Ben Levy, founder of ACLU here made his mark

`All I wanted to do was to protect the right to speak freely without penalty, without being afraid.'

The bullets always were fired at night, but the threats, curses and social snubs came at any hour of the day. Houston's early American Civil Liberties Union members often found themselves in conflict with groups willing to use unsavory means to maintain the status quo.

Founded in 1957 by Houston lawyer Ben G. Levy and a handful of supporters, the organization eventually made its mark in prison, civil rights and First Amendment litigation. But in its early years, an era characterized by overt racism and anti-communist hysteria, the ACLU group's success seemed anything but assured.

Levy, 76, will be honored next month by the ACLU for a lifetime of civil liberties advocacy. As evidence of the danger of such endeavors, the self-described socialist and "Franklin Roosevelt Democrat" recalled that he once was assaulted by an angry Cuban refugee who believed, as did many ACLU foes, that the group was unduly sympathetic to communists.

"All I wanted to do," Levy said of his ACLU career, "was help protect the right to speak freely without penalty, without being afraid. Free, open and full discussion of social and economic problems is essential to progress."

For almost 50 years, Levy has been a fixture in the civil liberties cosmos. From 1982 to 1988, he served as an associate justice on the Houston-based 1st Court of Appeals, a position he won after arguing that he was more sensitive to human suffering than his opponent.

He also ran unsuccessfully for Congress, the Texas Supreme Court and the Houston School Board.

"During the McCarthy era, during the civil rights era, during Vietnam, he was always there," said Texas ACLU President Greg Gladden. "He was one of just a handful of people that were doing Herculean works during very troubled times. He was one of the very few heroes in an era when it didn't come easily."

His longtime friend and associate Martin Elfant recalled that for Levy, principle trumped success.

"He was sort of a charger and sort of a negotiator," added former Houston school trustee Gertrude Barnstone, who was among the early ACLU members. "He had a great deal of intelligence and wit -- he was sardonic, slightly humorously cynical."

Yet, as Levy now concedes, there was little in his early life that foreshadowed his emergence as a civil liberties warrior.

"My father was a Republican," said the New York native. "But then, Republicans there are a hell of a lot more liberal than they are here."

Levy arrived in Houston in the early 1950s after receiving a bachelor of science degree from the City College of New York. He enrolled in the South Texas College of Law in 1951, receiving his degree three years later. He first encountered the ACLU, organized in 1920 to resist erosion of civil liberties during World War I, when he had difficulty getting certified to practice law in federal courts.

"I had been denied admission on the grounds that I was associated with a man who was suspected of being a communist," Levy noted in a 1977 article concerning his case.

"The ACLU filed an amicus brief for me, which I'm sure was at least partly instrumental in persuading the (Supreme) Court to order the local courts to admit me. ... I wanted to do something in return for the favors the ACLU did me, so I started organizing some friends and concerned citizens to have a chapter that would be available to assist people whose civil liberties had been attacked."

After the first organizational meeting in December 1957, the group scored significant victories.

The Frances Jalet-Cruz case gave lawyers the right to visit their clients in prison. A lawsuit against the city overturned an ordinance that barred parades that supported or opposed national, state or local political policies. A federal court case resulted in San Jacinto College students expelled for long hair and/or beards being returned to class.

ACLU lawyers successfully challenged a state law that allowed landlords to enter tenants' apartments and sell their belongings without judicial permission. Multiple lawsuits challenging racial discrimination in schools, restaurants, apartment complexes and swim clubs ended in victory for the civil liberties group.

But the local chapter's first lawsuit, filed in 1961 after the Houston Independent School District refused to allow the organization to meet in a school auditorium, set the tone for many to come.

The case began when ACLU leaders refused to take an anti-communist "loyalty oath" required before groups could use school facilities for meetings.

"Hardly anybody understood the purpose of the ACLU," Elfant said. "It defended communists and rapists -- but ... the philosophy was that when one person's civil liberties were taken away, all people were hurt. We'd defend the Nazis no differently than we'd defend communists."

With the matter in court, the ACLU held its first general membership meeting -- it was recognized as a national ACLU affiliate in 1961 -- in a downtown-area union hall. Four hundred people, some of them openly hostile, filled the auditorium.

"Every communist in the United States will someday be hanged!" the mimeographed handbill warned beneath a crude drawing of a noose. "Being a communist automatically disqualifies `civil rights.' And no person will dare defend them. ... Every person who is a communist is a traitor and should be summarily disposed of by whatever means necessary."

"You faced a city that in those days was so small, and the power structure was either oil or people in the cotton and cattle business," said early ACLU member Ben Russell. "Those were very conservative people. It was very, very provincial. And anyone who rebelled at that concept risked losing his job or his life."

Early meetings occasionally were held in the homes of members, at least one of whom sandbagged his house to protect against gunshots. Law enforcement authorities kept the meetings under surveillance.

"You could tell who the infiltrators were," he said. "They'd volunteer for everything. Get out the newsletter, do this, do that. Ultimately, there would be a meeting at his apartment. You'd look around and realize there was absolutely nothing in his bathroom closet. You'd come away wondering, what is this apartment we're in?"

