European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 17, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 12 the stars and stripes Anthony Lewis tuesday june 17. 1980 Carter s comment on Clark trip was a Faux Pas Boston that values arc there in Side Jimmy Carter what real beliefs one wind cars again at his strange intervention in the Kamic Clark affair his comment that he would like to see Clark and other american dissidents As he called them prosecuted for going to Iran. In terms of our Legal system the remark was a damaging Faux Pas. It is not the Busi Ness of presidents to make suggestions about prosecuting particular individuals. Those decisions arc for the Justice depart ment and presidential intervention can Only make the process look political. After Rich Ard Nixon it should not be necessary to say so. Carter s comment was therefore an embarrassment and a complication for the jus Tice department officials who have been considering the Case of the american delegation to Iran. And it was a hard enough Case to Start with. For the Law in this area could not allow government lawyers to recommend action against Clark and his col leagues with any Confidence of Success. First of All. There is a Consoli Luliona premise that americans have a right to i Ravel. Freedom of movement the supreme court said in 1958, is Basic in our scheme of it held thai the right to travel is part of the Liberty protected by the fifth amendment. The right is not absolute. The supreme court in 1965 upheld the Power of the stale department to stamp passports invalid for travel to certain countries in that Case. Cuba. But. Whether someone can actually be prosecuted for going to a country Mph arc the government docs not want him logo is a different question and so far the court has answered no. The leading Case was decided in 1967. The Justice department charged some new yorkers with a crime for arranging a trip to Cuba by 58 americans. But the supreme court held unanimously that Congress had not passed any statute imposing penalties George Mair inaction Best describes fhe situation in Miami Miami flame need him worse than Hal Volcano thai just put soot in the air. People Ain t got anything to cat s a Black Man in Llie Middle of riot Lorn Liberty City in Miami talking about Jimmy Carter s visit to mount St. Helens. 11 symbolizes inc re action of inc while is Label Ishmonl to the desperate situation of Blacks in America. It has been weeks since the riot and Here s How things stood Al inc beginning of june there were some 600 Blacks in jail for breaking inc Law during the Riol. There were no whiles in jail for breaking the Law during the riot. There were five Blacks in jail for killing whiles. There were no whiles in jail for killing Blacks. More irian $38 million Worth of properly was destroyed during the Riol and Only 25 percent of inc properly was insured because most insurance companies slopped writing insurance after the riots of 1968. Al this writing Neil her inc governor nor inc while House has declare inc area a disaster area to make in eligible for govern ment Aid. While an enormous amount of Federal of furl Energy and Money is being poured out to help newly arrived cuban ref guess inc Only Federal help offered the Miami Riol area came from inc Small business administration which confesses in has no Money available until Congress gels around to passing a new appropriations Bill Bobby Jones bade county s Public safely director put his Finger on inc heart of inc Mailer for those who think in is Only a police problem How anyone can delude Ihms Clvis into believing that this is a police Community problem is beyond me. The Only thing you have to do is to look at inc economic social conditions Hal i Csc people have to live in and you begin to understand the frustration. And that frustration is going to be directed toward inc most visible part of inc govern Mem Structure inc therein is both the problem and the Solu Tion. The most visible part of inc govern Mcnol Structure in America s ghettos is inc police. What is a Liberal labels such As Liberal and conserva Tive Are of limited usefulness in describing a person s philosophy. It is my Obser vation that most people Are both Liberal and conservative just about different things. The British scientist and writer Wil Liam Conquest has formulated Conquest s Law about this Issue. It says everyone is conservative about things close to their personal life and Liberal about things far removed from their personal life. This applies to the greatest single prob Lem i have Wilh my fellow liberals. Too often they arc situational that is icy arc Only liberals when it is convenient and does t Cost them anything personally. I differ in that i apply my Liberal yardstick of values consistently. For example i am opposed to military aggression by any nation but Many of my Liberal friends arc opposed Only to military aggression by capitalists or Western coun tries. I am As much against inc Vietnam Ese attacking Cambodia As i was against the United Stales attacking Vietnam. A True Liberal is one who is sympathetic to the needs of his fellow Man and wants Freedom and Justice for All regardless of i hair lifestyle or viewpoint. Unfortunately most liberals arc too much like most Arch conservatives. Each wants to run your life for you and expects obedience to his directives. The Only real difference is thai the Liberal also wants you to be grateful for All he is doing for you. Loi false be Tolmei san dict on people who disregarded official travel arc not to be created by infer ence inc court said. In held that the defendants had been accused of violating a non Chis Lenl criminal Afler that decision successive administrations asked Congress to provide criminal penalties for violation of travel bans. Con Gress refused to do so. In 1978 it revised and re enacted the whole passport Law Nar rowing the conditions under which pass ports could be stamped invalid for travel to particular countries. And again in declined to authorize sanctions against people who ignore those bans. How. Then could Clark and his col leagues be punished the theory advanced in inc Carter administration is thai icy violated a 1977 Law called the International emergency economic Powers act. But thai theory would very Likely have hard sledding in court. The emergency economic Powers acl As inc name suggests was designed to let inc president impose International economic sanctions for National Security reasons. The examples Given in the congressional debates were sales of such things As computers and Grain. The administration invoking the act has issued orders against financial transactions Wilh Iran. The Clark group is said to have violated i Csc orders because ils members up Cal Money in Iran. Bui lawyers who have researched inc act s legislative history say there was no discussion in Congress of using Illo Slop individual travel. Moreover courts would have to find that Congress casually and silently approved sweeping sanctions against travel in the economic Powers act while repeatedly refusing to enact any such penalties in the regular passport Law. The philosophical doubts Are even stronger than the Legal. The United states hat. Rightly condemned the Sovil Union for re fusing to let ils citizens travel freely. We have accused the soviets of violating a pro vision of the 1975 Helsinki agreements that Calls for free movement across Borders. It would be embarrassing to say the least if our government were now to prosecute american dissidents for Raveling. Before Carter spoke it looked As though these realities were understood in his administration. Secretary of stale Edmund music said on Mecl the press that the purpose of the ban on i Ravel to Iran was nol to punish people who violate it but to prevent people from but when a reporter asked Carter Aboul Hal Concilia Lory statement he in effect disavowed it. Why politics could be a reason a desire to pc Cpl criticism from the right. There had been angry words about Clark from right Wing figures sen. Robert Dole a Kan. A flagrant breach of loyalty. Sen. John Tower. A Texas seditious Henry Kissinger contemptible absolutely disgraceful behaviour. But there was a ring of something More than politics to Carter s statement some thing personal. It was As if he saw in Clark s violation of a presidential order a Challenge to his authority less macs la. Like Carter s comment on Cyrus Vance Afler Vance s res ignation As Secretary of stale in was Petty gratuitous and damaging mainly to the president. New York time
