undesirable for this Court to
consider every conceivable situation which might pos
sibly arise in the application of complex and com
prehensive legislation. Nor are we so ready to frus
trate the express will of Congress or that of the state
legislature.”
The distinction relied upon by the majority is expressly
set forth on page 7 of the opinion in these words:
“But in the instant case, we are faced with a
unique situation in which it is the action of the state
court which might result in a denial of constitutional
rights . . .” (The word “court'’ is emphasized
by the opinion; emphasis has been added to the
word “might.” )
The Court has taken a very radical and far-reaching
step in thus limiting the “standing” rule to litigation
testing the constitutionality of statutes only. Only after
thus limiting the “standing rule” to litigation testing stat
utes does the majority opinion state, “This is a salutary
rule, the validity of which we reaffirm.”
Aside from the constitutional authority of this Court
to open its doors to the friends of persons affected by
state action other than legislative action, the departure
from the formerly invariable limitation must result in
great mischief by permitting the Court to go out of its
way to protect supposed rights, because in so doing the
Court must assume situations which may never arise.
—<>—
Thereby the Court will, in more ways than can now be
foreseen, prevent litigants from enjoying rights which
they might otherwise have enjoyed. This case is an
example.
If this distinction is permitted to continue to represent
the views of the Court, it will be applied by state courts
to situations beyond the present contemplation of this
Court; and many years, perhaps, decades, will be required
for this Court to circumscribe the aberrations. The in
justices suffered in the meantime could never be undone.
It has been said that hard cases make bad laws, and un
fortunately this is sometimes true. If the Court is not
in sympathy with the petitioners or their exercise of their
freedom, this should not cause it to depart from an in
variable limitation on constitutional jurisdiction1 and
thereby open Pandora’s box and loose its contents on
future litigation.
Contract cases are not the only ones which will be revo
lutionized by the distinction spelled out by the majority
opinion. All cases not involving a statute will become
the arena for seriously championing the nebulous rights of
strangers, unidentified but equally identifiable. The courts
will feel free to rely on this shimmering image, the rights
of strangers, undefinable, unlimited, having no existence
in any justiciable set of facts, and relying thereon to de
stroy constitutional property rights “which might result
xMr. Justice Frankfurter, concurring in Coleman v. Miller, 307
U. S. 433, 461:
“No matter how seriously infringement of the Constitution
may be called into question, this is not the tribunal for its
challenge except by those who have some specialized interest
of their own to vindicate, apart from a political concern which
belongs to all. Stearns v. Wood, 236 U. S. 75; Fairchild v.
Hughes, 258 U. S. 126.”
— 7—
in a denial of constitutional rights . . (Emphasis
added.)
This distinction between the testing of state action by
a legislature and the testing of state action by a court
is particularly difficult to appreciate in view of the unani
mous opinion of this Court in Shelly v. Kraemer, 334
U. S. 1, wherein the bulk of the opinion was devoted to
showing that court action is state action the same as
legislative action and must be tested by the same rules.
Now we are told that the Constitution itself limits the
jurisdiction of this Court in testing statutes2 but not in
testing the action of state courts.
Petitioners can find no authority for this distinction.
The authorities cited by the majority opinion do not sup
port this distinction. The majority cites the case of
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U. S. 510, but this case
does not recognize this distinction, nor any distinction,
nor any exception to the constitutional limitation of the
jurisdiction of this Court to the adjudication of the con
stitutional rights of the litigants only. In the case of
Pierce v. Society of Sisters {supra) the Oregon statute
deprived the appellees of a constitutionally recognized
property right. The consideration of the rights of par
ents and guardians was only material to the determina
tion of the reasonableness of the legislation. This is a
question which must be dealt with in statute cases, but
it has no constitutional significance in contract cases.
The rights of litigants limited by legislation and the rea-
2The requirement of standing is often used to describe the
constitutional limitation on the jurisdiction of this Court to ‘cases’
and ‘controversies.’ See Coleman v. Miller, 307 U. S. 433, 464
(concurring opinion).” (See Majority Opinon p. 5.)
— 8—
sonableness of the legislation are two distinct considera
tions and should not be confused, but petitioners respect
fully submit that this Court has confused them in order to
cite Pierce v. Society of Sisters, supra, in this contract
case. Suppose the Pierce case involved a contract rather
than a statute. Suppose the parents and guardians had
made a valid contract among themselves to send their
children to public school. If one of the parties breached
this agreement and another party plaintiff could prove
some damage, what constitutional defense could the party
defendant raise? Could he cite Pierce v. Society of
Sisters on the reasonableness of similar legislation or
to show the constitutional right of the school upon which
the Pierce case was based? That the Pierce case was
decided upon the right of the appellees in conformity
with the constitutional requirement is plain from the fol
lowing language:
“Appellees asked protection against arbitrary, un
reasonable, and unlawful interference with their pa
trons, and the consequent destruction of their busi
ness and property. Their interest is clear and im
mediate, within the rule approved in Truax v. Raich,
Truax v. Corrigan, and Terrance v. Thompson,
supra, and many other cases where injunctions have
issued to protect business enterprises against inter
ference with the freedom of patrons or customers.”
(Emphasis added.)
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U. S. 510, 536,
69 L. Ed. 1070.
The cases cited in this quotation conclusively establish
the fact that the Court was adjudicating the rights of
the appellees not that of strangers. Truax v. Raich will
-9-
be dealt with more thoroughly because it has been cited
along with the- Pierce case as authority for departing
from the “standing rule.” The other two cases will be
touched only lightly.
In Truax v. Corrigan (1921), 257 U. S. 312, 66 L.
Ed. 254, an employer was denied an injunction against
peaceful picketing although all the facts required to state
a course of action in equity were stated in the complaint.
The denial was based solely upon a statute preventing
injunction against peaceful picketing. The view of courts
upon the constitutionality of such statutes has changed
some since 1921, but that does not change the fact that
the employer was asserting his own alleged constitutional
rights, and the decision was based solely on the rights of
the employer as they were then found to exist, not on
the rights of strangers. The appellees in Pierce v. So
ciety of Sisters showed their interest as clearly and im
mediately as did the employer in Truax v. Corrigan,
supra.
In Terrance v. Thompson (1923), 263 U. S. 197, 68
L. Ed. 255, the appellants challenged the constitutionality
of the Alien Land Law of the State of Washington.
One of the appellants owned land and was prevented
by the statute from leasing it to the other appellant.
The other appellant was an ineligible alien prevented by
the statute from taking the lease. (It should be kept in
mind that this limitation was by statute without the con
sent of the appellants; it was not by contract to which
all litigants were consenting parties.) The view of some
courts, at least, have changed since 1923 as to the consti
tutionality of alien land laws, but that does not change the
fact that the landowner and the proposed tenant were as-
10—
serting their own constitutional rights not the right of
strangers. The opinion in the Pierce case was expressly
based upon the interest of the appellees which was ex
pressly recognized to be as “clear and immediate” as
that of the landowner and proposed tenant in Terrance
v. Thompson, supra.
Suppose the Pierce case were based upon a contract
among the schools themselves. Suppose they contracted
among themselves by a valid contract not to enroll pupils
from a certain district. Suppose one of the schools which
executed the contract breached the contract, and another
school which also executed the contract filed suit against
the first school and could show actual damages. What
constiutional defense could the defendant school raise?
Could the defendant school cite Pierce v. Society of Sis
ters, supra?
These are not idle suppositions. The practice of cit
ing statute cases to justify a decision in a contract case
may in some situations have logical justification, but
there can be no logical justification for citing a statute
case solely for its language and reasoning in deciding the
reasonableness of the statute. That language and rea
soning has no constitutional relevancy to the enforce
ment of a contract between the litigants which may even
seem unreasonable, because the litigants have accepted
the terms and have been paid for their acceptance and
have consented to be bound by the terms. If the terms
are too unreasonable, the common law of the state or
the statutes of the state will reach them, but the Consti
tution of the United States is not concerned with any
such test of a contract as distinguished from a statute
or other state action not consented to.
11
The majority opinion cites the case of Truax v. Raich,
239 U. S. 33, 60 L. Ed. 131, as authority for permitting
respondent to rely solely upon the rights of an amorphous
class. Petitioners respectfully submit that the opinion in
Truax v. Raich recognized no exception to the “stand
ing rule” but instead expressly brought the complainant
within the rule and decided the constitutionality of the
challenged legislation solely upon the rights of the liti
gant.
The Pierce case, supra, and Truax v. Raich, supra,
belong in a well recognized class of cases which test the
constitutionality of statutes by the constitutional rights
of litigants whose constitutional rights are indirectly af
fected by the legislation, but nevertheless it is the con
stitutional rights of the litigants or the class to which
they belong which is controlling on “standing,” never the
constitutional rights of an amorphous class of strangers.
In Tniax v. Raich, supra, a statute of Arizona was
about to take effect which purported to prevent anyone
employing 5 or more persons from employing over 20%
of aliens. Raich was an alien. His employer employed
over 5 employees. His employer had notified him that
he would be discharged when the statute took effect and
that the statute would be the sole cause of the discharge.