Levy's daughter, Shanna Barnstone, recalled her youth in the activist household as a heady time.

"At 7 or 8, I had a developed sense of what was going on," she said. "We had monthly meetings for the committee to end the war in Vietnam, and I was treated like someone who could help. I would staple things."

A childhood friend who spent the night awoke to find a bullet lodged in the sofa on which she slept.

"I'm 8 years old and I answer the phone and a voice says, `Is your father there?' " Barnstone recalled. "I answer `no,' and he says, `Well, you tell that n-----loving Jew' and blah, blah, blah. It was pretty frightening."

Levy felt he was targeted, too, by his professional colleagues. On several occasions during his political/judicial career, Levy received low approval ratings from the Houston Bar -- actions, Levy contended, that were the result of big law firms trying to discredit him.

"He was an enigma," Barnstone said of her father. "He was the one who put his neck on the line. He was the one to always go a little farther out on a limb. Then, when it got safer, everyone else would kind of follow."

Founded in 1957 by Houston lawyer Ben G. Levy and a handful of supporters, the organization eventually made its mark in prison, civil rights and First Amendment litigation. But in its early years, an era characterized by overt racism and anti-communist hysteria, the ACLU group's success seemed anything but assured.
Levy, 76, will be honored next month by the ACLU for a lifetime of civil liberties advocacy. As evidence of the danger of such endeavors, the self-described socialist and "Franklin Roosevelt Democrat" recalled that he once was assaulted by an angry Cuban refugee who believed, as did many ACLU foes, that the group was unduly sympathetic to communists.
"All I wanted to do," Levy said of his ACLU career, "was help protect the right to speak freely without penalty, without being afraid. Free, open and full discussion of social and economic problems is essential to progress."

Plotting the overthrow of the American government (which is certainly what communists have done and CONTINUE to do) is sedition. It is not open to discussion. The fifth column does not have the right to overthrow the government or plot doing so.

Some anarchist-socialist don't believe that the constitutional form of government we have will be tossed out in their lifetime but their goal is just as criminal.

For almost 50 years, Levy has been a fixture in the civil liberties cosmos. From 1982 to 1988, he served as an associate justice on the Houston-based 1st Court of Appeals, a position he won after arguing that he was more sensitive to human suffering than his opponent.

I find it offensive that such an activist was allowed to legislate from the bench.

He also ran unsuccessfully for Congress, the Texas Supreme Court and the Houston School Board.

Let us all thank our lucky stars that he was unsuccessful.

"During the McCarthy era, during the civil rights era, during Vietnam, he was always there," said Texas ACLU President Greg Gladden. "He was one of just a handful of people that were doing Herculean works during very troubled times. He was one of the very few heroes in an era when it didn't come easily."
[snip]
He first encountered the ACLU, organized in 1920 to resist erosion of civil liberties during World War I, when he had difficulty getting certified to practice law in federal courts.
"I had been denied admission on the grounds that I was associated with a man who was suspected of being a communist," Levy noted in a 1977 article concerning his case.

No further details if he actually was a communist or not.

Multiple lawsuits challenging racial discrimination in schools, restaurants, apartment complexes and swim clubs ended in victory for the civil liberties group.

Why is it we don't hear about many lawsuits challenging sexist discrimination at women only schools and swim clubs (or what we now know as health clubs)? Discrimination still exists but some on the left seek to protect some -isms.

But the local chapter's first lawsuit, filed in 1961 after the Houston Independent School District refused to allow the organization to meet in a school auditorium, set the tone for many to come.
The case began when ACLU leaders refused to take an anti-communist "loyalty oath" required before groups could use school facilities for meetings.
"Hardly anybody understood the purpose of the ACLU," Elfant said. "It defended communists and rapists -- but ... the philosophy was that when one person's civil liberties were taken away, all people were hurt. We'd defend the Nazis no differently than we'd defend communists."

Both nazis and communists do NOT have America's best interests at heart but seek to destroy from within and limit civil rights. Funny how the ACLU will defend the rights of socialists like Nazis and Communists but not Conservatives and Republicans. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" I guess.

Early meetings occasionally were held in the homes of members, at least one of whom sandbagged his house to protect against gunshots. Law enforcement authorities kept the meetings under surveillance.
Officers attempted to infiltrate the group as well, Russell said.
"You could tell who the infiltrators were," he said. "They'd volunteer for everything. Get out the newsletter, do this, do that. Ultimately, there would be a meeting at his apartment. You'd look around and realize there was absolutely nothing in his bathroom closet. You'd come away wondering, what is this apartment we're in?"

Timothy Leary was involved with his share of leftist organizations in the 1950s (and maybe 1940s, I don't have his autobiography at hand). He says that yes he did see US agents infiltrating these groups. He ALSO said that it was quite clear that hardcore (and possibly KGB) Communists were also infiltrating these same organizations.

The lying liars on the left try to act as if they were all choir boys and that Joe Stalin was just a distant uncle.

This is one of 2 articles to soft-sell communism in today's Houston Chronicle. This comes on the heels of a biased misquote used to bash President Bush in the context of a dead Marine.

I don't know how much the new editor at the Chronicle is responsible for these items but there seems to be an even harder slant to the left in the recent editions.

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