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Friday, January 29, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
FBI actions bring criticism
Bv Michael Carolan
Kansan staff writer
Legal experts at the University of Kansas and civil libertarians had differing reactions about the constitutionality of the FBI surveillance of two men affiliated with KU in the early 1980s.
"If the conclusions are correct, then it was outrageous behavior by the FBI, and similar investigations should be unconstitutional," said Philip Kissam, professor of law. "I don't think any government agency should be used to enforce one side of that government's policy."
On Wednesday, the FBI released documents that showed it had conducted surveillance operations on several hundred U.S. citizens and groups opposed to the Reagan administration's policy in Central Ameri-
Kissam said that the facts about the surveillance were still skimpy but that if they were true, the Reagan administration should be condemned.
If civil laws were broken by the FBI, Kissam said that the FBI could cover its tracks as it did throughout the 1960s.
Dick Kurtenbach, executive director of American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, said that the FBI violated the citizens' right to advocate their political beliefs.
"Because the FBI didn't file charges after three years of surveillance, they were surveilling citizens for their ideologies," he said.
"The fact that we live in a democratic society and political activities are at the heart of it, and at the same time, the FBI is spying on our college
campuses, is completely absurd," he said.
He said that he was shocked at the revelations about FBI surveillance of organizations opposed to the Reagan administration's policy in Central America.
"It is ridiculous for the FBI to follow a couple of KU students around and waste taxpayers' money." Kurtenbach said.
David Gottlieb, professor of law and former Kansas ACLU president, said that if the allegations against the three were true, he found them surprising.
"We heard expressions from William Webster, who was he head of the FBI, that after the revelations of investigations done during Vietnam they wouldn't be in that business anymore," he said.
Scott Bloch. a Lawrence lawyer.
said that the FBI was probably aware that suspicious criminal activities existed at KU. He speculated that the FBI was interested in groups that sheltered illegal aliens from immigration and naturalization laws.
"I don't think there is anything else subversive about people opposed to our policy in Central America unless they were physically stopping our aid to the contras," he said.
Bloch said that the FBI could violate a citizen's privacy rights by using wiretaps or highly sophisticated photographic equipment.
"If the FBI would do so much that they create a imposition on our first right to speech and assembly, they would be violating our basic rights," he said. "The question is, does the FBI's activities keep us from exercising our rights?"
The Associated Press
Wichita minds
Hayden defends comment on city
TOPEKA — Gov. Mike Hayden said yesterday that he didn't expect any lingering bad feelings about his recent comments that the city of Wichita didn't send its brightest minds to the Legislature.
Members of the Sedgwick County delegation were angered by Hayden's statements Monday that the city tended to keep its brightest people at home. A few said the city's residents had been insulted.
Hayden made the remarks at a luncheon of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi. In response, State Rep. Theo Cribbs, D-Wichita, on Wednesday placed Hayden in the House's "Apple Committee," a device members use to poke
fun at each other. Hayden also was named an honorary member of the Sedwick County delegation.
"I appreciate being an honorary member of the Sedgwick County delegation." Hayden told reporters during a Statehouse news conference. "Any time we take ourselves too seriously, that's probably not good, and we've always got to look at things on the lighter side."
However, Hayden also said that he was not surprised by the delegation's reaction. He met with several of the lawmakers Tuesday, and the meeting reportedly grew heated at times.
"I think in reflection, given a little time, most of them will take it in the lighthearted way Sen. Morris did." Hayden said, referring to comments from State Sen. Bill Morris, R-Wichita.
Students decry FBI
Rv till less
Kansan staff writer
KU students reacted in anger and ambivalence, but they were not surprised that the FBI conducted surveillance at KU in the early 1980s. Many said they thought the incident was just another example of government paranoia.
"Do they really think that students are going to start a revolution in the country?" said Robert Woodward, Sulphur, La., junior.
According to documents released Wednesday, the FBI conducted extensive surveillance of hundreds of U.S. citizens who opposed the Reagan administration's policies in Central America. Those citizens include two men affiliated with the University of Kansas.
Woodard said he thought the surveillance was an example of the paranoia that had also taken place during the Nixon administration.
Rhonda Neugebauer, spokesman for Latin American Solidarity, said she thought the surveillance was an indication that there was a big problem with the Reagan administration.
"It shows that overzealous activities by government, such as those in the '60s and '70s, weren't effectively curbed," she said.
Many people said they weren't surprised by the FBI's actions.
he was one of the people under surveillance.
Charles Stansifer, director of KU's center for Latin American Studies, is the author of a book.
"I to go to Nicaragua often, so I wouldn't be surprised if the FBI tracked my movement," he said. "But I don't care."
Tom Crawford, Overland Park sophomore, said that although he didn't think student protests were subversive, he was sure the FBI had reasons for the investigation.
"The FBI works in mysterious ways in those kind of matters," he said.
Neugebauer said she was angry about the surveillance.
"I am outraged that a student group would ever even be questioned," she said.
Kate Barron, president of Latin American Solidarity, said she found the surveillance ironic.
"We're trying to fight for the rights of other countries, and this is so indicative of the rights we don't have in our own country," she said.
Barron also said she was unsure of how the surveillance would affect his students. She said she thought it could shrink more students to get involved.
But Neugebauer disagreed. She said she thought investigations such as this had a chilling effect on expression and all political organizing.
Kansan reporter Jeff Moberg contributed information to this story.
Stephen M. Schwebel, U.S. representative on the world court.
Mark Porter/KANSAN
World court's future cloudy, judge warns
By Kim Lightle
Kansan staff writer
The future strength and importance of the International Court of Justice in the world community is uncertain, a world court judge said yesterday.
Stephen M. Schwebel, who has been the U.S. representative on the court since 1891, spoke to about 70 people at Green Hall as part of the Edmund L. Page Jurist-in-Residence program.
Schwebel said problems with the court, which is the judicial arm of the United Nations, stemmed from a lack of recognition by many countries.
He said it was a troubling phenomenon that nations often would not appear before the court or abide by its decisions when a case was brought against it.
"It's true of nice states and nasty states . . .," he said. "There's not much difference. States don't like to be dragged into court."
Many people also are troubled by the lack of cases on the court docket since the 1970s, he said. Some years, the court hears as few as three cases.
The court has made concessions, through the use of special chambers, to encourage nations to bring cases before it. A special chamber allows a nation to exclude some members of the 15-member world court from a hearing, Schwebel said.
Some states are not attracted to the idea of submitting themselves to the full court because some justices represent nations that never submit cases to the court. That allows some nations to rule on matters disputes with other submitters ever submitting to others judgment themselves.
If countries fail to adhere to the court's judgment, the security council of the United Nations can consider enforcing the judgment.
Schweibel said he was pleased with comments made recently by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, encouraging more frequent use of the court in deciding international disputes.
Whether the Soviet Union intends to abide by those sentiments, which may be the result of its policy of glasnost, or "openness," remains to be seen, he said.
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