FREE 30 DAYS VITAMINS MINERALS and AMINO ACID 25 proven ingredients-11 Vitamins (including Blood-building B1, Mr. REES. Just one observation, going back to this question of this income-tax situation. I am thinking in terms of these outfits that you described this morning where people have paid in hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars, thinking that it goes to charity and properly making deductions therefor, because they thought it went to charity. Instead of that, it goes into the hands of these outfits and crooks and the Government loses money by reason thereof. Mr. STEPHENS. That is right. Mr. REES. It seems to me that is something that ought to be followed up a little bit with the Internal Reveune Service. That is just my opinion. Mr. STEPHENS. I think your point is well taken. Mr. REES. We do comment, too, that we appreciate your fine statements, both of you, with respect to this matter this morning, and your very clear understanding of it. Of course, you have had a tremendous amount of experience in your Department down there in dealing with the same condition, and you have done a good job. Mr. STEPHENS. Thank you, sir. The CHAIRMAN. I would like to join in that statement of Mr. Rees. You have been very enlightening to us. If all of the members here can take the time, we might go briefly into this statement that Mr. Goff has relating to pornographic materials. It won't take long, will it? (Discussion off the record.) Mr. GoFF. I will put my statement in the record and I will be glad to answer any questions. The CHAIRMAN. I think that will do it. That will be placed in the record. (The bill H. R. 174 and the statement referred to follows:) [H. R. 174, 84th Cong., 1st sess. I A BILL To authorize the Postmaster General to impound mail in certain cases Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, upon the institution of proceedings before the Postmaster General against any person, firm, corporation, company, partnership, or association for the purpose of determining whether any of the orders authorized by section 3 of the Act of March 2, 1889 (39 U. S. C., sec. 255), sections 3929 and 4041 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (39 U. S. C., secs. 259 and 732), and the Act of Anugust 16, 1950 (39 U. S. C., sec. 259a), should be issued, and when it shall appear to the Postmaster General to be reasonably necessary for the protection of the public or to be in the public interest, he may order that mail addressed to such person, firm, corporation, company, partnership, or association be impounded and detained by the postmaster at the office of delivery pending final decision of the issues involved in said proceedings: Provided, That any person, firm, corporation, company, partnership, or association whose mail may be impounded upon order of the Postmaster General, pursuant to the authority conferred by the preceding provisions of this Act, may at any time during the pendency of the said proceedings file a complaint in the United States district court for the district where the person, firm, corporation, company, partnership, or association resides or has his or its principal place of business, to suspend, restrain, or enjoin the enforcement of the order of impounding of the mail upon a showing that such order was issued arbitrarily, capriciously, or improvidently, and that such order is not necessary for the protection of the public or in the public interest. The court shall promptly proceed to hear any such complaint upon not less than five days' notice to (1) the Post master General of the United States; (2) the postmaster of the post office within the delivery of which such person, firm, corporation, company, partnership, or association resides or has his or its principal place of business; (3) the Attorney General of the United States; and (4) the United States attorney for the given district. Such notice shall be given by registered mail by the clerk of the said district court, and shall be complete on the mailing thereof. LEGISLATION NEEDED 1. IMPOUNDING MALL For several years the Department has sought legislation authorizing it to impound mail under certain circumstances. This House passed such a bill in the 83d Congress on April 8, 1954. For indentification the bill passed by the House was H. R. 569. The bill provided that when it appeared to the Postmaster General to be reasonably necessary for the protection of the public, he may order that mail addressed to a person or concern violating sections 255, 259, and 259a of title 39, United States Code, be impounded and detained by the Postmaster at the office of delivery pending a final decision of the issues involved in a proceeding initiated under the sections cited. The American Bar Association has gone on record as being opposed to such a bill. Recently, however, it passed a resolution with respect to three bills presently pending before this Congress. They are H. R. 174, S. 8, and S. 2516. The effect of this resolution, a copy of which I offer for incorporation of the record, indicates American Bar Association approval of impounding of mail by the Postmaster General under the circumstances set forth in these bills for a period not to exceed 20 days. If the impounding is to extend beyond that period, it must be approved by the district court after opportunity for hearing. The use of the mails to advertise and sell merchandise has grown substantially. It is apparent that the public has considerable confidence in this type of business and it is essential that this confidence be maintained. The above-mentioned sections of title 39, United States Code, authorized the Postmaster General to order returned to senders all mail addressed to persons or concerns obtaining or attempting to obtain remittances of money through the mails (1) by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, (2) obtaining and attempting to obtain remittances of money through the mails in exchange for obscene materials, (3) is engaged in conducting through the mails a lottery or gift enterprise, and (4) in the conduct of an unlawful business is using and is requesting to be addressed by a