Smith Act Trial Report (a complete run)

New York: Citizens Emergency Defense Conference, 1952-53. A complete run of 26 issues of this weekly (then bi-weekly) newsletter published in support of the Smith Act defendants, a group of 144 Communist Party members who were prosecuted in a series of trials for advocating the violent overthrow of the government. These trials became the judicial battleground for First Amendment rights during the early Cold War and tested the limits of the government's power to criminalize political dissent. The first trial was held in 1949 and resulted in the conviction and sentencing of 11 CPUSA leaders. A number of appeals were made on free speech grounds, which failed. This precedent emboldened the government and a second trial of "second-tier" officials began in 1951, which included the influential African American Communists Claudia Jones and Pettis Perry and labor leader Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.

The Citizens Emergency Defense Conference was founded in 1952 "for the specific purpose of defending the 16 Communists on trial at the Foley Square Federal Court," and their newsletter was published to support the defendants and to keep the public informed about the weekly courtroom happenings. Hollywood screenwriter Waldo Salt was the group's treasurer. The newsletter ran for 26 issues ending with the conviction of the 13 defendants, although the final issue promises that the "Fight Goes On."

Most issues consist of a single fold sheet (11" x 8 ½”), 4 pp., although a couple of issues are a single sheet printed on both sides. Light edge wear, old folds from mailing, but a very good, complete run. Item #14380

Price: $650.00