The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-08-22
Lawyer Who Defended Sacco
and Vanzetti Reveals Real
Story of Braintree Murders
The Urtried Case" Published Today, Also
Shows Futility of Legal Defense Without
Mass Defense At the Same Time

After five years, the defense at
torney in one Of the most notorious
class frame-ups began to suspect Snas
the rules Of the game were not TO
be applied"
"Rules Of the Game"
But the defense lawyers" kept to
the rules of the game" strictly.
What we're the lives Of two men, the
demand of millions Of workers for
their freedom, compared to the rifles
of the ruling class game called
law? tssbi,
The defense filed hundreds Of afii-
davits, and the record shows fling
and denial of nine motions and peti-s
tons, with the state and its court,
following this telephone converse
ton. But not until six years after
death had closed the legal aspects Of
the case" does Mr.. Ehrmann tell this
story in full directly to those who
alone had the power to force the
freedom of Sacco and Vanzetti, the
masses of workers of the world.
1t is useful book, nevertheless. It
exposes several things, some inten-
tionally, some unwittingly. 7ls7
1t exposes the working of a frame
up system, and shows in detail and
concretely how capitalist courts viii
reject every proof, no matter how
strong, OF the innocence Of its
frame-up victims.
OverIooks Mass Action
1t exposes the utter futility Of
legal defense which is not also
mass defense, in which the legal
defenders" actually sabotage the mass
defense. (There is scarcely a mem
ton, except in quotations from Saccoe
and Vanzetti themselves, of the mass
action that for more than six years
withheld the hand of the executioner,
and which, if properly supported by
the legal steps and properly led
under correct slogans, would have
saved these martyrs) 07i
There is chapter, called None
so Blind" dealing with the refus-
ais of courts and governments to
consider the evidence of the inno-
cence of Sacco and Vanzetti. The.
book shows too that there is none.
so blind" as a defender" in a
class case who puts his trust in
courts.
There is a passage, relating to
Judge Webster Thayer, which strik
ingly calls to mind what lawyers and
others have said of the great LIBERAL
ity Of another lynch-judge, in Ala
bama-Judge Horton.
Thayer uniformly Courteous" y
Judge Thayer listened impassively
to the argument, which lasted five
days. He was uniformly courteous,
and engaged in an occasional pleas Z
antry. To me 1t seemed he must be
affected by the succession of undis-
puted and related facts as unfolded
in Mr.. Thompson's argument"
This is the same Judge Thayer who
framed alibis for the Morelli gang
sters, and murdered Sacco and Van
zetti. Uniformly courteous" like
Judge Horton, who was forced to
admit the innocence of the Scotts-
boro boys-and has now ordered
them to stand new lynch trial.
The book is really written like a
detective story. 1t is useful form. 1t
is used by Ehrmann to isolate the
Sacco-Vanzetti case from the class
struggle and mass defense, to set this
story down as an isolated, incompre-
hensible instance of Justice mis-
carrying"
There isn't hint of the connec- =
ton between this and a thousand Z
other frame-ups in the capitalist
world-the frame-up of Torgler, Di-
mitrov, Popoy and Tanev by the
Hitler government; the fran1e-up OF
Tom Mooney, of the Scottsboro boys
Of Angelo Herndon, and of Athos Ter
zani
The form helps nobly the betraysrs
of worlingclass solidarity, who would
defend political prisoners and treat
them like criminals. ~,
80