fictitious, false, or assumed name. The duty imposed upon the Postmaster General by these statutes require him to take prompt action to stop the mails from being used to defraud and public, to debase its morals, and to exploit lotteries and similar schemes. Decisions of Federal courts have emphatically expressed this view. Injury done to the public by fraudulent schemes is irreparable as are also injuries caused by the dissemination of obscene, lewd, and lascivious matter. The statutes authorizing the Postmaster General to purge such enterprises from the mails are summary and protective rather than remedial and their provisions must be invoked without delay. Delay in these cases negatives or greately reduces the effectiveness of the Postmaster General's orders in preventing "further injury to the public." Quick cleanup and transient schemes involving the sale of indecent photographs, moving pictures, slides and other articles present problems which could be solved by impounding the offender's mail during the administrative proceeding necessarily required prior to the issuance by the Postmaster General of the order provided by section 259a of title 39, United States Code. The method employed by these enterprises is to advertise sensational merchandise under an assumed or trade name which is used for a short period. They ship merchandise only when they believe that all orders likely to result from the current advertising have been received. Then, or just prior thereto, they may use another name and address to repeat the performance. The delay in filling orders is to prevent postal inspectors from securing evidence which United States courts in California have in some instances held essential to support a departmental order. A recent decision in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decided December 21, 1955, in U. S. v. Hornick, will be of considerable assistance to the Department, especially if followed by other circuit courts, including the ninth circuit. The Hornick case holds that advertisements describing the merchandise as obscene is sufficient to warrant a conviction under title 18 United States Code, section 1461. The same principle should apply to title 39, United States Code, section 259a. While the amendment of the bill to conform to the recommendations of the bar association would make it more difficult of practical operation, particularly in Federal courts distant from Washington, I prefer not to press for its enactment in form subject to a considered conclusion that sufficient procedural safeguards are not provided. Of course, our bill was approved in its present form by the Bureau of the Budget, so this means that the Department of Justice did not object to its provisions. It would seem that the burden should be on the concern complained against to go into court rather than the Postmaster General. A grant of authority to the Postmaster General to impound mail for such schemes pending an administrative hearing would make the Department's law enforcement efforts more effective. 2. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 18 RELATING TO THE MAILING OF OBSCENE MATTER The amendment was sent to the Speaker of the House and the Vice President under date of February 24, 1956. Because it deals with the criminal code it will become a matter for consideration by the Committee on the Judiciary. In substance, it provides that violators of section 1461 of title 18, United States Code, the provision which prohibits the mailing, at the place of address or in any judicial district through which the obscene material is carried through the mails. It has not yet been introduced, but a copy of the proposal is submitted for the record. A BILL To amend title 18 of the United States Code, relating to the mailing of obscene matter Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the ninth paragraph of section 1461 of title 18 of the United States Code is amended to read as follows: "Whoever knowingly uses the mails for the mailing, carriage in the mails or delivery of anything declared by this section to be nonmailable, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail according to the direction thereon, or at the place at which it is directed to be delivered by the person to whom it is addressed, or knowingly takes the same from the mails for the purpose of circulating or disposing thereof, or of aiding in the circulation or disposition thereof, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both." In the decision of the United States Court of Appeals 10th Circuit (U. S. v. Ross, 205 Fed. 2d 619) it was held that the unlawful act defined in title 18, United States Code, section 1461 "is the deposit for mailing and not the use of the mails which may follow such deposit.' The court stated that the act was complete when the deposit was made and is not a continuing act. The importance of this decision rests in the fact that it is sometimes difficult to obtain a conviction for the mailing of obscene matter in certain jurisdictions. In the Ross case above, the defendant mailed pictures of nude females in one State for delivery in another State. In the judicial district where the pictures were mailed, the court held that the pictures were not obscene, whereas in the judicial district where the pictures were delivered the court reached the conclusion that it did not have jurisdiction. The circulation of obscene matter in any community tends to debase its morals. Its citizens should be free to prosecute the persons responsible for such obscenity. Congress clearly indicated its intention by enacting section 3237 of title 18, United States Code. This section provides that any offense involving the use of the mails is a continuing offense and may be prosecuted in any district from, through, or into which such mail matter moves. Unless the Department's legislative proposal is enacted, the will of Congress as expressed in title 18, United States Code, section 3237 will be defeated insofar as the application of that intent to prosecutions under title 18, United States Code, section 1461 for the mailing and transportation of obscene matter is concerned. |