Justice and Oswald

The American public, through the nation's press, television, and radio, has been persuaded that Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President Kennedy. A presumption of guilt, rather than of innocence, has dominated the news media; the day after Ruby shot Oswald, the New York Times headlined its front page, "President's Assassin Shot to Death." In the 55 days since Kennedy's murder, only a few publications, notably the New Republic, the Reporter, and the National Guardian, have pointed out the weakness of the evidence which has been presented to the public.

Foreign public opinion remains, for the most part, unconvinced by the U.S. press. The socialist bloc is not alone in its conviction that Oswald was framed. The Messenger, a moderate Greek newsweekly, wrote, "It is obvious...that they [the Dallas police] manufactured methodically the evidence against Oswald, and that they helped Ruby in his deed, so that Oswald's voice would never be heard."

In the U.S., conservative forces have already begun to use America's belief in Oswald's guilt to show that they are correct in opposing "communists." The John Birch Society has declared. "We believe that the president of the United States has been murdered by a Communist within the United States." Senator Goldwater, in a campaign speech, said that Kennedy's assassin had "a mind fed by communism." Abroad, the summary dispatch with which the Oswald case was closed, the fabrication of evidence by the Dallas police, and the killing of Oswald, have led many to suspect an elaborate rightist plot in the United States.

For the sake of a rational political atmosphere at home and for the sake of America's Image in the world, Americans should want to know the truth about Kennedy's assassination. They should wonder: if Oswald may be innocent, then who else may be guilty? But above all, they should feel compelled to find the facts, because in the United States no man is considered guilty until convicted under law.

President Johnson is to be congratulated on his appointment of a special committee, headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, "to satisfy itself that the truth is known as far as it can be discovered." The committee itself is to be congratulated for the deliberation and the discretion with which it is conducting the investigation.

But the Warren committee is severely hampered by the nation's verdict on Oswald. Those with an investment in seeing Oswald proved guilty are strengthened by the present public certainty of his guilt. Already their influence is felt; in a six point outline of the committee's work, given by the committee's counsel, J. Lee Rankin, four points concerned Oswald, but none even touched upon the idea that other persons may have committed the crime.

Only by answering all the questions about the shootings of Kennedy and Oswald, in the fullest and most public manner possible, can the Warren committee serve justice. The committee's job will be easier if the public ceases to prejudge the case.

Americans should realize that the published evidence against Oswald proves nothing. They must look to the Warren committee for the real answers, whether it concludes that Oswald is innocent, guilty, or concludes that there can be no conclusions.