Resolution Adopted by the CCAR
CIVIL LIBERTIES
Digests of resolutions adopted by the
Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
1. We urge all citizens to protest against abuses of power and the denial of
constitutional
rights. No interference in freedom of speech and freedom of assemblage shall
be used
by private police. (1920, p. 19)
2. We urge investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee: of the dangers
from organizations,
both reactionary and radical, threatening denial of rights; of sources of
un-American
activities and propaganda; as well as of organized bands of vigilantes
interfering with rights of workers and farmers to organize. (1935, p. 81)
3. We express our opposition to all encroachments on the liberties of American
citizens
as not being in the interests of peace. (1936, p. 65)
4. We appreciate Senator LaFollette’s services in behalf of civil liberties.
(1936,
p. 79)
5. We condemn suppression of free speech and assembly in Jersey City and other
parts
of the country. We reaffirm right of rabbi to voice his considered opinion on
social
questions and respect his exercise of moral duty. We approve formation of
committee
to lend assistance to men in difficulties. We deplore failure of the Senate to
pass
Federal anti-Lynching bill. Our deepest sympathy goes to Negro people in their
fight
for equal rights. We must be alert to the introduction of numerous clauses for
Jewish
students. (1938. p. 89)
6. We hail the recent United States Supreme Court decision with reference to
the Hague
Case under which freedom of speech, assembly, press and the right of labor to
organize
were involved. We will support legislation designed to curb that freedom of
speech which libels or slanders religious or racial groups. (1939, p.159)
7. We commend the American Civil Liberties Union for its coverage in taking
the stand
that while it will at all times protect the rights even of those who would
deny rights
to others were they in power, has excluded all pro-totalitarians from its
officership and governing body. (1940, p. 100)
8. We applaud the spirit of our government and its people in these days of
tension
for maintaining civil liberties and avoiding a wave of mass hysteria and mob
action
against enemy aliens in general. (1943, p.124)
9. We commend the appointment by President Truman of the President’s Committee
on
Civil Rights. We urge the President upon the completion of this Committee’s
work
to set up a permanent Presidential Commission to safeguard the civil rights of
American
citizens. (1947, pp. 218-19)
10. We unqualifiedly endorse the Report of the President’s Committee on Civil
Rights
and urge its immediate implementation through necessary legislation. We
recommend
the adoption of the statement on "Judaism and Civil Rights" of St.
Louis Institute
(1948). Its salient points follow: The Right to Safety and Security of Person;
the Right
to Citizenship and its Privileges; the Right to Freedom of Conscience and
Expression;
the Right to Equality of Opportunity; all these rights each man may claim,
irrespective of his race or creed, in the name of God. In consonance with the
principles of Judaism
and the American way of life, there must be no abuse of civil rights because
of race,
creed, color, national origin or political beliefs in housing, the armed
forces,
hospitals, business, political, labor groups, etc. In order to achieve equal
economic
opportunity for minority groups, we must strive for a well-balanced healthy
economy
offering full employment opportunity to all. The legislative approach is
educational
and serves to crystallize public opinion and is immediately effective in
eliminating
some discrimination. F.E.P.C., both state and national, is supported. We
recommend
immediate abolition of all academic practices which limit the admissions of
certain
religious, racial or national groups into our institutions of learning. To
apply to teaching
and research faculties, as well. We call for the maintenance of a free spirit
of
academic inquiry and for freedom of conscience and expression for both faculty
and
students. We call for the extension of Federal Aid to Education. We agree that
the government
has a proper concern for the loyalty of its employees but we insist (a) that
there
must be no identification of unpopular opinions with disloyalty; (b) that
guilt by
association must not be recognized as sufficient; (c) the procedures must give
the
greatest, not the least, possible protection to the employees. (1948, pp.
118-26)
11. We deplore the increasingly frequent practice of condemning individual
citizens
through a process of "guilt by association." We strongly affirm that
every individual
is entitled to mature, deliberate judgment on the basis of his own record.
(1949,
p. 129)
12. We express our disapproval of the Mundt-Nixon Bill, which, while intended
to suppress
subversive groups and activities, threatens the liberties of all men living in
a
democracy. (1950, p. 170)
13. We deplore the wholesale and irresponsible campaign of villification being
conducted
against government employees and men and women in public life. The necessary
effort
to exclude the disloyal from positions of responsibility can be exercised
without
the defamation of the innocent. (1950, pp. 170-71)
14. We endorse the bill introduced by Senator Scott Lucas to revise the
procedures
of our Congressional investigation committees so that the rights of the
accused may
be safeguarded. (1950, p. 171)
15. While recognizing the pressing need to protect our cherished freedom from
the
danger of attack by Communist infiltration, nonetheless we note with mounting
fear
the growing tendency to whittle away the basic rights of individual thought
and action
which are inherent in American Democracy. We are convinced that control by
intimidation
of the right to dissent, the principle of guilt by association, the spreading
belief
that to be wrong equals to be traitorous and similar techniques being
practiced in
the U.S. of America at this hour, are unnecessary, undemocratic,
un-American–and may well
serve to destroy the very democracy which they seek to strengthen and secure
We urge
the President of the United States to exert the power and prestige of his
office
to make known his opposition to those forces in Congress and elsewhere which
would abridge
the civil liberties enjoyed in our land. (1953, p. 124)
16. See Civil Rights.
17. Acting out of commitment to the prophetic ideals of justice and peace, and
acknowledging
the duty of the individual to act in accordance with the highest ideals of
morality,
we hereby express our support of those who conscientiously dissent from the
policy of our government in Vietnam and who refuse to cooperate with that
policy. (1968,
p. 138)
18. See Amnesty.