Remove ‘Propaganda’ Label From 3 Canada Films, High Court Urged

In a debate over the meaning of words and their impact on individual reputation, the Supreme Court was urged Tuesday to bar the government from classifying as “political propaganda” three Canadian films on acid rain and nuclear war.

“This is not a quibble over terminology,” said John G. Donhoff, a lawyer representing California state Sen. Barry Keene (D-Benicia), who sponsored showings of the films. Labeling the movies political propaganda “is like a land mine that makes people shy off,” Donhoff said.

But Justice Department lawyer Donald B. Ayer said the Reagan Administration was only carrying out congressional intent, not practicing censorship, in classifying the films as propaganda.

The term “political propaganda no way carries a negative connotation” as defined by federal law, Ayer said. “At issue is the power of the federal courts to edit the laws of Congress,” he said.

The justices are expected to announce a decision by July.

The case touched off an uproar in 1983, when the Justice Department designated the films as political propaganda under a World War II law--the Foreign Agents Registration Act--aimed at identifying foreign propaganda.

The law was challenged by Keene, who planned to sponsor showings of the films to support his views. He said the political propaganda label attached a stigma to the motion pictures that could damage his reputation.