Almost OK to be Commie in California
Posted on April 1st, 2008 by bile Categories and Tags: Uncategorized, Alan Lowenthal, Arizona, Arkansas, California, communism, Communist Party, Communist Party of Indiana, Green Party, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Senate Education Committee, US Supreme Courthttp://www.ballot-access.org/…
California State Senator Alan Lowenthal has introduced SB 1322, which deletes some state laws that discriminate against members of the Communist Party. California’s Constitution, Article 20, says that no one may run for either partisan office or non-partisan office, if that person is a member of the Communist Party, or has been within the last 5 years. The Lowenthal bill does not try to repeal that. It does repeal statutes that bar party members from being public school teachers, and statutes that require organizations that want to meet in a public school to sign an affidavit that they are Communist “fronts”.
The bill has a hearing on April 2 in the Senate Education Committee. If SB 1322 passes, it will probably then be possible to repeal various California election laws that also single out Communist Party members. California is one of only six states that has such election laws. The others are Illinois, Arkansas, Kansas, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. None of these laws are enforceable. In 1974 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that they violate the First Amendment, in a case called Communist Party of Indiana v Whitcomb. The decision was unanimous.
I’m not surprised there are still laws on the books which discriminate against Communists. I doubt very much anyone but the most hardcore bother with any official “Communist” party. I’d think given the stigma real communists are in one of the many socialist parties or maybe the Green party.
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