Smith act trials (1 Ergebnisse)

Important 1950 Free-Speech Trial. The Legal Climax of the Red Scare: Original 1950 Court Transcript Affirming the Conviction of Communist Party Leaders in the Prelude to Dennis v. United States [Smith Act Trials]. [Dennis, Eugene, et al.] United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. No. 242 - October Term, 1949. (Argued June 21, 22, and 23, 1950 Decided August 1, 1950) Docket No. 21538. United States of America, Appellee, v. Eugene Dennis, John B. Williamson, Jacob Stachel, Robert G. Thompson, Benjamin J. Davis, Jr., Henry Winston, John Gates, Irving Potash, Gilbert Green, Carl Winter and Gus Hall. Appellants. Before: L. Hand, Swan, and Chase, Circuit Judges. [New York: Southern District Court Reporters, August 1, 1950. Quarto (10-1/2" x 8"). 48 leaves. Typescript (not a carbon copy) on single-sided leaves, stapled. Light toning, minor dust soiling, and faint fading to the outermost leaves. Internally clean, crisp, and free of markings. A well-preserved legal artifact. $850. Stenographer's Transcript of the Appeal Decision of an Important 1950 Free-Speech Trial that Led to Dennis v. United States. Original court-issued typescript. This document records the historic final decision handed down by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on August 1, 1950, affirming the convictions of Eugene Dennis and ten other high-ranking leaders of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA). The defendants had been convicted under the Alien Registration Act of 1940 (the Smith Act) for conspiracy to advocate the violent overthrow of the United States government. This specific transcript represents the immediate, official production of the Southern District Court Reporters on the exact day the momentous ruling was handed down. Writing for the unanimous court, Judge Learned Hand, traditionally a fierce defender of political free speech, crafted the historic opinion that sustained the lower court's convictions. Hand modified Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes's famous "clear and present danger" test into a more restrictive balancing test: whether the gravity of the evil, discounted by its improbability, justifies such invasion of free speech as is necessary to avoid the danger. The Second Circuit's ruling served as the direct precursor to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1951 decision in Dennis v. United States, a high-water mark of McCarthy-era politic. Important 1950 Free-Speech Trial (illustrator). …