Raich brought suit to prevent this irreparable injury to
him on the grounds that the statute was unconstitutional
because it deprived him of his constitutional right to
“the ordinary means of earning a livelihood” in violation
of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States.
“It requires no argument to show that the right
to work for a living in the common occupations of
12-
the community is of the very essence of the personal
freedom and opportunity that it was the purpose
of the amendment to secure.”
Tm ax v. Raich, 239 U. S. 33, 41, 60 L. Ed. 131,
135.
“The discrimination is against aliens as such in
competition with citizens in the described range of
enterprises, and in our opinion it clearly falls under
the condemnation of the fundamental law.” (Ibid.,
p. 43.)
Can this case stand as an example of a case decided
upon the rights of an amorphous class, strangers to the
action. The language of the Court is directed entirely
to the constitutional rights of the appellee and brought
the case within the uniformly recognized “standing rule.”
Clearly this case contains no language recognizing any
exception to the “standing rule,” but instead is cited in
the same breath with, and for the same proposition as,
Terrance v. Thompson, 263 U. S. 197, 68 L. Ed. 255, and
Truax v. Corrigan, 257 U. S. 312, 66 L. Ed. 254, in
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U. S. 510, 536. Can
these four cases be cited as authority for any exception
to the “standing rule,” much less the distinction between
legislative action and court action relied upon by the ma
jority opinion?
Suppose Truax v. Raich, supra, were a contract case.
Suppose first that the employer had signed a valid con
tract with other employers by which they all agreed that
not over 20% of their employees would be aliens. We
are not now concerned with non-federal questions. Sup
pose the alien brought suit to require the employer to
breach that contract based solely on the strength of
- 13-
constitutional rights. Petitioners will not hazard a sug
gestion as to what the result would be. Whether or
not this Court would cite Truax v. Raich as controlling
is immaterial to the case at bar because such a case
would not be analogous to the case at bar. In such a
case the non-contracting, non-consenting alien would be
identified, he would be before the Court, and his rights,
if any, could be analyzed in an existing justiciable set
of facts.
On the other hand, suppose that, after the employer
signed the valid contract for consideration, he breached
the valid contract. Suppose one of the other signers of
the valid contract could show damages as a result of
the breach and sued the first employer for those damages.
Suppose the state court held that the contract was valid
and that the complaint stated a cause of action for dam
ages for breach of contract on common law principles.
What constitutional defense would this signer of a valid
contract have? He could not properly cite Truax v.
Raich, supra. That case would not even be material to
his defense to his contract much less controlling.
Every United States Supreme Court case cited by
the majority opinion in the case at bar either recognizes
the “standing rule” and expressly brings the claimant
within it by showing his constitutional rights or else
omits any consideration of standing at all. No case is
cited wherein the Supreme Court of the United States
has ever recognized any exception to the “standing rule,”
i, e., the constitutional limitation upon the jurisdiction of
this Court to the adjudication of the rights of litigants
before this Court only.
14—
One case is cited wherein a minority of the justices
of the Supreme Court of California stated as dicta a
claimed “well-defined” exception to the “standing rule.”
That case is Quong Ham Wah Co. v. Industrial Acc.
Comm. (1920), 184 Cal. 26.
In that case an employer claimed that the workmen’s
compensation statute of California was unconstitutional
as to injuries occurring outside the state to persons em
ployed within the state for the reason that it applied to
residents of California only. Four concurring opinions
were written: One by Mr. Justice Lennon was concurred
in by Mr. Justice Lawlor and Mr. Justice Sloane; one
by Mr. Justice Olney; one by Mr. Justice Shaw was con
curred in by Chief Justice Angellotti; and one by Mr.
Justice Wilbur.
Mr. Justice Lennon stated one of “one or more of the
recognized exceptions to the general rule enunciated in the
Estabrook case” as follows:
“Thus, where no member of a class alleged to be
unlawfully discriminated against by a statute is in
a position to raise the constitutional question, then
any person affected by the application of the statute
can urge its unconstitutionality.”
Mr. Justice Lennon feels that his is a recognized
exception because of only two cases, i. e., Greene v. State
(1908), 83 Neb. 84, 119 N. W. 6, and Buchanan v.
Worley, 245 U. S. 60, 62 L. Ed. 149. In Greene v.
State, supra, a defendant was convicted of violation of a
statute which made that defendant guilty of a crime
for extortion against a citizen of Nebraska but which
would not punish a person who committed the same act
—15—
against a non-citizen of Nebraska. The Nebraska court
thought that the only discrimination was against non
citizens and held that the defendant could assert the con
stitutional rights of the non-citizens because they could
not themselves challenge the statute. The Nebraska court
and Mr. Justice Lennon failed to realize that the statute
applied unequally to the defendant without a reasonable
classification and denied him equal protection of the laws.
It is significant that in the forty-five years since the
Greene case was decided it has only been cited twice by
the courts of Nebraska and has never been followed by
any other decision in Nebraska on the “exception” stated.
Petitioners cannot find where it has ever been followed
by any judge in the United States except the three out of
seven justices in Quong Ham Wah Co. v. Industrial
Acc. Comm., supra.
In addition to Greene v. State, supra, Mr. Justice
Lennon understood the decision of this Court in Buchanan
v. Worley, 245 U. S. 60, 62 L. Ed. 149, to be “precisely
in point in the instant case.” In other words, Mr. Justice
Lennon thought that this Court had departed from the
constitutional limitation upon jurisdiction commonly
called the “standing rule” in deciding Buchanan v. Wor
ley, supra; whereas, in fact, this Court expressly recog
nized the “standing rule” as controlling and based its
decision upon the constitutional rights of the plaintiff in
error.
After defining an exception dependent upon the ex
istence of a class which could not test the constitution
ality of the statute, Mr. Justice Lennon goes on in his
opinion to hold that the Constitution prevents the limita
tion of the workmen’s compensation statute benefits to
1 6 -
residents and automatically extends them to non-residents.
Clearly, therefore, non-residents could file claims for com
pensation and, by successfully asserting their constitu
tional rights, obtain the benefits. {Comm. Cas. Ins. Co.
v. Ind. Acc. Comm., 110 Cal. App. 2d 83, 242 P. 2d 13.)
This being the case, the condition upon which Mr. Justice
Lennon’s exception was based did not exist in that case
according to his own opinion. Therefore, the application
of the exception was erroneous and its discussion obiter
dictum.
It is most significant that the Quong Ham Wah Co.
case had been heard before by the Supreme Court of the
State of California.
The decision upon the first hearing reported in 59
Cal. Dec. 18, was also written by Mr. Justice Lennon
and concurred in by a majority of the then Court in
cluding Mr. Justice Olney and Mr. Justice Shaw. Mr.
Justice Wilbur wrote a brilliant dissenting opinion. The
first decision expressly overruled Estabrook Co. v. In
dustrial Acc. Comm,, 177 Cal. 767, 177 Pac. 848, and,
relying solely upon the exception claimed to the “standing
rule,” held the statute unconstitutional and reversed the
award of the Commission. In his opinion after rehear
ing, Mr. Justice Lennon reaffirmed his exception to the
“standing rule” by obiter dictum; and, after finding the
statute constitutional by extending it to non-residents, he
affirmed the award of the Commission.
Mr. Justice Shaw, who had concurred with Mr. Len
non’s exception to the “standing rule” in the first opin
ion, did not concur when it was repeated in the second
decision; but instead he wrote a separate opinion in
which he only agreed with the conclusion that the peti-
—17—
tioners had standing and added his weight to the second
part of Mr. Lennon’s opinion, to wit, “that the provision
of the Constitution of the United States, ipso facto, car
ries this privilege to and confers it upon every citizen
of any other state whose contract of employment is
made in this state, and thus prevents the statute from
being discriminatory in effect.” This opinion was con
curred in by Chief Justice Angellotti.
Mr. Justice Olney, who had also concurred with Mr.
Justice Lennon’s exception to the “standing rule” in the
first decision overruling Estabrook Co. v. Industrial Acc.
Comm., 177 Cal. 767, 177 Pac. 848, did not concur in
the second opinion; but, instead, he wrote a separate con
curring opinion expressly rejecting the discussion of the
Estabrook Co. case, supra.
Mr. Justice Wilbur’s concurring opinion is in keeping
with his dissent to the first opinion but concurs with the
right of non-residents to the benefits of the statute.
It is plain that as to the first part of Mr. Justice
Lennon’s opinion in Quong Ham Wah Co. v. Industrial
Acc. Comm. (1920), 184 Cal. 26, the only part material
here, he spoke only for himself and two other justices,
while four justices did not concur. Instead they wrote
concurring opinions omitting the exception to the “stand
ing rule” or rejecting it but concurring with the second
part of Mr. Justice Lennon’s opinion extending the bene
fits of the statute to non-residents.
