Bug Bomb

In 1947, Attorney General Tom Clark persuaded Harry Truman to grant him broader powers in the use of electronic eavesdropping gadgets. Now, 20 years later, another Attorney General named Clark has ordered a drastic curtailment of the use of bugging and wiretapping in investigations by federal agencies. This Clark is Tom's son Ramsey, 39.

Ramsey Clark laid down the new rules in response to a 1965 order from President Johnson, who insisted that eavesdropping by Government agents be "fully in accord with the law and with a decent regard for the rights of others." The Justice Department, aware that a bugging case was before the U.S. Supreme Court, delayed issuing the memorandum until the court acted. Last month the court took its stand, declaring a New York State eavesdropping law unconstitutional by a vote of 5 to 4--with Associate Justice Tom Clark writing the majority decision. It was the last major case for Clark, who retired last month to avoid the conflicts of interest that were bound to arise after his son became Attorney General.

Under Ramsey Clark's guidelines, all federal agencies and departments--including military intelligence units--must get permission to bug from the Attorney General. And, said an aide, he is not likely to be "terribly permissive." Except in national-security cases, or with the consent of one of the parties, the memorandum forbids tapping of telephones or electronic probes that involve physically trespassing into a closed room. Left unclear by the memorandum's cautious wording was whether such sophisticated bugs as the "detectaphone," which can hear through walls, may be used by federal agents. The memorandum merely observes that the judicial trend is against such devices, even when no trespassing is involved.

Under the new rules, there is unlikely to be any reprise of the kind of quarrel that recently titillated the nation. Last December, J. Edgar Hoover said that Senator Robert F. Kennedy had been informed of all bugging endeavors while he was Attorney General, and Kennedy retorted that the FBI director had failed to tell him about a number of cases. Now Clark has served notice that he wants to know about all bugging, in advance.

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