University of Virginia Library

The Holton Veto

Virginia's first Republican governor since
Reconstruction, Linwood Holton, has not
lived up to the initial expectations of his
conservative cadre which swept him into the
Richmond statehouse two years ago. Billed
then as the "Nixon" answer to his "Kennedy"
opponent, Democrat William Battle of
Charlottesville, Governor Holton has reversed
the tables of prediction by assuming a
relatively liberal stance in a state that just
re-elected Harry F. Byrd, Jr. to the United
States Senate.

An examination of the Governor's veto of
the controversial bill to keep "troublemakers"
off the campuses of the state's universities
reveals the type of decision that has
Republicans in Virginia fuming. The bill was
"inspired" by the Strike here last spring and
by President Shannon's actions which allowed
students to return who had been ordered to
leave the Grounds during the Friday night
bust.

The bill, which was passed by a large
majority in both the House of Delegates and
the Senate, would have empowered college
officials or policemen to order potential
troublemakers to leave the campus. Either
students or outsiders, who did not obey the
order, would be guilty of a misdemeanor.

The Governor, heeding the advice of
Attorney General Andrew Miller, vetoed the
bill on constitutional grounds. Although he
stated he agrees with the intention of the bill,
we believe that his veto is symbolic of the
moderate stance the Governor has
consistently taken in almost all matters during
his tenure.

We, too, condemn the irresponsible actions
which bring violence to universities, yet, like
the Governor, we recognize that this violence
often does not boil from a student source but
as a result of giving unscrupulous officials free
rein to trample on the First Amendment
guarantees of the Constitution. Undoubtedly,
the Governor tacitly recognized the absurd
reaction of the police here and of T. Marshall
Hahn, President of Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University in Blacksburg,
last May. Those were two clear warnings to
men who value liberty that restraints must be
enforced on confused and frustrated police
and grand-standing college officials. The
Delegates and Senators were determined to
put a lid on dissent, especially disruptive
demonstrations that result in injuries and loss
of property, but they failed to recognize that
there were only police riots in Virginia last
year.

During a time when Governor Holton is
facing building opposition to his non-Byrdian
philosophy, we salute his decision to veto a
bill molded by emotional reaction that is
blatantly repugnant to individual rights of the
Constitution.