Columbia University Center for Mass Communication

Experimental short film about car wreckage and automobile safety.

Reconstructs the case of United States vs. Darby Lumber Company, which, in 1941, resolved long struggles over the question of whether Congress had the right to set minimum wages, limit child labor, and in other respects legislate employment standards.

Shows the relationship of the Constitution to organized labor. Presents the case of Whitaker et al. v. North Carolina, in which a group of unions challenged the constitutionality of a state ban on the closed shop, the union shop, and other union security provisions. Traces the role of the fourteenth amendment in labor struggles.

Follows the efforts to gain the right to vote for Negroes through a succession of legal decision and social changes. Dramatizes the case of Smith vs. Allwright et al. Reviews the long conflict to extend voting rights to a large electorate beginning with the Constitutional Convention's compromise over dropping property requirements through and including the enactment of the 15th and 19th Amendments to the Constitution. Cites legal precedents established by the U.S. Supreme Court through their decisions concerning the control of state primaries in 1918 and 1935 and the later reversals in 1941 and 1944. Points to the issues involved in Federal encroachment upon state's rights.

Shows the relationship of the Constitution to the issue of prior restraint on freedom of expression. Presents the case of Burstyn v. Wilson challenging the constitutionality of New York State's film censorship system and Cantwell v. Connecticut involving questions of freedom of speech and religion. Discusses the questions pertaining to freedom of speech when multiplied via recordings or film, and how the claims of free expression can be weighed against claims for local, state, or federal protection.