Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. Mcgrath

341 U.S. 123 (1951)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Without notice or hearing, and claiming authority under the President's Executive Order No. 9835, the Attorney General included three organizations, ostensibly of a charitable nature, in a list of groups designated by him as communist. As required by the order, the list was transmitted to the Loyalty Review Board, and disseminated by the board to all government departments and agencies, for use in administrative proceedings for the discharge of disloyal government employees, in which membership in a communist or otherwise subversive organization was a factor to be taken into consideration in determining disloyalty. D identified P, and others in this consolidated case, as a Communist sympathizer without providing notice, explaining the reasons for the identification, or giving those placed on the list an opportunity to discuss any evidence or challenge the identification. P claims that the actions of D and the Loyalty Review Board are unauthorized and without warrant in law and amount to a deprivation of P's rights in violation of the Constitution; that Executive Order No. 9835, on its face and as construed and applied, violates the First, Fifth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution. P sued claiming it was not a communist group and that the proclamations violated due process of law. P asked for declaratory and injunctive relief. The district court dismissed, and the court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.