It is plain therefore that the first part of Mr. Justice
Lennon’s opinion expresses the view of a minority of
the justices; while the second part expressed the unani
mous view of all the justices. Petitioners can find where
the second, i. e., unanimous, part of Mr. Justice Lennon’s
—1 8 -
opinion has been cited in nineteen cases including four
decisions of this Court; but petitioners can only find five
cases which have cited the first part of that opinion; and
three of those cases cited it only to distinguish it. Those
three cases are E x parte Nowak, 184 Cal. 701, 195 Pac.
405; People v. Globe Grain & Milling Co., 211 Cal. 127,
294 Pac. 5, and Security-First National Bank v. Bank
of America, 7 Cal. 2d 771, 59 P. 2d 1023. The first part
of Mr. Justice Lennon’s opinion in Ouong Ham Wah Co.
v. Industrial Acc. Comm., supra, i. e., the view of the
minority of that court, has been cited and followed only
twice since 1920, in spite of the frequency of cases where
one of the litigants is barred from success by the “standing
rule.” Those two cases are Pac. Indemnity Co. v. Myers
(1931), 211 Cal. 645, 296 Pac. 1087, and Van Camp
Sea Food Co. v. Nezvbert (1926), 76 Cal. App. 445, 244
Pac. 949. Petitioners can not find where this view of
the minority of justices has ever been cited or followed
in any other jurisdiction except the opinion of the ma
jority in the case at bar.
In Pac. Indemnity Co. v. Myers, supra, the only case
in the Supreme Court of California to follow the alleged
exception to the “standing rule,” the exception was not
contested or in other words, the petitioner lost that point
and therefore, the case by default.
“Counsel for the petitioner, however, do not dis
pute the existence of the rule, referred to by both
parties as an exception to the general rule, that when
—19-
no member of the injured class can complain the
question may be raised by anyone whose interests
are affected.”
Pacific Indemnity Co. v. Myers, 211 Cal. 635, 644,
296 Pac. 1084.
In the case of Van Camp Sea Food Co. v. Newbert, et al.,
76 Cal. App. 445, 244 Pac. 946, the Sea Food Company
filed an application for an order allowing it to reduce
4,500 tons of sardines to fertilizer. The application failed
to state the present capacity of the plant as required by
the statute, but instead stated the future expected capacity.
The Commission issued the order subject to a condition.
Sea Food Company seeks to mandamus the issuance of an
order without condition. The Commission points out (1)
that the Sea Food Company’s application is fatally de
fective, and (2) that the statute is unreasonable in per
mitting canners of sardines to reduce 25% to fertilizer
but not permitting other packers the same right. The
Court held that the conditional permit issued by the
Commission was not based on statutory facts and was
a nullity and that for the same reason petitioner’s appli
cation did not justify any new permit, conditional or
otherwise under the statute, Flaving thus disposed of
petitioner’s interest, the Court nevertheless proceeded on
the strength of the exception to the “standing rule” ex
pressed by Mr. Justice Lennon and a minority of the
Court in Quong Ham Wah Co. v. Ind. Acc. Comm.,
supra, and declared the statute unconstitutional.
— 20—
In this connection petitioners wish to quote from page
6 of the majority opinion in the case at bar:
“There are still other cases in which the Court has
held that even though a party will suffer a direct
substantial injury from application of a statute, he
cannot challenge its constitutionality unless he can
show that he is within the class whose constitutional
rights are allegedly infringed. (Citing cases.) One
reason for this ruling is that the state court, when
actually faced with the question, might narrowly
construe the statute to obliterate the objectionable
feature, or it might declare the unconstitutional pro
visions severable.” (Emphasis added.)
The Van Camp Sea Food Company case is a most
excellent example of the wisdom of the statement quoted
above, particularly the portion emphasized, in view of the
rule of Estate of Johnson, 139 Cal. 532, 73 Pac. 424,
approved by all of the justices in Quong Ham Wah Co.
v. Industrial Acc. Comm., supra. Similarly, because of
this rule of the Estate of Johnson, one of the bail dis
criminated against in Pacific Indemnity v. Myers, supra,
might assert his own constitutional right to equal privi
leges; this possibility removes the condition upon which
the alleged exception is based. Yet the Court applied the
exception and destroyed a remedial statute.
The folly of the exception to the “standing rule” ex
pressed by a minority of the justices in Quong Ham Wah
Co. v. Industrial Acc. Comm., supra, could not be more
plainly illustrated than in that case and the two follow
ing it.
-21—
Yet that case is the only case cited by the majority
opinion in the case at bar which recognizes any exception
to the otherwise uniformly recognized and controlling
constitutional limitation upon the jurisdiction of this Court.
Can it be said that that case is an authority in this Court
for any exception much less the distinction spelled out
by the majority between cases testing legislative action
and cases testing court action, since that case was a
statute case and flies in the teeth of the reasons given
by the majority opinion herein for the “standing rule”
in statute cases.
Petitioners pray this Court to consider the pernicious
effect upon litigation in all states if this indefensible
opinion of a minority of the justices of the Supreme
Court of California is elevated and adopted as the ma
jority opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States
and permitted to retain that position.
Petitioners respectfully recommend for the considera
tion of this Court the profoundly wise language of Mr.
Justice Frankfurter in Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Com.
v. McGrath, 341 U. S. 123, 149-150, 95 Fed. 817, 842:
“The more issues of law are inescapably entangled
in political controversies, especially those that touch
the passions of the day, the more the Court is under
a duty to dispose of a controvery within the narrow
est confines that intellectual integrity permits . . .
But in a case raising delicate constitutional questions
it is particularly incumbent first to satisfy the
threshold inquiry whether we have any business to
decide the case at all. Is there, in short, a litigant
- 22-
before us who has a claim presented in a form and
under conditions 'appropriate for judicial determi
nation?’ ”
Mr. Justice Frankfurter is referring to the presence
of constitutional rights of the litigants themselves. Mr.
Justice Frankfurter went on to find constitutional rights
of the petitioners themselves. The majority opinion in
that case also recognized that the “standing rule” required
the petitioners to rely upon their own constitutional rights
and held that such rights existed.
Petitioners respectfully submit that it is the Constitu
tion of the United States which places the “standing rule”
limitation upon the jurisdiction of this Court3 and it
is this Court which determines whether it will respect
that constitutional limitation. It is the sacred duty of
the Justices of this Court to observe and obey that
constitutional mandate. This duty is not performed by
stating that an exception exists. The language of the
constitution does not disclose it. Nor does the combined
wisdom of all past decisions of this Court support it.
Petitioners respectfully submit that a rehearing should
be granted by this Court to reexamine the application
of this “standing rule” in this case in the light of these
considerations not heretofore advanced by petitioners who
reasonably relied upon the belief that this rule was not
open to question.
8“The requirement of standing is often used to describe the
constitutional limitation on the jurisdiction of this Court to ‘cases’
and ‘controversies.’ ” (See page S of the opinon of the majority
in the case at bar.)
—23
B. The Court’s Decision Is Based Upon Considerations
W hich Petitioners Did Not Have an O pportunity to Brief
or Argue, to-wit:
1. The Constitutional Rights of Classes,
2. W hether the Class Designated “Non-Caucasian”
Has Any Constitutional Rights W hich M ight Be
Affected by a Judgment for Petitioners,
3. W hether a Judgm ent for Petitioners W ould Affect
Those Rights if Any Exist.
Petitioners did not have an opportunity to brief or argue
the considerations upon which the decision was based for
the reason that overwhelming authority in the form of
countless decisions of this Court established that this Court
had jurisdiction to consider the rights of litigants only.
This invariably controlling rule prohibited argument based
on the rights of strangers to the action as irrelevant and
an unnecessary burden on this Court.
Perhaps the most scholarly and most highly esteemed
treatise concerning the Appellate Jurisdiction of the Su
preme Court of the United States published in the United
States is “Reynolds Robertson and Francis R. Kirkham,
Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States,”
by Richard F. Wolfson and Philip B. Kurland, 1951,
Matthew Bender & Company. Chapter 38 of that work is
dedicated entirely to the rule which limited petitioners’
briefs and arguments and begins as follows on page 541
thereof:
—24—
“§297. B a sic R u le— N ecessity of E x is t in g or
Cer t a in ly I m p e n d in g I n ju r y to T h ose P ersonal
or P roperty R ig h t s of Co m p l a in in g P arty
W h ic h A re E n t it l e d to and S u sc e pt ib l e of P ro
tec t io n by J u d ic ia l A c t io n .
“So much of the discussion in the preceding chapters
as dealt with the cognate requirement of case or con
troversy and with the subject of moot and abated
cases has indicated the necessity that parties to cases
heard in the Supreme Court establish their legal
standing to invoke adjudication by that Court. But
that discussion does not fully cover the requirements
respecting the interest and status of parties. It is not
sufficient that the issue presented be a live and not a
moot one, that the parties be truly adversary, that the
question urged be justiciable, and that the proceeding
be one invoking the entry of a final judgment or de
cree. Something more has historically been neces
sary successfully to invoke the exercise of judicial
power; the showing of necessity for protection of
rights personal to the parties before the Court—rights
entitled to and susceptible of such protection. As
stated by the Court in the leading case of Tyler v.
