THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Smith Says
Fair Trials
Key Libert
By RUTH EVENHUIS
Michigan Supreme Court Justice
Talbot Smith emphasized the im-
portance of "due process of law"
in maintaining the constitutionally
guaranteed civil liberties in the
second lecture of the Challenge
Colloquium weekend.
"Constitutional guarantees are
not self-executing," he said. "And
freedom of speech is of no value
to the person who is behind bars
as the result of an unfair trial."
Smith said the "due process of
law" clahse embodies a great deal
of American philosophy. It is the
provision responsible for a govern-
ment of laws rather than men as
it is the rule under which we
submit to our rulers.
Checks Malignancy
"This clause draws the line be-
tween efficient, good government
and its more tyrannical form," he
explained. "It checks malignant
growths."
Smith saw the application of the
"due process" clause as a weighing
of competing interests. The clause
is not a yardstick, not mechani-
cal, but a delicate process by
which the individual even when
balanced against national security,
is entitled to a fair hearing, he
said, mentioning the recent ex-
cesses of the McCarthy era.
Smith cited the controversy over
the use of illegally extorted evi-
dence for conviction as an in-
stance in which the clause is
subject to differing interpreta-
tions. He described the argument
for the use of confessions ob-
tained by force or pressure as
"emotional, based on a wish for
vengeance," and said that such
use is "repugnant to our concept
of human dignity."
Escape Preferable
"Although some guilty people
escape by this interpretation," he
continued, "this is preferable to
the use of inquisition or Russian
tactics."
He referred to the clause as an
index of the American's maturity,
of his tolerance and devotion to
independence as determined by the
values assigned to people who are
not liked or trusted in the process
of weighing interests.
"Due process of law is going
to be meaningful only to the de-
gree that its worth is a matter
of deep pride and profound con-
viction to the people of the nation.
It cannot be imposed on an un-
willing people by the courts; it
has to be a part of their way of
life," he said.
Defies Definition
"The precise limits of due pro-
cess of law defy definition because
the clause involves a moral con-
cept rather than a legal term," he
explained. "Considerations of hu-
man dignity, value and place in
society revolve around the con-
cept."
Smith described the clause as
the embodiment of a "tremen-
dous, majestic and basic concept"
essential to the functioning of the
American system of government.
'U' Physician Sees Need for,
(Continued from Page 1)
'ener
,: 0
says, it needs additional funds to
provide more scholarships than it
does now.
The most equitable way, in his
opinion, would be appropriations
to the medical schools, to be dis-
tributed in accordance A0th the
particular needs of each student
on an individual basis at the dis-
cretion of a duly constituted body
of the school.
This appropriation would be
based on a formula which would
take into consideration factors
such as enrollment, special needs
of the students, the curricular ob-
jectives, and -the educational costs
of the institution.
of the 85 medical schools in the
country, only the University and
two others handle classes as large
as 200. The average is 95.
Besides expansion and construe-
tion of other four-year institu-
tions, Dr. Bird suggests that,
schools offering the first two years
of medical study also be built a'nd
strengthened, to carry a larger
load of freshmen and sophomores.
"For example," he says, "with
our ten per cent drop-out rate we
usually have a total of approxi-
mately 40 vacancies in the Junior
and senior classes. If two-year,
schools in Michigan produced a
substantial number of qualified
students, we could take a signifi-
cant portion of them. Other four-
year schools could do the same
thing"
tions in American medical schools
today.
Both the general dearth of doc-
tors and the financial attractive-
ness of private practice are re-
sponsible for this shortage. In-
fact, professors are often obliged:
to supplement -their teaching in-
come through practice and/or
consultative work on the side.
For this reason, he continues,
the University and other schools
could not expand their operations
without sacrificing the present
student/teacher ratio, and insti-
tutions with lower ratios might be
looked to first enlarge their'
classes.
"The doctor shortage is not a
simple problem," Dr. Bird admits.
"If'the number of qualified physi-
cians is to increase as it should,
we will in the long run need more
teachers than we are getting. And,
of course, the number of teachers
available depends on how many
doctors are turned out by the
medical colleges.
"The logical approach is to in-
terest more well qualified appli-
cants in the study of medicine;
we hope more capable students
will be attracted to a mediical ca-
reer if the cost of their studies
can be defrayed by increased pri-
vate and public donors."
I
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GOTHIC FILM
SOCIETY
Sergei Eisenstein's
STRIKE
(Russia, 1924)
and
KINO PRAVDA
(Soviet propaganda
newsreel, 1922)
Monday, November 21, at 8
p.m. in Rockham Amphitheatre.
Admission is solely by subscrip-
tion to the remaining 8 programs
of the 1960-61 series. Subscrip-
tions cost $4.00 each; they con
be obtained before the showing.
For further information, call
NO 2-9459 or NO 2-6685.
Lederle. _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _
S.G.C.
TONIGHT at 7 and 9:35
RI CHARD I
(color)
with
LAWRENCE OLIVI ER
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