April 23, 1976

3-judge Fed panel rules that NYS election law that would have removed Dem State Chmn Patrick J Cunningham from leadership posts in Dem Party is unconstitutional; ct stresses that it is following previous US Sup Ct decisions and is not supporting Cunningham or condoning corruption if it exists; decision is written by Dist Judge Charles H Tenney, with concurring opinions by Chief Judge Irving R Kaufman of US Appeals Ct for Second Circuit and Circuit Judge Walter R Mansfield (L)

Bronx dist leader John J Whalen is indicted for destroying records special grand jury had subpoenaed to determine whether he and Patrick Cunningham accepted bribe from judge for his seat on criminal ct; indictment is 1st to emerge from investigation by special state prosecutor Nadjari into Cunningham's activities; both Cunningham and Whalen deny charges and Whalen is released in his own custody after pleading not guilty to charges in NYS Sup Ct; judge is not identified in indictment against Whalen but is independently identified as Judge Thomas B Galligan by lawyer and Bronx pol figure; Judge Galligan refuses comment; illus (M)

bomb explosion in Boston courthouse, injuring 21 persons, 7 of them seriously, reptdly unrelated to city's conflict over busing and recent spate of racial incidents, but explosion heightens tensions day before scheduled march against violence called by Mayor Kevin H White; outlook for march appears uncertain, as NAACP endorses it but antibusing activists vow they will not participate; mood in both black and white communities reptdly uneasy, and city officials see it growing uglier; illus of bomb victim being taken to ambulance (M)

According to evidence obtained by Sen Select Com on Intelligence, FBI has maintained network of confidential informers inside major news orgns; sources familiar with panel's rept on domestic intelligence operations say that none of news reporters or other confidential sources will be named in 350-page document; 1 source says that while, in many instances, journalists were simply recipients of exclusive information provided by FBI agents for use in news articles, in other instances it appeared that reporters also provided bur with unpublished information that they had picked up in course of their jobs; 1 of journalists whose names were provided to Sen com by FBI says in phone int that he had been called by individual purporting to represent Church panel with request for int about his alleged FBI affiliation; says that upon checking he discovered that caller was not member of Sen com staff but had been acting as 'intermediary' for com and that he, journalist, had reptd incident to FBI (M)

US Justice Dept spokesman says that dept will have no comment on Ital press repts (S)