Sullivan's Statute

The Sullivan Bill seemed to be just another one of the series of anti-Red bills when it came up before the Education Committee of the Massachusetts legislature at the end of March. Even its sponsor did not hold out much hope for its passage. But H442 has gained a lot of momentum since then. It passed the House of Representatives Wednesday by a voice vote, with not a single dissenting murmur, and has been sent to the Senate for consideration.

Committee rewording of H442 has changed the crime, the culprit, and the penalties since the public hearings were held on the bill. Under the new wording, "teaching the doctrines of atheistic communism" is the offense for which teachers would receive a fine, a year in jail, and banishment from the profession. This phrase replaces "advocating overthrow of the government by force or violence." Either version, however, could conceivably be applied to large bodies of people who did not hold the same views as the Commissioner of Education or the majority of the legislature.

Although, with the new wording, the instructor himself would be responsible for "communist teachings" and schools would no longer be liable to loss of their tax exemptions, the purpose and result of the measure remain the same. The important point is that the state would have the power to say who would teach and what should be taught in private educational institutions. A sleuth in a classroom is a threat to academic freedom whether he is compiling "evidence" against a school or an individual professor.

It is very unlikely that the members of the House were unanimously in favor of H442. It is probable, as one representative has pointed out, that opponents of the measure were reluctant to speak for fear of bing branded "communist sympathizers." If this is so, it is a sad example of what the present hysteria can do to legislative bodies. The Sullivan Bill should never have been reported favorably out of committee; it should certainly never have passed the House. The Senate had better forget about the Red scare and kill this measure; otherwise, H442 may surprise everybody by being enacted into law.