Smith Act Trial (1949)

Tue Nov 01, 1949

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Image: Defendants charged under the Smith Act Robert Thompson and Benjamin Davis smiling, surrounded by pickets as they leave the Federal Courthouse in New York City in 1949 [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1949, the first trial of communist leaders under the Smith Act began in Manhattan. The trial spanned 10 months at the height of anti-communist hysteria. All 11 defendants were convicted, and all 5 of their attorneys imprisoned.

The Alien Registration Act, popularly known as the Smith Act, is a United States federal statute that was enacted on June 28th, 1940.

The Act set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government by force or violence and required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the federal government. Approximately 215 people were indicted under the legislation, including alleged communists, anarchists, and fascists.

On November 1st, 1949, the first trial of communist leaders began in Manhattan, New York. The trial, lasting ten months, was one of the longest in United States history, and took place at a fever pitch of anti-communist hysteria - the USSR tested its first nuke, communists won the Chinese Civil War, and the House of Un-American Activities Committee began its censorship in Hollywood, all while the trial was underway.

All eleven defendants were convicted under the Smith Act, and all five of their defense attorneys were imprisoned for contempt of court. Two were later disbarred. In the years following, more than 100 additional Communist Party USA (CPUSA) officers were convicted for violating the Smith Act, decimating the leadership of the CPUSA.

The Supreme Court put an end to these types of convictions in Yates v. United States (1957), where it ruled that radical speech was protected under the 1st amendment.

  • Eq0@literature.cafe
    4·
    8 months ago

    Can anyone explain why such law was passed in US? It seems so pivotal in the political US history, but I knew nothing of it.

    • Fecundpossum@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      8 months ago

      Because the Cold War was a thing. Soviet V. US proxy wars were breaking out all over the world, some open, some clandestine. The CIA and KGB were propping up and toppling governments of countries that had strategic interest for both countries. The KGB had spies at most layers of the US government and military, not to mention all of her western allies. Soviet Russia also had a psychological warfare campaign aimed at the United States, inflaming already burning fires of dissent growing after the close of the Second world war.

      So yeah. The American legal system went after perceived domestic threats to its political and social order. McCarthyism. The red scare. Guilt by association.

      • Eq0@literature.cafe
        1·
        8 months ago

        Thanks for the explanation! My knowledge of US history is a bit spotty.

        Where I am from, these things did not exist, instead social democracy trued to make communism less appealing by removing the “need” for it. Such a different perspective in the Cold War…

    • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
      2·
      8 months ago

      The US government wanted to protect its power and its owner’s capital so it effectively banned communism and support for it. They knew the tenets of communism had potential to gain popularity in the minds of the criminally overworked and underpaid American populace so took and still take great strides to prevent that.

      Hence why the cia overthrew or sabotaged every communist government they could on this side of the planet