I                                                                                       FREEDOM IS AS FREEDOM DOES

''grind slowly in the United States. A case usually takes at least two
years to get to the U.S. Supreme Court, and often four or flve.
Meanwhile, the individuals or organizations involved must suffer
legal harassment, large defense costs and public disrepute. So it is
that repressive statutes, illegal Government actions or imconsti-
tutional Congressional inquiries can cause immeasurable harm
to civil liberties and the spirit of freedom before the Supreme

^Court passes upon them.

Various citizens' committees have been set up to bring pressure
on Congress for the repeal of some of the evil legislation I have
discussed in tliis chapter. This, too, is a slow process. Perhaps a
more hopeful procedure is to persuade the Government simply
to put these anti-freedom laws on the shelf and ignore them.

Finally, I must point out, bad laws are the consequence of a
sickness in the body poHtic. The American people have elected
the Senators and Representatives responsible for the current rash
of lawless legislation. The fundamental cure for such measures
lies in a great awakening among the people to the full meaning
of Hberty. When this occurs, tiue representatives of democracy
will be voted into the seats of legislative power.