Gov. Nelson Rockefeller has vetoed a group libel bill that would have amended the State Penal Law to prohibit speeches and writings made with the intent to incite violence against racial, religious or ethnic groups. He stated that he disapproved the bill because of already existing provisions of the Penal Law covering offenses against public order and because it was of doubtful constitutionality.
Rockefeller’s veto was recommended by various civil libertarian and Jewish organizations, among the latter the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the American Jewish Congress. The bill was sponsored by the Jewish War Veterans of the United States.
Leo Pfeffer, of the A J Congress, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that its recommendation against the legislation stemmed from two considerations- that it would not be effective and that it was probably unconstitutional. However. David Sidman, executive director of the JWV, department of New York, informed JTA that the veterans’ organization will continue to press for group libel legislation which, he said, is aimed specifically at such “racist’ groups as the National Renaissance Party and the American Nazi Party which advocate the extermination of Jews and other minorities. Mr. Sidman said that this was the fourth such measure sponsored by the JWV and the third to be vetoed by the Governor.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