Judges of the Court of Registration (footnote, 179
U. S. 405, 406-407, 21 S. Ct. 206, 45 L. Ed. 252):
“ ‘The prime object of all litigation is to establish a
right asserted by the plaintiff or to sustain a defense
set up by the party pursued. Save in a few instances
where, by statute or the settled practice of the courts,
the plaintiff is permitted to sue for the benefit of an
other, he is bound to show an interest in the suit
personal to himself, and even in a proceeding which
he prosecutes for the benefit of the public, as, for
example, in cases of nuisance, he must generally aver
-25-
an injury peculiar to himself, as distinguished from
the great body of his fellow citizens.
“ ‘The very first general rule laid down by Chitty,
Pleading p. 1, is that “the action should be brought
in the name of the party whose legal right has been
affected, against the party who committed or caused
the injury, or by or against his personal representa
tive.” An action on contract (p. 2) “must be brought
in the name of the party in whom the legal interest
in such contract was v e s t e d a n d an action of tort
(p. 69) “in the name of the person whose legal right
has been affected, and who is legally interested in
the property at the time the injury thereto was
committed.” As stated by another writer: “No one
can be a party to an action if he has no interest
in it. A plaintiff cannot properly sue for wrongs
that do not affect him, and on the other hand, a
person is not properly made a defendant to a suit
upon a cause of action in which he has no interest
and as to which no relief is sought against him.” ’
“This historic view has from the outset been
regarded as controlling the Supreme Court in the
exercise of its original jurisdiction (footnote, See
Sec. 302, post) and as constituting a component
element of the statutes delimiting its appellate juris
diction (footnote, Tyler v. Judges of the Court of
Registration, 179 U. S. 405, 407, 21 S. Ct. 206,
45 L. Ed. 252; Marshall v. Dye, 231 U, S. 250, 257-
258, 34 S. Ct. 92, 58 L. Ed. 206.)
“It results that in every case coming to the Su
preme Court, whether invoking the exercise of its
original jurisdiction or seeking review of the decision
of state or lower federal court, it is a jurisdictional
prerequisite that the Supreme Court be satisfied that
the suit involves the vindication of rights personal
-26—
to the parties thereto, which are entitled to and sus
ceptible of protection by judicial action in that pro
ceeding, and which are being invaded, or the invasion
of which is certain and impending. (Footnote, ‘see
all cases cited in this chapter.’) ” (Emphasis added.)
(1 ) T h e C o n st it u t io n a l R ig h t s of C lasses.
The decision of June 15, 1953, is based upon the rights
of a class unrepresented by a member thereof as a party
to this action and without any consideration of the rights
of the class to which the litigants belong. Heretofore this
Court has not permitted any presentation of the rights
of classes because of the rule that only the constitutional
rights of litigants are justiciable. Now, however, if the
rights of one class is properly before the Court, the rights
of the class to which the parties belong is also.
Freedom of association is a constitutional right as
implicit and absolute as the right to be free from illegal
imprisonment or restraint. If it is to be regulated, it
must be by legislation which is reasonably related to a
valid legislative purpose, and the determination is legis
lative.
Petitioners wish to point out, on behalf of the class to
which they belong, that these racial restrictive covenants
are not just examples of some wilfulness of man and do
not merely represent man’s inhumanity to man. It does
not help us not to recognize that behind this are certain
facts of life. We cannot escape facing those sociological
facts if we open this case to the rights of classes, which
petitioners feel should not have been done. But since it has
been done, let us face the facts.
-2 7 -
According to an article on page 4 of the February 26,
1953, issue of one of two Negro newspapers published
in Los Angeles “approximately one-half of the arrests
for narcotics in the city of Los Angeles involves Negroes.”
This newspaper is not an irresponsible scandal sheet.
It is published by one of our most respected Negro citizens
who is a leader in all Negro affairs.
One of the reasons given in that article for the dis
proportionate number of arrests of Negroes for narcotics
violations “is the fact that unlike most addicts, he dresses
the part. A ‘gas’ cigarette holder, exaggerated clothes,
and a ‘real cool’ attitude to everybody and everything, are
standard equipment. Thus, the average Negro who has
been wearing the ‘monkey on his back’ for any length
of time can easily be spotted.”
It is significant that the article uses the term “average
Negro.”
The principal reason cited by the article for the dispro
portionate number of arrests of Negroes is the unequal
administration by the police department.
According to the “Uniform Crime Reports for the
United States and its Possessions” issued by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, United States Department of Jus
tice, Volume XXIII, Number 2, Annual Bulletin, 1952,
United States Government Printing Office, Washington,
1953, 64% of the persons arrested in the 232 cities reported
in 1952 for murder and non-negligent manslaughter were of
the Negro race. 44% of the persons arrested for robbery
were Negroes, 64% of persons arrested for aggravated as
sault were Negroes, 40% of persons arrested for other as-
-28 -
saults were Negroes, 30% of persons arrested for burglary
breaking or entering were Negroes, 32% of persons
arrested for larceny-theft were Negroes, 19% of persons
arrested for auto theft were Negroes, 17% of persons
arrested for embezzlement and fraud were Negroes, 34%
of persons arrested for stolen property, buying, receiving,
etc. were Negroes, 14% of persons arrested for forgery
and counterfeiting were Negroes, 38% of persons arrested
for rape were Negroes, 29% of persons arrested for
prostitution and commercial vice were Negroes, 24% of
persons arrested for other sex offenses were Negroes,
47% of persons arrested for violation of narcotic drug-
laws were Negroes, 59% of persons arrested for carrying,
possessing, etc., weapons were Negroes, 29% of persons
arrested for offenses against family and children were
Negroes, 45% of persons arrested for violation of liquor
laws were Negroes, 15% of persons arrested for driving
while intoxicated were Negroes, 35% of persons arrested
for disorderly conduct were Negroes, 17% of persons
arrested for drunkenness were Negroes, 22% of persons
arrested for vagrancy were Negroes, 69% of persons
arrested for gambling were Negroes, 26% of persons
arrested for suspicion were Negroes, 26% of persons
arrested for all other offenses were Negroes.
Only 10% of the population of the United States,
according to the 1950 decennial census are Negro. It is
important to note that the largest percentages above appear
in the crimes of violence: Murder, 64% ; Aggravated
Assault, 64% ; Rape, 38% ; Narcotics, 47% ; Carrying and
possessing weapons, 59%.
The following is quoted from page 2 of the “Report
to the Governor’s Council Meeting of May 25, 1953,”
—29-
by the California Youth Authority on its “Departmental
Activities During April, 1953” :
“R a cial P roblems Co n t in u e A c u t e .
“It becomes increasingly apparent to persons with
firsthand knowledge of the problem that tension be
tween certain segments of the Los Angeles popula
tion is increasing. Part of the difficulty stems from
the expanding population of minority groups with
consequent overflowing into new neighborhoods. In
cidence of individual fights between members of ra
cial groups, vandalism in schools, and slight increase
in gang activities in schools formerly free from such
a problem, indicate the heightened tension in certain
areas of the city. The Los Angeles Probation De
partment has assigned one full-time person to study
the problem to determine its actual nature and scope.
The Chief of Police of the Los Angeles Police De
partment has pointed out that last year’s arrest sta
tistics indicated a decrease in arrests in all categories
of crime with the exception of those of violence and
narcotics violation. In these last two categories,
significant increases were noted.
“It is the opinion of some persons that part of the
explanation of an uprising in those crimes is to be
found in the increasing tension in certain segments
of the population. Several service agencies, some of
whom are leaders among the minority groups, are
synchronizing their activities in an approach to a solu
tion to this problem. Representatives from many of
the service groups met with the Youth Authority
parole staff in Los Angeles to discuss methods where
by the activities of the Youth Authority parole staff
could be closely integrated with other groups from
the community in an attempt to solve this racial
problem.”
—30—
These are some of the facts of life that force peaceloving
people to join racial restrictive covenants. These cove
nants are valid and constitute a legitimate exercise of
the “freedom of the individual in and under a democracy”
which has “implicit in it, as an absolute, the freedom of
association.”
See:
Re Noble and Wolf, Ontario Weekly Notes (1949),
at page 488.
Merely occupying houses in white neighborhoods is not
all that Negroes want. This is apparent from the articles
published in every national Negro magazine known to
petitioners.
Attached hereto as Appendix “A” are the cover and
pages 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the June, 1953, issue of the
national Negro magazine “Color.” This article complains
of “red tape” which obstructs marriages between Ameri
can Negro soldiers and white German women.
The June, 1953, issue of “Sepia,” national Negro maga
zine, contains on pages 8, 9 and 10 thereof (see App. “B”),
an article contrasting the marriage to a Negro of a white
woman in California with two young children by a former
white husband, with marriage to a white man of a Negro
woman with two young children by a previous marriage.
The father of the white children obtained their custody
in a California court.
Attached hereto as Appendix “C” are the cover and
pages 71, 72 and 73, of the July, 1953, issues of the
national Negro magazine “Ebony,” sold in June, 1953.
