[Daily article] August 20: Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders

The Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders were a series of trials
held from 1949 to 1958 in which leaders of the Communist Party of the
United States (CPUSA) were accused of violating the Smith Act, a 1940
statute that set penalties for advocating the violent overthrow of the
government. The prosecution argued that the CPUSA's policies promoted
violent revolution; the defendants countered that they advocated a
peaceful transition to socialism, and that the First Amendment's
guarantee of free speech and association protected their membership in a
political party. The first trial in 1949 prosecuted the top leaders of
the party and was featured in the national headlines. After a ten month
trial, all defendants were found guilty and sentenced to five year
prison terms. The judge also sent all five defense attorneys to jail for
contempt of court. Prosecutors then tried over 100 additional CPUSA
officers for violating the Smith Act. Some were tried solely because
they were members of the CPUSA. Many defendants had difficulty finding
attorneys to represent them. Prosecutions came to an end following the
US Supreme Court's 1957 Yates v. United States decision, which held that
defendants could be prosecuted only for their actions, not for their
beliefs. Membership in the CPUSA plummeted due to the trials, and never
recovered.

Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Act_trials_of_Communist_Party_leaders>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

636:

Rashidun forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid took control of Syria
and Palestine in the Battle of Yarmouk, marking the first great wave of