Federal Suppression of CPUSA

By crwxb3
  • Period: to

    Depressions in the 1880's and 1890's led to restrictive immigration measures

    Result of rising nativism and a negative stereotype of immigrants

  • Fong Yue Ting v. United States

    Decision that “Deportation was not a punishment for crime but merely an administrative process for the return of unwelcome and undesirable alien residents to their own countries”, “their presence deemed inconsistent with the public welfare”

  • Immigration Act of 1903

    US for the first time excluded people from immigrating based on beliefs and associations
  • Period: to

    the federal government wanted to act against radicals but did not yet have the tools

  • Immigration Act of 1917 originally proposed

    Vetoed by Taft

  • Immigration Act of 1917 reproposed

    issues with sabotage segment unresolved when reproposed- Wilson vetoed

  • Immigration Bureau approves new standards of guilt and looser arrest procedures in order to easier arrest and convict radicals

  • Congress overrode Wilson’s second veto and the Immigration Act of 1917 was passed with a new deportation policy and an antiradical clause was passed

    Belief, advocacy, and membership all penalized both when being considered for entry and after they were admitted Created a class that were deportable after legally entering

  • Immigration Act of 1918

  • implementation of a policy by the Bureau of Immigration that would judge guilt/innocence of aliens by overall support of org./its literature

  • Bureau of Immigration and Department of Justice preparing for raids targeted at alien radicals

  • Bureau of Immigration and DOJ ready to strike

    New targets: Union of Russian Workers, Communist Labor Party, the Communist Party

  • Bureau of Immigration’s first raid

    target: office of the Union of Russian Workers and arrested around 300 members
    The early-warning program of the radical defense on how to not incriminate yourself made it difficult for the bureau to collect evidence
  • Period: to

    The First Red Scare

    Palmer Raids and deportations orchestrated by A. Mitchell Palmer, the attorney general at the time

  • Palmer Raids

    DOJ’s nationwide raids on Communist/Communist Labor party orgs.
    Abuse of due process, widespread carelessness led to the arrest of around 10k people- many not involved at all

  • Palmer Raids

    DOJ’s nationwide raids on Communist/Communist Labor party orgs.
    Abuse of due process, widespread carelessness led to the arrest of around 10k people- many not involved at all

  • Right of aliens to legal protections brought by revisions to procedure by Secretary Wilson

    Palmer Raids led to federal officials taking control of Bureau of Immigration and subduing it- this was the result

  • Immigration Act of May 10, 1920

    “Provided for the deportation of all radical enemy aliens convicted under the war statutes in the secretary of Labor certified as undesirable residents of the United States”
    To create legislation that would effectively counteract communism in the U.S. - did not look ahead, but provided a tool to remove all current radical aliens who defied the government

  • Immigration Act of June 1920

    punishments for possession of literature, holding membership at all, and sympathy and support through financial contributions

  • The Fish Committee

  • Period: to

    The McCormack - Dickstein Committee Report

  • Dies Committee

  • Smith Act introduced by Howard Smith (VA-D)

    A compendium of all proposed anti-radical legislation since the 1930s

  • Smith Act considered by congress

    Spring session

  • Smith Act passes

    -Formerly the Alien Registration Act / House Resolution 5138
    -Arose from perceived need for federal anti-radical legislation following the first red scare because state laws were mostly ineffective

  • Roosevelt signs Smith Act into law

    Was endorsed by DOJ, State Department, War Department

  • Truman administration began campaign to prosecute CPUSA leadership in response to allegations of espionage

  • Period: to

    Dennis et al v. U.S.

    1st Smith Act prosecution of CPUSA, blueprint for all following Smith Act cases
    Guilty - appealed but lost at all levels

  • Internal Security Act of 1950 (McCarran Act)

  • Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950

  • U.S. Supreme Court review after Smith Act trial prosecutions

    succeeded at each level and was upheld

  • Attorney General Thomas McGrath informed all U.S. attorneys of plan to prosecute regional CPUSA leadership pending U.S.Supreme Court decision

  • St. Louis Smith Act prosecution originates

  • Period: to

    Second string of persecutions of state and local CPUSA leaders after initial national persecution

  • Period: to

    Truman administration embraced/pursued anti-communist policy

    following the Supreme Court upholding the verdict on the Dennis case

  • Most of remaining NY communists arrested

  • 15 California communists indicted

  • Maryland and Pennsylvania party leaders arrested

  • 7 Hawaii party leaders indicted

  • Period: to

    Justice Department prosecution hiatus

  • Truman vetoes Walter-McCarran Act(Immigration Act of 1952) and is overridden by Congress

  • Indictments / arrest warrants issued in St. Louis Smith Act trials

  • Michigan, Missouri, Washington party leaders arrested

    Truman administration’s attempt to counter claims of being soft on communism at election time

  • Formal indictment of St. Louis 5, bond set

  • Attacks slowed when Eisenhower was elected

    President was less concerned, but his Attorney General, Herbert Brownell, was very worried about the communist threat

  • Another round of prosecutions spurred by Republican Senators like McCarthy

  • Public crash of McCarthy

  • Wind down of Smith Act prosecutions

  • Begins St. Louis Smith Act trial with jury selection

  • Introduction of evidence, testimony commences in St. Louis Smith Act Trial

    testimony lasts 42 days

  • Connecticut and Utah leadership arrested

  • U.S. v. Galvan

    7 to 2 Supreme Court decision which upheld the deportation of an ex-communist

  • Guilty verdict in St. Louis Smith Act trial

  • Sentences announced in St. Louis Smith Act trial, escalated to court of appeals

  • Puerto Rican communists indicted

  • MA communists prosecuted

    Last group ever to be accused of conspiring to violate the Smith Act

  • End of Smith Act prosecutions

    due to:
    Liberal supreme court
    Decline of interest by Eisenhower administration
    Lessening of Cold War tension

  • US District Court officially dismisses St. Louis Smith Act case