— 31—
Every national Negro magazine known to petitioners
on the newsstands this month, June, contains one or more
articles, either featuring or displaying intermarriage be
tween Negroes and whites and in other ways illustrating
the example being set for Negroes. There is no room in the
philosophy being taught to Negroes for the white man’s
personal freedom of choice of associates. This attitude
among Negroes who move into white neighborhoods adds
to the other factors which, equally understandably, make
them unwelcome neighbors.
The pattern is the same in every neighborhood. When
the first Negro moves in, there is a panic among the
white residents to sell out and move away. “They can
run but they cannot hide.” This was the expression used
by one of the columnists in reference to white people in
his article in the February 14, 1952, issue of the Negro
newspaper referred to heretofore. There is a market
among Negroes for only a few of the homes thus of
fered for sale. The market among white people has dis
appeared at the price the property would have brought
if the neighborhood were “lily white.” This is the term
used by Negro papers all over the nation for a neigh
borhood which does not have Negro residents. White
people will not pay the same price for at least two reasons:
First, there are fewer white people who are willing to
buy into the neighborhood, with the consequent effect
of supply and demand on the price; and second, those
who are willing to buy into the neighborhood know they
can get it for less. This second reason applies also to
possible Negro purchases. The result is that when a house
is occupied by Negroes, the neighboring property owners
suffer severely, both in the value of their property to
them and in its sale value on the market.
•32-
(2 ) T h e C lass D esig n a ted “ N on-C a u c a sia n ” H as
no C o n st it u t io n a l R ig h t s W h ic h M ig h t be
A ffected by a J u d g m en t for P e t it io n e r s .
The right which the Court feels the unidentified class
has is defined by the majority opinion in these words:
“If a state court awards damages for breach of
a restrictive covenant, a prospective seller of restricted
land will either refuse to sell to non-Caucasians or
else will require non-Caucasians to pay a higher
price to meet the damages which the seller may
incur. Solely because of their race, non-Caucasians
will be unable to purchase, own and enjoy property
on the same terms as Caucasians. Denial of this
right by state action deprives such non-Caucasians,
unidentified by identifiable, of equal protection of
the law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
It is indeed a very startling idea that the unidentified
non-Caucasians have constitutional rights in the private
property of prospective sellers which are constitutionally
beyond the reach of the record owners of that property.
It is a surprise to the owner of the land in fee simple
absolute to learn that unidentified strangers to him have
constitutional rights in his property which he cannot
contract away. It is even more surprising that this right
should exist today although this prospective seller is not
a party to this or any action and exist today even though
this prospective seller has not now and may never in
the future ever receive an offer to purchase from any
non-Caucasian.
By far the most alarming aspect of the rule stated
above is that unidentified non-Caucasians have a right
to purchase private property from private parties free
— 33-
from any consideration of race. If there is such a right,
a non-Caucasian could file suit as plaintiff to have this
right vindicated. Surely we have not come to a state of
the law where valid contracts cannot be enforced in any
way by anyone and valid rights in property cannot be
asserted by the persons to whom they belong, but only
by strangers?
Surely, it must be clear that unidentified non-Caucasians
can have no right in unidentified property belonging to
unidentified owners in fee simple absolute.
Petitioners respectfully submit that before such a rule
be permitted to stand, a rehearing should be granted to
petitioners so that the point may be thoroughly brief
and argued.
(3 ) J u d g m en t for P e t it io n e r s C a n n o t A ffe c t A ny
S upposed R ig h t s of U n id e n t if ie d N o n -C auca
sia n s .
The language of the majority opinion defining the sup
posed rights of non-Caucasians in unidentified property
is quoted again:
“If a state court awards damages for breach of a
restrictive covenant, a prospective seller of restricted
land will either refuse to sell to non-Caucasians or
else will require non-Caucasians to pay a higher
price to meet the damages which the seller may incur.
Solely because of their race, non-Caucasians will be
unable to purchase, own, and enjoy property on the
same terms as Caucasians.”
This statement presupposes that all property is subject to
restrictions, for only in that event would non-Caucasians
be unable to purchase, own, and enjoy property on the
■34-
same terms as Caucasians. The facts are that all public
housing is unrestricted, all F. H. A. housing begun since
February 15, 1950, is unrestricted [see R. 56], a large
percentage of restrictive covenants have expired by their
terms, a large percentage of restrictive covenants are
worded in such a way that they can only be enforced
in equity, which would be barred by the Shelley case,
finally, a large percentage of the few covenants which
could be enforced in damages, could not be enforced
against the present owner because he is not the original
signatory4 and therefore he would have no hesitancy to
sell to non-Caucasians.
The supposed effect of a judgment for petitioners upon
non-Caucasians is entirely speculative. There is noth
ing in the record to indicate that non-Caucasians cannot
purchase all the homes they can afford from F. H. A.,
unrestricted property, property subject to unenforceable
covenants and property developed by their own entre
preneurs. Petitioners should be given an opportunity to
4“As a general rule, liabilities cannot be transferred, nor as
signed ; but there is an exception to this rule in case of covenants
running with the land, in which case a grantee is liable for breaches
which occurred while he holds the estate in the land.” (Emphasis
added.)
15 C. J. 1301.
“Sec. 1466. Who are not. No one, merely by reason of having
acquired an estate subject to a covenant running with the land is
liable for a breach of the covenant before he acquired the estate,
or after he parted with it or ceased to enjoy its benefits.” (Em
phasis added.)
Civ. Code, Sec. 1466.
- 3 5 -
see the basis for claims that non-Caucasians cannot pur
chase, own or enjoy property. Petitioners should have
an opportunity to refute those claims. It should be re
membered that this is the first time that the Supreme
Court of the United States has decided a case upon the
alleged rights of a class not represented by a member
before the Court. For that reason alone, a rehearing
should be granted to permit a consideration of the rights
of other interested classes, particularly the one to which
petitoners belong.
Petitioners respectfully submit that in considering the
rights of these respective classes, the Court should be
mindful of the following statement of this Court in the
Civil Rights Cases, 109 U. S. 3, 25:
“When a man has emerged from slavery, and by
the aid of beneficient legislation has shaken off the
inseparable concomitants of that state, there must
be some stage in the progress of his elevation when
he takes the rank of a mere citizen, and ceases to
be the special favorite of the laws, and when his
rights, as a citizen or a man, are to be protected in
the ordinary mode by which other men’s rights are
protected.”
Petitioners respectfully submit that much of the un
rest and friction now existing and growing between the
races would cease if the leadership of certain minorities
would not so persistently and fanatically urge their mem
bers to insert themselves like a sliver under the finger
nail of white society.
-36—
For the reasons set forth hereinabove it is respect
fully urged that a rehearing of the above-entitled cause
be granted and that, upon such rehearing, the judgment
of the District Court of Appeal of the State of Cali
fornia, Second Appellate District, be reversed and the
cause be remanded for trial.
Respectfully submitted,
J oh n C. M iles ,
J. W allace M cK n ig h t , and
Charles L eland Bagley,
By J. W allace M cK n ig h t ,
Counsel for Petitioners.
Certificate of Counsel.
I hereby ceritfy that the foregoing petition for rehear
ing is presented in good faith and not for delay.
J. W allace M cK n ig h t ,
Counsel for Petitioners.
APPENDIX A.
Robinson
FIERY FRANCINE
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If you are
science. I t’
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Easy Weight Gains of 5 Pounds
j Gosh, Jean, you sure are
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! on those extra pounds!
DOCTORS — Your recommen
dation and approval is invited.
Write for professional samples.
More Than Many A Meal in
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Each daily dosage is as rich in cal-
ories as many a skinny person’s reg
ular meal. Mail the coupon.
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GIRLS AND CHILDREN
WATE-ON is entirely safe, contains
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but HOMOGENIZED concentrated
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Dept. 582H 230 N. Michigan
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THESE LETTERS SPEAK
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AMAZING RESULTS
GAINED 5 LBS. IN LESS THAN A
WEEK
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in 7 Days Reported
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get mother or dad to order for you.
[____MAIL THIS COUPON TODAY____ ,
j WATE-ON COMPANY, Dept. 582H
j 230 North Michigan Avenue
1 Chicago 1, Illinois
I Send one b o ttle W A TE-O N . I ’ll pay $3.00 p lu s C.O.D. p o st- I
| age on a r r iv a l on g u a ra n te e of m oney back shou ld I r e tu rn I
j th e em pty b o ttle . (C ash o rd e rs , m ailed p o stag e p rep a id .) |
□ P u t X h e re i f you w a n t 2 b o t t le s f o r $5.50
I I
I I
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CITY ............................................... ZONE.............STA TE........................
Members <rf the Philadelphia Variety Club, responsible for this noble project
AMAESS
CITY t
HIM STATE
(Print)
NAME
O PREPAID. Enclose price plus 30 cents
for postage. You save C.O.D, charges.
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O.D. charges.
MONEY BACK CUARANTEE
Style | S i« I 1st Color I 2nd Color
-■ NAUGHTY N AN ETTE
Bold and beautiful, buxom and b reath tak
ing, poses especially fo r you. 4x5 photos,
$1.00 per set. 3 sets fo r $2.00
R. E. Tilm an, Dept. 16
P.O. Box 7085 Green Station
Los Angeles, C alifornia
Free To Any
Man or Woman
W orried about M oney? Love? H ealth ? W ork?
