July 2, 1962 - J. Edgar Hoover, director of the F.B.I., advocates fingerprinting of teachers and other school employees to screen out potential child molesters. Mr. Hoover expressed this view at a closed session of a House appropriations subcommittee. He cited the case of a teacher in the Washington suburbs who, he said, was arrested as a child molester and found to have a previous record of a similar offense. “I have advocated that fingerprinting of persons in contact with children in schools should be required,” Mr. Hoover said. “Our school children are entitled to this protection.” Among his opinions on other subjects was the view that Communists “do not initiate” Freedom Rides testing segregation practices, “but there are always a few Communists who will join in any movement relating to a vital public issue.” Mr. Hoover testified, “In a few of the Freedom Rides throughout the South, there have been individuals who have subversive connections. The Freedom Rider movement was not initiated by them, and they are not in the majority, but they play a part.”
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