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on either edge, ought to be avoided. By
using the language of the 14th Amendment
we feel that we keep our State in the
main stream of development. We feel that
we avoid the dangers of going out into new
and untried language.
Now, my final point is this. The states
and the Supreme Court under the 14th
Amendment language have uniformly and
unanimously held that the language of the
Committee Report embraces state action.
Since the Civil Rights cases in 1883, the
language of the 14th Amendment has been
held to talk of state action. Delegate
Mitchell herself concedes that, and since
the concept of state action is embodied in
the 14th Amendment language, the addi-
tion of the amendment I submit, does abso-
lutely nothing.
It does not go any further, it does not
do anything different from the 14th Amend-
ment language. So consequently, in con-
clusion, let me say we are talking about
state action, but we are talking about the
overall, the bigger, broader principle of
colorblindness.
We believe that the 14th Amendment
does that. We think that is what we want
and that is why we desire it.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mitchell.
DELEGATE MITCHELL: Delegate Gal-
lagher.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
How much time do you allot to Delegate
Gallagher?
DELEGATE MITCHELL: Two minutes.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Mr. Chair-
man, ladies and gentlemen of the Commit-
tee: I rise briefly to support this amend-
ment, because I remember this General As-
sembly when abortive attempts were made
to adopt the language of the 14th Amend-
ment to the Constitution of the United
States, and I think it would be a significant
thing to put the power and the majesty of
the law behind the rights which we believe
ought to be accorded to every citizen.
In spite of what might have been said
about a redundancy in language, it would
seem to me that because of the protracted
manner in which many of the rights which
belong to all our citizens have been ac-
corded, this amendment would serve Mary-
land well and bring to this Convention a
measure of appreciation by all of those
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who have suffered so long as a result of
unequal application of the laws.
As has been said so often, all men were
born equal. But it is proved unfortunately
that some were born more equal than
others and I suggest to you and respect-
fully submit that to adopt this language
would provide Maryland citizens with the
kind of spirit in which to interpret the
laws with respect to equal protection and
lack of discrimination.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hardwicke.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: Yes, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN: You have ten min-
utes you may allot.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: I yield
three minutes to Delegate Dabrowski.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Dabrow-
ski.
DELEGATE DABROWSKI: Mr. Chair-
man, ladies and gentlemen of the Commit-
tee: I rise not so much as an individual
voice, but rather as a representative voice
of the people who sent me here. I would
not attempt to enumerate the merits of
desegregation, but instead I trust your
decision to vote against the minority will
be based on a very essential fact. The fact
is that you and I are being asked to insert
several words into our constitution, "nor
be subject to discrimination by the State
because of race, color, religion, or national
origin."
I submit not even the proponents know
the meaning of these words, and yet you
and I are asked to submit them into our
constitution.
In fact, what does due process mean?
The courts for years have been trying to
determine this. In Baltimore City we had a
ruling by the liquor board, not even a
judge, that would allow Negroes to enter
taverns.
This is not even a judge, and yet this
was his interpretation. The minority sug-
gests that this is a mandate to the courts.
We had a court decision today by the
Supreme Court that said, Communists
could now work in defense industry, which
just proves that nine old men are still
running our country.
If we adopted the minority's wording
we could get a very narrow determination
by a conservative judge, and a more liberal
understanding from a liberal judge.
May I caution you by saying that no
positive determination on our part will
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