Paris

réf. 51-6583 — New York: January 1949. Silver print . French text on separate sheet pasted to verso. Photographer's stamp verso. 13 x 18cm.On the afternoon of July 20 1948 FBI agents began rounding up twelve men in New York City Chicago and Detroit whom the U.S. government believed posed a grave threat to the nation--the leadership of the Communist Party-USA. After a series of delays eleven of the twelve "top Reds" went on trial in Manhattan's Foley Square in January 1949.The proceedings captivated the nation but the trial quickly dissolved into farce. The eleven defendants were charged under the 1940 Smith Act with conspiring to teach the necessity of overthrowing the U.S. government based on their roles as party leaders and their distribution of books and pamphlets. In essence they were on trial for their libraries and political beliefs not for overt acts threatening national security. Despite the clear conflict with the First Amendment the men were convicted and their appeals denied by the U.S. Supreme Court in a decision that gave the green light to federal persecution of Communist Party leaders--a decision the court effectively reversed six years later. But by then the damage was done. So rancorous was the trial the presiding judge sentenced the defense attorneys to prison terms too chilling future defendants' access to qualified counsel. New York: January 1949 unknown