The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1953-02-07
The World Today
BY JAMES MARLoW

WASHINGTON Ri-Communists
courtroom manners may not have
improved but they seem a little
less noisy than they used to be as
batch after batch has been con-
victed of teaching conspiracy to
overthrow the government by
force.
There have been four trials of
first and second-string Communist
leaders since January, 1919. Forty
four have been convicted. The tao
tics of the first IL convicted fol-
lowed instructions laid down years
ago.
They were jailed. And, since
their conviction was upheld by the
Supreme Court, the result may
have had a quieting, or discourag-
ing effect, on party members who
went on trial later.
In the early 1938s the Interna-
tional Labor Defense, which for
mer Atty. Gen. Francis Biddle
later called the legal arm of the
Communist party issued a 81
page paper bound booklet which
sold at the time for cents.
1t has become so hard to find
now that it is collectors item,
selling for as much as $l2. The
cover shows a man in work clothes
leaning over a judges bench and
holding him up by the scruff of his
neck. The judge has dagger and
a blackjack tucked in his belt.
This booAet-the title on the
cover is Under Arrest! Workers
Self Defense in the Courts"-tells
workers" what to do when picked
up by the police.
So far as dealing with the police
goes, the advice of the booklet can
be summed up: TEL 'em moth
ing" But it goes into quite a bit
of detail on how to act when in
court.
For example: make the court
your forum. Bring out the class Is
sues at the trial. In most eases the
judge and prosecutor win try to
evade the class character of the
case"
And it further advises: "If you
are charged with. teaching !.
overthrow of the government -.
then it is absolutely necessary for
you to use the court for clear and
correct explanation of the econo-
mic and social views which you
hold, of the facts of the class strug-
gle as applied to your case"
Eugene Dennis, one of the top II
leaders convicted in the first trial,
apparently followed the advice of
the booklet even to the title. He
was his own defense counsel. The
other 10 had lawyers.
The trial Of the II, in Judge Har-
old r. Medina's Federal Court,
took 80 weeks. Five lawyers in
the case drew Jail sentences, rang
ing from 30 days to six months,
for contemptuous conduct toward
Medina. The IL leaders got peni-
tertiary terms.
The Communists tried to turn
the courtroom into a forum. Pro-
Communists picketed outside,
chanting. Heckled as probably no
other judge in American history,
Medina kept his temper.
He knew that If he blew up the
men before him, if convicted by
the jury. might win a new trial be-
cause of his conduct. So he stayed
calm although several times he
left the bench until the wrangIing
died down.
The next trial--five Communist
second-string leaders and a party
lawyer--was in Baltimore but was
much quieter and lasted only six
weeks. The six were convicted
April i, 1907.
Fourteen leading California Com
munists were convicted next after
a trial that lasted six months in a
Los Angeles court before U. S.
Judge William C. MatheS. In spite
of its long-drawn-out nature the
judge commended the defense
counsel for care and quality of