Fam ily ? No m a tte r w here you a re o r w ha t
y o u r personal problem m ay be "T he W ord and
th e Pow er” may quickly help you. Send today
fo r FR EE sealed inform ation . Send to— SEC
RETARY, P.O. Box 6839-CL, K ansas C ity 4,
M issouri.
PHOTOS SURPRISE SET
Ear I Carroll's Vanities
& Artist's Pinups
with Order.
168 P O S E S -O N L Y $ 1.00
Includes 50 men & women in Miniature lover Photos,
50 Artist's Models, 50 Unusual Girl Photos. All on
Composite 4 x 5 Photos. Also 4 Adult Comic Books.
Everything mentioned above only $1.00. No C.O .D/s.
SERMA'S Dept. C, P.O. Box IS7, El S»g»ndo, Cotif.
LOVELY HOLLYWOOD HAIR ATTACHMEHTS
* 1.00 A N D $*.00 S fO flE « r
id N e M osey F ey Pest**#
H OL L Y WOOD HUMAN H A I R ^
ATTACHMENT P, 0. t n 2«7-M, HtllywMd 2», CHif, gl op BOY FAJJ^gr j .
15 COLOR
POSING FOR FAMILY portrait are Sfc. John A. Wall, baby
Astrid, Mrs. Emmy Schucht, Torsten and white daughter, Gisela.
Mrs, Schucht is a divorcee.
rift "MOMMi I HI
M ixed Couple in Frankfurt N ot Allowed to M arry
Under U. S. Arm y Rules;
Girls Can Now
Sue for K id ’s Support
for G o lf D o rn se if
f o g . 17 ■ C 0 1 0 I
FOR THE FIRST time approximately 3,500 colored six-year-old boys and
girls had to register in the Bonn-Republic’s schools last spring 1952 with some
2,000 more going to the class rooms Easter time 1953.
One of these kids is Torsten Schucht-Wall, star of our picture-story and a
Frankfurt citizen.
TORSTEN’S FATHER is Sfc. John A. Wall, a 32-year-old US-Army truck-
driver stationed in Nuremberg, Germany. The boy’s mother, 44-yeartld German
housewife Emmy Schucht got a divorce from her German husband in 1945 to live
with Sfc. Wall.
The German-American couple, who are not allowed to marry under present
US-Army laws, have three children. They are young Torsten, a nine-months-old
girl, Astrid, and 14-year-old Gisela, white, daughter of Frau Schucht’s German
ex-husband.
THESE FIVE PEOPLE live in Westhausen, a
Frankfurt suburb, and Torsten and Gisela go to
Praunheim Elementary School a few blocks from
their four-room apartment. Frau Schucht is a secre
tary employed with a local German firm and her
eldest daughter, Gisela. takes care of the household
while Mama works in a downtown office.
Although John and Emmy are unable to marry
for the time being they live as happily together as
possible with John getting many overnight passes
through the channels of an understanding CO who
knows how bitter it is to live separated in different
towms.
HAVING LITTLE or no knowledge at all con
cerning the' strange paths of US-Government and
Army-routine, German school and welfare officials
have already stopped wondering about what service
men and officers may do or not do in the Bonn-
Republic. Problems like marriage, adoption, etc.,
are handled in so many different ways depending
on citizenship, unit commander, and good will of
numerous other people that things are mixed up
like never before.
As for the Schucht-Wall-family all are well -re
spected citizens of their community and treated very
friendly by the neighbors in Westhausen. Nobody
has ever started discriminating the children or Mrs.
Schucht because of their inter-racial relations with Sfc. John A. Wall. On the
contrary, Torsten has white playmates by the dozens who don’t care a damn
about his chocolate complexion.
GENERALLY SPEAKING an estimated 96,000 US., British, and French
servicemen have fathered illegitimate children—5,000 of them colored—during
the past seven years in Germany.
Some of these fathers have married the mothers, some have acknowledged
paternity before an Allied court, some have simply and voluntarily agreed to
support their children and the mother as in the case of Sfc. John A. Wall who
can’t get a marriage certificate although he would like to marry his fiancee
Emmy Schucht as soon as possible.
BUT THE MAJORITY have disappeared beyond the seas and across the
borders, leaving their children—and a large scale problem—behind in Germany.
The unwed mothers of these children have fought a
long, uphill battle during the last seven years for
the right to sue their khaki-clad Romeos for support
of the children.
Their battle has now been w'on.
WITH RATIFICATION of the Bonn-Republic
Contractural Agreement with NATO this Spring,
German girls are now' free to sue their tan ex-lovers
in order to get paid the amount of money needed
for raising the occupation kids.
Some 45,000 white and colored Americans,
40,000 Britishers and 10,000 Frenchmen, many of
them colored too, face the possibility of a court
suit or a settlement based on actions which may
date back seven years to the early, lax days of the
“love ’em and leave ’em” tradition of all conquerors.
ALTHOUGH 600,000 illegitimate children have
been bom in Germany since the end of World War
II, the 96,000 white and colored occupation babies
have constituted a special problem because of the
lack of specific legislation providing for their care.
Up till now the decision to accept moral and legal
responsibility has rested squarely with the father.
Marriage has provided only an occasional solu
tion to the many temporary arrangements, partially
because of strict laws dating hack to early occupa
tion days which required IContinued on next page)
V A / /-
' 4"' N 1
V■»" Yt
THIS IS ASTRID, nine-month-old-sister of Torsten.
PROMINENT MEMBERS of newly established “League for the Protection of
Colored German Nationals Against Racial Discrimination” are Mrs. Bertha Roemer,
Dr. Willibald Schmidt and Heinz Kromer. They are high-ranking school officials.
SFC. JOHN AUSTIN WALL and his son, Tors
ten, are the best of pals. Since the German side
of the family could not understand English, John
had to learn German which he now speaks fluently.
“DADDY” WALL enjoys wearing German
house jacket, typical for husbands resting at
home. Torsten and Astrid feel like riding on
horseback.
IBS mm
SCHOOL REGISTRATION was an exciting affair for Torsten. Norbert Herold (left), Torsten’s
kindergarten-mate; Torsten, Mrs. Emmy Schucht, mother; and school principal Dr. Wilhelm Ltih
sign documents.
TORSTEN IS VERY POPULAR with his classmates in Frankfurt's Praunheim-Elementary School.
His best playmate, Norbert, sits next to him scribbling on his slate.
Red Tape Stops ILL’S In
Germany from M arriage
(Continued from, page 17 j
that a soldier married to a German national leave the area
within a 90-day period.
Perm ission Required
Army permission to marry is still required, visa permis
sion, which demands checking through consular channels
and compliance, with all visa restrictions, must also be |
obtained.
DESPITE THE ASSISTANCE of chaplains and other
interested officials, few marriage papers, even hand-carried
applications, can be accomplished in less than six weeks.
Many a romance has blossomed and withered before an
original application has been returned.
Some couples, faced with the choice of “being legal'’ and
leaving, or “shacking up” and staying, have taken the easier
road, only to have an abrupt transfer catch them with their
paper work down.
STATISTICS SHOW that 25 percent of the departed
Allied fathers have sent irregular voluntary financial aid
to the girls they wooed and won in Germany. But for the
other 75 per cent of the mothers things are fairly tough.
ITEM: Only one out of every three unwed mothers
receives relief with the average check totalling about 25
Deemarks per month I $6.00 ).
ITEM: Many of the mothers have either low-paying
factory or office jobs, but many more are among Germany’s
more than 1,000,000 unemployed.
Morale Problem
The Armed Forces, in recognition of the morale problem
which occurs when fathers are separated “suddenly from
their family” have granted morale leaves to such men to
enable them to return to Germany and marry.
RATIFICATION OF the contractual agreements by the ■
Bonn-Parliament is the beginning of countless individual
court cases which will be both time-consuming and expensive.
BIGGEST COST for the German women will be in hiring ’
legal representation in the foreign countries involved.
Affidavits testifying to knowledge of their affair by former
friends and neighbors will be solicited. Legal experts say
that love letters in the handwriting of the father will be
especially valuable to the mother, and if a child is men
tioned, the case is usually decided.
Such paternity suits could be embarrassing for many a
(now) older and wiser man, possibly settled down in his
homeland with a local wife and other children. Many such
“respectable” men are expected to settle the case out of
court to save expenses as well as to keep the German
speaking skeleton hidden in an other-world closet.
BUT IF THE father decides to fight the case and loses,)
TORSTEN’S FIRST TEACHER, Ludwig Weber, is member of Society for Belter Understanding IT COULD BE ART but only Torsten knows as he scribbles on his slate
of Christians and Jews and other organizations promoting cooperation with minorities. instead of doing home work tor next school-day.
COLOR . Page 18
GISELA. 14. ami her six-year-old half brother enjoy playing out-of-doors, doing
a balance act on a sidewalk railing near their home.
the court will oblige him to contribute to the support of the
child until it reaches the age of 16. The amount of the
support awarded will vary in each case, and will usually
depend on the economic status of both parties.
