W.E.B. Dubois Clubs of America v. Clark, 389 U.S. 309 (1967)

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Syllabus

The Attorney General filed a petition with the Subversive Activities Control Board for an order requiring the W.E.B. DuBois Clubs of America to register as a Communist-front organization pursuant to 50 U.S.C. § 786. Prior to hearing thereon, appellants sued in the District Court to have the registration provisions declared unconstitutional. A three-judge District Court dismissed the complaint for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

Held: Ordinarily where Congress has provided a civil proceeding in which appellants can raise their constitutional claims, this administrative procedure should be followed so that the District Court will not have to decide the constitutional issues devoid of factual context and before it is clear that appellants are covered by the Act. Dombrowski v. Pfister, 380 U.S. 479 (1965), distinguished.

277 F.Supp. 971, affirmed.