The Ramsey Clark Issue

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

"If we are going to restore order and respect for law in this country," said Richard Nixon when fie accepted the Republican presidential nomination in August, "there's one place we're going to begin: we're going to have a new Attorney General." Sharp as it was, Nixon's attack on Attorney General Ramsey Clark was almost kind compared to what some of Clark's other critics have been saying. On Capitol Hill, Clark's foes, both Republican and Democrat, refer to him as "Cream Puff." One Congressman, Republican Durward Hall of Missouri, has gone so far as to urge his impeachment. Another, Florida Democrat James Haley, says that when it comes to pursuing criminals, "I do not believe that he could find a white elephant on a junior-league baseball diamond."

After less than two years in office, Ramsey Clark has become one of the most controversial Attorney Generals in U.S. history. He has become a favorite whipping boy for the people who believe that the nation is coddling criminals, and a distinct issue in the 1968 presidential campaign.

Psychologically Unsuited? Clark's biggest handicap is that he prefers the sociological approach at a time when the nation seems to be demanding more use of the nightstick. At 40, he is something of an old-fashioned liberal in a time of increasing anxiety over the New Left rebellion. The son of former Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark, Ramsey worked in the family's law firm in Dallas before beginning a Justice Department career in 1961. He and his wife still try to get together with the elder Clarks at least once a weekend, although the family rule is that they never talk law. He has never been a prosecutor, and Senator John Tower of Texas argues that he is "psychologically unsuited to the job of law enforcement." In fact, Clark has worked hard for effective enforcement, but he has also shown a consistent concern for civil liberties and has stubbornly insisted upon protecting the rights of the accused.

Such attitudes raise the hackles of those who argue that criminals are already overprotected. One major specific of the attack on Clark is that he opposes wiretapping except in cases involving national security. After taking over as Attorney General, Clark ordered the Justice Department to review all cases for the purpose of discarding evidence that might be "tainted" because it was obtained by wiretap or bugging. He has firmly refused to make use of last June's Omnibus Crime Act, which permits court-authorized wiretaps in the collection of evidence for certain criminal offenses. Partly as a result, morale is said to be so low in his own organized-crime section that some star! members are planning to vote for Nixon.

Strike Forces. Clark insists that electronic eavesdropping is costly, unnecessary, and no substitute for resourceful detective work. He argues that its main value is to get at the leaders of the syndicates, whose organizations will flourish even if they go to prison. Rather than assigning up to six men to tap one of the bosses' phones round the clock, Clark prefers to send his men into the field to crack down on the sources of rackets revenue at the local level.

One index of how hard Clark's men are working against crime: they will have spent more days making field investigations this year than during any year of Bobby Kennedy's tenure. To root out urban crime, Clark has also sent "strike forces," combining agents from various federal agencies, into several cities where they pool their data on local criminals and help police to round them up. One such concerted investigation has already resulted in five convictions against leaders of the Cosa Nostra family of Stefano Magaddino in Buffalo. Other strike forces have produced 42 indictments against mobsters in Detroit and 35 in Brooklyn.

Challenge of Rebuilding. Another source of Clark's troubles is his own set of priorities. He has less desire to be the nation's chief prosecutor than to exercise a broad mandate to see that the Constitution and federal laws assuring voting rights, fair housing and school desegregation are obeyed in all the states. Under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Clark has brought a total of 31 suits against companies and unions to prevent job discrimination against Negroes. The nation, Clark said in April, "must maintain order these next few years while we meet the challenge of rebuilding the cities and ourselves."

Clark continues to stir up his critics by publicly taking positions that they consider extreme for a law enforcer. He has, for example, unequivocally condemned the shooting of looters and "police violence in excess of authority." He has also come out in favor of abolishing the federal death penalty. His determination, under the circumstances, is admirable. Still, 1968 is the year of Law and Order, and Clark manages to seem out of step. Whatever happens in November, the Attorney General is likely to be looking for a job. For Hubert Humphrey would probably find it nearly as hard as Richard Nixon to keep Clark in the Cabinet.

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