It is a certainty that all over the world at present men are
searching their souls and thinking back to rosier “never
had it so good” days. And many others are living their
normal lives, little suspecting the events now in motion
which may present them with a white envelope of trouble
and thought this year 1953.
FOR SOME COUPLES, white and colored, the new
provision may provide the spark which will bring forth
happy reunions and the traditional “happiness ever after.”
Whatever the outcome, the new provision is certain to raise
controversy and discussion, once the cold wheels of justice
begin their international duties. THE END.
COULD SHE BE JEALOUS of his call? Torsten says "don’t bother me” to Gudrun.
his blonde kindergarten girl friend.
NOT READY 'for the Army yet, Torsten ICE CREAM and Gene Autry. How Aroeri-
poses with his daddy’s uniform head piece. can. Torsten teaches his pals how to be
smart cowboys.
BEFORE TORSTEN CAME to school he spent much of his time in this German kindergarten playing with toys sent from overseas by USA-Welfare organizations.
COIOR
MEN BEFORE MARRIAGE cannot do enough for their lady fair, what with promises of enduring
love, fidelity, etc. But after the ceremony the husband’s attitude is something else again. He
feels he has got his woman and he is going to make the most of it.
The Men
that ruin
By
JAMES TYLER
IN A RECENT article entitled “Why good
Women make Bad Wives,” many salient
points were assembled to prove the case.
Unfortunately, the labored conclusions
would not stand up in a court of domestic
impartiality, being permeated with the fam il
iar but subtle overtones of the “ age old”
theni-v of “Masculine superiority” .
THE CASE COULD have been succinctly
stated, that good women do not usually make
bad wives, unless they are responding to the
good men who have made bad husbands.
These husbands are the men who before
marriage, were paragons of attention and con
sideration. Experts in the art of anticipating
the numerous small— but important to wives
-—things that speak without saying, “you’re
the one I care for.”
MI-LADY’S HEART tells her “this is it.”
so she joins heart and hand with this man of
many considerations following him up the
highway of “domestic bliss,” or down the
road of m arital frustration and disillusion
ment.
These unions are usually “ blissful” through
several anniversaries, for consideration re
mains the rule.
Iv>.
COLOR . Poge 20
APPENDIX R.
SEPIA
RECORD
W A S WILLIE MCGEE
REALLV GUILTV?
A R E N E G R O
81G L E A G U E R S
SUPPING?
INTERRACIAL
"Problem”
MARRIAGES
Grace del Marco
M odel
True Story — #/My Son Was
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NOW MAKE 401 USEFUL
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Paper, etc. quickly made into
Fir 8lfS» GIRLS & PARENTS, too!
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thsngs that are illustrated and suggested in
SCRAP FUN FOR EVERYONE. With a few
sheets of paper, a bit of glue, some odds and
ends and a pair of scissors you can quickly and
easily make more than 400 different toys,01
t as&d nick-nacks.
E D U C A T I N G
SCRAP FUN FOR EVERYONE combines j
education and amusement. It teaches imagina
tion and saving and at the same time givesa$sgocLfe£g.$
hours of pleasure, jewelry, kitchen
heeds, airplanes, utility boxes,
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ate just a fraction of the
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anyone can make.
Now make it yourself. Turn waste into valuable
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\ thrilled with wliat you make. You will find
|pleasurable past-time in completing useful articles
. you turn waste into profit. It's almost like
^finding money. Whether you are 6 or 60, you
will find hundreds of things to make. SCRAP
FUN FOR EVERYONE is crammed full of use
ful, helpful suggestions and ideas between its
384 instructive pages.
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FOR
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Make your own party deco
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ORDER . . . SAME MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE.)
l a r c h b o o k c o m p a n y
118 fM t i» St. New York !«, N. Y.
by IViLYN GLAiNTZ
Arts and Crafts Instructor, New York
City Public Schools
f he a ro u n d th e clock
p layroom
Every parent will welcome a copy ot
SCRAP FUN FOR EVERYONE
in the home. In "jig-time” everyone
in the family can make something
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SCRAP FUN is so fascinating and
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DON’T TUftOW THINGS AMY
Get a copy of SCRAP FUN FOR
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MORE than S0O ILLUSTRATIONS
384 INSTRUCTIVE PAGES
SCRAP FUN FOR EVERYONE is the work of an expert.
Evelyn Glantz, the author, has devoted many years to teaching
handicraft and creation. Printed in large type and bound in
stiff, wcw-io«iifig covers, SCItAS-FUN- F-QB^JEYERYONE.
belongs in every home.
M A I L C O U P O N T O D A Y !
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i 118 East 28 S t ., New Y o rk 16, N . Y .
■ Send me SCRAP FUN FOR EVERYONE. I will pay
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i on arrival. I m ust be delighted, or I will return it within
| 5 days and my money will be refunded. (To save C.O.D.
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1 □ Money enclosed □ Send C.O.D.
1 N A M E .... . 1
I ADDRESS.
1 CITY.
0 m t i e O r n t M d e
Rosetta Lawrence is sultry Del Marco
beauty. W atch for models' story soon!
Reward
' , G O
That’s w hat’s feeing
paid out
In cold cash
for stories and photos—
t© p eop le all @ve» the
USA
SEPIA is always in the market for
fresh, good stories and sparkling
pictures. W e pay top money for
the best pictures.
___ _ _ * * n
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Anyone can be a good reporter and
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Tit® Editor
SEPIA Record
B ox 2257
Fort W orth, T exas
SEPIA record 7
By CHARLES HERNDON
The Concrete Jungle
NEW YORE—Practically every
one who lives in the concrete
jungle confesses that it is a hard
town. In no other place on earth
are fame and oblivion so closely re
lated. The glitter of Broadway’s
brightest lights is often the gate
way to ruin and heartache for
those it glorifies.
No one knows the truth of the
latter better than a barmaid who
recently started work in an out-of-
the-way uptown spot. Five years
ago, she was a toast of the night
club set. She was beautiful, a
show girl, with enough men in her
life to be the envy of every glam-
ourpuss.
Life was one big party. She got
a Cadillac and other expensive
gifts. The cost of her seasonal
wardrobe would have supported a
small family a year. Of course,
there were strings. Eventually, the
pace caught up with her. She lost
her beauty, her men, her money.
And, in return, she got only the
knowledge t h a t the concrete
jungle is the most deceitful of
lovers.
Skyscraper Blues
The T r e a s u r y Department,
which long has had its own sus
picions, to investigate reported
bribes between record companies,
performers and deejays for pref
erential use of discs by last. Could
result in income tax and restraint
of trade raps for several big Negro
platter spinners.* * *
^ Still on a copper kick, the FBI
missed a good Brooklyn arrest
when a uniformed city dick acci
dentally tipped the plot. Bureau
men were secreted in a store where
a fugitive gunman, working as a
Idoor-to-door salesman, had an ap
pointment.
I Minutes before the suspect was
Idue, the uniformed cop, ignorant
■of the trap, walked in and non-
■chalantly started to smoke a ciga-
f t ette. (On duty, too!) Told of the
plot, the cop left. But feeling is the
suspect, wanted for shooting an
Army officer in the South, saw the
uniformed cop waiting, formed his
own conclusions, and blew—be
cause he didn’t show.
Stanley Rawls, the clever young
commimic, in close conversation
with Bob Gordon, director of both
Jolson stories and “The Joe Louis
Story.” A hint of things to come?
. . . Chicago ballad singer, Ada
Moore, a click with downtown east
side patrons. It couldn’t happen -to
a nicer person.
* * *
Talk Around Town
Sgt. Lloyd Sealy assigned com
mand of a Brooklyn police Juvenile
Aid Squad, marking first time
Dodgertown has had a Negro
plainsclothes commander. Too bad
his wife could not have lived to see
him get the honor. Her tragic
death came a month before the as
signment.
Luscious Corona, LI, model Lor
raine Welch, getting the big push
via Bill Keno. . . . Jimmy Ran
dolph, the Brooklyn swoon bari
tone, going places on the basis of
crack radio, TV and personal ap
pearances. Recently won a thou
sand bucks on the “Strike It Rich”
show.
Thinking Out Loud
Question: Which “Fats” Domi
no is responsible for the blues hit
parader, “Going Home?” Is he the
guy doing most of his work in
Ohio or the fellow with his main
stomping ground around Georgia?
Both are entertainers.# jfc if?
Jesse L. Vann, Unofficial Mayor
of Brooklyn, getting his summer
program set for Stuyford, Brook
lyn’s Harlem, improvements. . . .
Young concert singer Roma La-
Margue, who scored recently dur
ing auditions for NBC, flew to Ja
maica to be near her ill father. . . .
Telephone receptionist, M i r i a m
Smith, around after second virus
attack in six weeks. She works at
Forest House, biggest of the city’s
settlement houses.
* * *
Character charged with hitting
Detective Paul Senna on the head
with a club, lucky he wasn’t shot.
Cops only wanted to question him
about a burglary. . . . Artist Bill
Long let it be known he’ll tolerate
no foolishness from the fellows
concerning Katherine Sharper, a
pretty Indian maid.
