Army Records of Antiwar Activity Defended in U. S. Court of Appeals

A lawyer for the Army said yesterday it is necessary for intelligence agents to keep records on antiwar demonstrators to do their job properly and that the practice is not illegal.

The statement was made by Robert Keuch, a Justice Department lawyer representing the Army in U. S. Court of Appeals arguments before Judge George B. McKinnon.

The judge asked attorney Frank Askin of the American Civil Liberties Union how the practice differs from a newsman gathering and writing a story.

It doesn't, Askin answered, "except for computerized data for instant retrieval."

Askin and the ACLU were appealing for some 20 antiwar protesters, said to be recorded in Army intelligence files, for a trial and an injunction to stop the Army practice.

A Federal district court dismissed the ACLU bid last March.

Several former Army intelligence officers and enlisted men revealed the Army practice, most recently in Chicago, where a former enlisted man said files were kept on Rep. Abner Mikva and Sen. Adlai E. Stevenson III '52, both Illinois Democrats. This matter is related in principle but is not the subject of this case.

Arguing for the Army, Keuch said the Army has lawful authority to act in civil disturbances and has been called on five times in all since 1967 in Detroit. He said the Army, in order to accomplish its mission, must have some idea of whom it is acting against.