This day in history - June 19

[seamusTX]

1862 - Congress passed a law banning slavery in the territories.

1865 - Union General Gordon Granger read "General Order No. 3” from the balcony of Ashton Villa in Galveston, freeing all slaves then held in Texas.

The Emancipation Proclamation had been issued more than two years earlier, but had to be enforced state by state as the occupying forces took control.

This day now is Juneteenth, of course, celebrated as an official holiday in 37 states.

1910 - The first official father's day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington.

Credit for starting the father's day tradition goes to one Sonora Dodd of that city. It spread quickly, and bills were introduced in Congress to make it an official national holiday starting in 1913. They failed until 1972(!). Earlier presidents had issued proclamations recognizing the day.

Meanwhile the celebration has spread in some form to most other countries.

1934 - The Federal Communications Commission came into being, replacing the Federal Radio Commission.

1961 - In Mapp v. Ohio, the U.S. Supreme Court held that illegally obtained evidence could not be used in state criminal trials, in effect incorporating the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Before that, most states did not recognize such a rule.

The circumstances of Mapp are worth noting. In 1957 police in Cleveland, Ohio, searched the home of the appellant, Ms. Dollree Mapp, using a bogus search warrant. They ostensibly were searching for a fugitive. The fugitive was not found (and apparently Ms. Mapp never had anything to do with that situation). However, police found a trunk full of pornographic material in the basement.

Ms. Mapp was found guilty of possession of pornography, in violation of Ohio law at that time.

The Supreme Court held that the evidence was obtained illegally and could not be used against Ms. Mapp.

- Jim