NEWS CONFERENCE 511

Q. Hasn't a report been sent from a committee?

A. Well, it's not going to be over today, I don't think.

Q. Governor, could you comment on the Ober Law being held un-
constitutional?

A. Well, I've commented just recently about the Ober Law, and I
commented about it months ago when I first took office. I've said that
it's never been a law that I particularly admired from a legal stan-
dard. It hasn't formed the basis of any successful prosecution in eight-
een years. It seems to have been the outgrowth of reaction at a very
inquisitorial stage of our development. And the purpose of it is
laudable, but unfortunately in practice it doesn't seem to do anything
except inflame people. So I'm perfectly satisfied that it's been found
in its present form to be unconstitutional, and I subscribe to the
opinions of some of the legislators that it's virtually impossible to
write meaningful legislation in this area that's going to do the job
that it's intended to do. The best safeguard for our citizens is to have
any State agency properly investigate the background of its appli-
cants, because after all it's what a person is and not what he claims
to be that we're interested in.

Q. Governor, the Legislative Council intends to do something about
the State Board of Motion Picture Censors. Does the administration
intend to follow up on this problem?

A. Well, we tried that last year and as you recall we came out
strongly against the continuance of the Board of Motion Pictures
Censors. My opinion about it hasn't changed, but I don't have any
strong feeling that we will make this part of the legislative program
this year. It was considered fairly definitively just last year, and ap-
parently there are people who feel very strongly about it. I don't feel
as strongly about it as those who support it do.

Q. Do you have any comment on Baltimore and Police Commissioner
Pomerleau?

A. I have a meeting scheduled with Commissioner Pomerleau next
week to discuss this subject and to receive his report, and subsequent
to that time I would expect to have some comment to make on it.

Q. Governor, in your meeting with General Prather yesterday, did
you arrive at any kind of decision as to how to improve conditions
between the Commissioner of Correction and the Advisory Board?

A. Yes, I for one am very interested in using whatever personal in-
fluence I can muster to improve relationships between the Commis-