Effective Resignation

"John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it." So, according to tradition, President Andrew Jackson declared his displeasure at the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Worcester v. Georgia in 1832.* Last week, in the face of similar intransigence on the part of Demo-Christian Premier Antonio Segni and his government, peppery, 78-year-old Enrico de Nicola, president of Italy's fledgling Constitutional Court, struck back with an effectiveness that would have won a smile of approval from stern old John Marshall.

Almost from the day of its adoption, the provision in Italy's 1948 constitution calling for establishment of a court similar to the U.S. Supreme Court has been unpopular with the nation's Demo-Christian rulers. Reason: the court would obviously scrap many of Italy's 708 "public security" laws, which the government regards as its chief bulwark against the internal Communist threat but which are for the most part Mussolini's handiwork. Many of the laws clearly violate the civil liberties guaranteed by the 1948 constitution.

Eight-Year Stall. Unwilling to see these arbitrary policy powers ruled illegal, successive Demo-Christian governments managed for eight years to stall all moves toward establishment of the Constitutional Court. When the court finally came into existence, the government's fears were soon realized. In its first decision (TIME, June 25), the court unanimously declared unconstitutional Article 113 of the public security laws, which requires police permit for signs and posters. Then, in rapid order, the court struck down several other powers dear to the Italian police, among them confino (the power to banish citizens to remote areas without trial) and ammonizione (the power to restrict the freedom of movement of a citizen whose actions the police find suspicious).

The trouble with these admirable decisions was that they carried no practical weight. With bland disregard for its constitutional obligations, the Segni government made no attempt to persuade Parliament to revamp the public security laws in accordance with the decisions of the court. The Ministry of Interior continued to exercise its old powers, brassily slapped an additional 100 Italians into confino in the two months after the practice had been declared unconstitutional.

Abrupt Departure. Outraged by the government's brazen persistence in illegality, mustachioed Enrico de Nicola, onetime (1946-48) Provisional President of Italy, made his countermove last week: he abruptly resigned as Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. "The government," he declared angrily, "has shown scant appreciation of the court's work." Then, refusing to talk to anyone, De Nicola withdrew to his oleander-shrouded villa overlooking the Bay of Naples.

This was serious. Revered Enrico de Nicola, a Senator for life, was the principal guarantor of the new court's integrity. Also, his resignation was bound to give rise to the cry that the Segni government was fostering "fascism." In dismay, Premier Segni hastily called his cabinet into session to throw together draft legislation revamping the public security code. Simultaneously, government emissaries, including Premier Segni himself, hurried down to Naples to try and persuade De Nicola to withdraw his resignation.

At week's end, cagey Enrico de Nicola was still keeping his own counsel. Most Italians were betting, though, that: 1) he would soon be back on the job; 2) future Constitutional Court decisions would get prompt compliance from the government.

* The decision: that the Federal Government rather than the State of Georgia had jurisdiction over 4,000,000 acres of land owned by the Cherokee nation in Georgia. The outcome: Jackson refused to carry out the decision, and Georgia continued to enforce its laws upon the Cherokees in defiance of the Supreme Court.

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