8
By BETH MICHAELS
Interracial marriages have al
ways been regarded as social
T-N-T.
They’ve been “freak” affairs
—viewed by the public with a
strict “hands-off” a t t i t u d e .
Shunned by families (on both
sides usually), and friends, the
principals involved have been
outcasts.
Thus, any interracial mar
riage starts off with two strikes
against it. Here are two of the
most recent victims of this so
cial stigma.
And here are the facts in
each union.
Do you think they can last?
BECAUSE she married a Negro,
a California mother, Mrs.
Barbara R. Smith, is today faced
with the loss of her two children.
m i E R
Divorced from her white hus
band, she was given custody of
their children without any pro
test or dissatisfaction.
Everything went along smooth
ly and everybody was happy, until
she married a Negro. Then,
trouble started.
Her ex-husband filed a petition
on the grounds that “change of
circumstance” for the children
warranted his custody. He also
protested that the man she mar
ried was of questionable character.
In court, it was pointed out that
there were two charges against
Willie Taylor, the Negro husband.
He was arrested while playing
poker in a private home in 1946,
and he is a Negro.
The father charged that h i s
SEPIA recordf
. .. .u .j3|
- R n C I H K
All marriages
Can these
daughter, 10 - year - old Amanda
Smith, is living in a crowded
apartment and as a result, is in
poor health. It was established
through testimony of physicians,
psychiatrists and her school teach
ers that Amanda is in excellent
health—both physically and men
tally. The child testified that she’d
rather live with her mother and
that her stepfather was very kind
to her and she is fond of him. It
was established that the child’s
living conditions are equal to those
of her former father and mother.
This Wo I I an M arried N e g r o - -
MRS. BARBARA Smith nearly lost the custody of her two white children because she married a Negro man
9Sf- :: -s:vv;;
P R O B L E m m R R R I R C E S
of this type create problems,
couples overcome them?
Her welfare has been checked
in every way and found to be sat
isfactory.
Yet, the problem remains. The
child testified that she did not see
anything wrong with her mother
marrying a Negro — but in this
case, it’s not what she thinks, but
what her friends and relatives
think, that really matters. How
will they treat her?
This little girl is torn between
the love for her father and res
pect, for her step-father. S h e
wants to obey her mother and her
father, but how can she when both
have such different beliefs? Mr.
Smith, Amanda’s father, testified
that the child’s grandmothers,
aunts and uncles have nothing
more to do with Mrs. Taylor since
she has married a Negro. Children
always consider it a treat when
they are taken for a visit to grand
mother and grandfather’s house.
In fact, they enjoy visiting any
relative. Can you imagine how she
feels now that these visits have
been denied?
Mrs. Taylor had worked at the
T h i s W o I I an M arried a
United Motor Service in Berkeley
for two years, but as a result of
the publicity caused by the case,
she lost her job.
Amanda testified that she loves
her little half-brother, John, as
much as she does her full-blooded,
white brother, Eric. But as time
goes on, it will be harder for her
to prove it. She’ll discover that
while they have the same mother,
there’ll be many times when they
won’t be allowed to go through the
same doors or associate with the
same people.
If there are other children born
to the Taylors,what affect will it
have on their lives? They have a
chance to be white, but—no mat
ter how white they are when born,
they can be nothing but Negro.
(Please Turn Page)
W hite Man!
THINGS WERE a little smoother for Mrs. Alberto S. Briggs, a former barmaid, who married a millionaire.
10 SEPIA record
M illionaire m arries barm aid
Will their parents’ love and under
standing be broad enough to make
them want to be part of this mixed
family or will they want to es
cape the complications?
If Mr. Taylor was a wealthy
man, it would make things easier
for the family but since he is not,
all they can do is make the best
of the situation. The luxuries that
could be bought to help brighten
the children’s lives cannot be af
forded.
Mrs. Taylor has an order from
Judge Harold Jacoby of Contra
Costa county restraining Mr.
Smith from taking the children,
Amanda, 10 and Eric, 3 out of the
state, while the appeal is pending.
Mrs. Taylor will carry her fight
to the Supreme Court if it is nec
essary. If she wins the case, that
does not mean she will win peace
and happiness with her family.
The people around will see that
she does not. After the trial is
over, she’ll still be on trial as far
as they are concerned. Her family
will be the center of gossip and
curiosity.
We must admit that marriages
between Negroes and white create
larger problems than any other
interracial marriages. The sad part
about them, is that the children
are the ones who usually suffer
most. Their parents ignore the
risk of racial conflict and get mar
ried. They may love and under
stand each other, but when the
children come along, instead of
serving as a tie between the races,
they become a problem, because
there is no “in-between” race.
They are not white and they are
not Negro. It is easier for them
to call themselves Negro because
there are all shades of color in the
Negro race and also, this race will
accept them quicker than the
white one.
The children involved in the
marriage between Mr. Ernest
Briggs, the 67-year-old multimil
lionaire to Miss Alberta Sheffield,
face a similar problem. Mrs. Briggs
is the mother of two children,
James, 3 and Leela, 2 by a prev
ious marriage. The couple had
been married a week before the
news leaked out. Yet, when it was
made public, the father of the two
small children did not rush in to
file a petition to take the children
away from the mother because
she’d married a white man.
It is true that the family is
plagued by reporters and photog
raphers—and even people who call
because they are curious.
Everyone realized it was an
unusual incident f r o m many
angles. First, it was an interracial
union. Secondly, it is the “Cin
derella” type of wedding—since
Mr. Briggs is a member of a
moneyed auto parts family.
Thirdly, there’s a vast margin
between their ages—she being
and he, 67. We must admit that
the publicity given them was far
different from the cruel treatment
given the marriage of the Taylors,
It has not thrown her two chil
dren into as much confusion and
bewilderment. While the Taylors
are sitting in constant tension,
waiting and hoping for the best,
the Briggs family is enjoying life
and looking forward to a happy
future together. The two children
are being adopted by Mr. Briggs
so they can share his name as well
as his love and liberality. So far,
in this case, there are no problems
to mar this marriage.
Why is there so much difference
in the two cases? Does it mean
that enough “cold cash” can pre
vent “hot gossip” from harming
you? Or does it mean that the pub
lic feels that one mother reachedj
up— while the other stooped down!
What is your opinion in either
ERNEST BRIGGS talks over old times with dancing m.c., Shorts Davis. case?
A PPEN D IX C.
Nature's unhurried goodness - f - S ch e n le y ’s unm atched skill = the best-tasting whiskey in z ige i
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SCHENLEY
.you' 11 know it’s
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B L E N D E D W H I S K E Y 86 P R O O F . 6 5 % G R A I N N E U T R A L S P I R I T S . C O P Y R I G H T 1 9 5 3
Dancing star of Sunset Club show is Vera Antia, who entertains customers with a sensational shake dance done
to the accompaniment of a five-piece jump band. Dancer from Cardiff, Wales, has been at club two years.
LONDON’S
SUNSET CLUB
Liquorless beige-and-blonde
nitery is popular attraction
L ONDON’S night clubs were carried to the
peak of a glittery, noisy and iiquory boom
during the American “occupation.” Today the
melody lingers on in an institution brand new
to England—the bumptious beige-and-blonde
clubs, American style. Like Coca Cola and
chewing gum, this startling import is now an
integral part of the English social landscape.
They do an exceptionally brisk business, cater
ing to Negroes and white people who wish to
frolic together in a congenial atmosphere.
Most typical of London’s beige-and-blonde
places is the Sunset Club, which has become
so popular that any taxi driver’s eyes brighten
with recognition at the mere mention of its
name. Situated on Carnaby Street in Soho,
near famed Piccadilly, it is a low-ceilinged
basement of a bombed-out building.
Serving only sandwiches and cokes (liquor
is forbidden) and having just a passably fair
floor show, the Sunset Club has just one main
attraction. It is the spot where white women
can go and dance freely with Negro men. And
the club is packed seven nights a week.
Dancing couples at Sunset Club include titled ladies as well as factory and shop girls. They have one thing in common—they love to dance with Negroes. Club has 500
members who pay $3 to join and 50 cents each night they attend. Third of membership is white women—half English and the others French, German, and American.
Continued on Next Page 71
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Looking as “sent” as any American jitterbug, English girl dances with Air Force
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Lingering goodnights at Sunset’s doorway at 4 a.m. closing time are common. Leslie
changed name of club from Moonglow to Sunset because as he says, “The new
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Moil This Coupon Today— SEND NO MONEY
r ■
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242 East Ohio St., Chicago II, III.
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i-------------------------------------- 1
1 ADDRESS
I
, C IT Y . . . , . ZONE
Searching patrons ior concealed liquor, Sunset proprietor Gustavos Leslie is cautious
about conducting a respectable club to win police approval. Unlike most Soho
district clubs, the Sunset vigorously bars admittance to all known prostitutes.
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AFTER
74
Service of the within and receipt of a copy
thereof is hereby admitted this................... day of
July, A. D. 1953.
7-13-53—375