Bloomington Case
FIRST CAMPUS "SEDITION" TRIAL IN U.S. HISTORY
NEW YORK -=~ One of the most severe and repressive attacks-on the constitutional rights of United States citizens is presently being conducted in the state of Indiana against the nation-wide socialist youth organization, the Young Socialist Alliance [YSA]. In Bloomington, Indiana, the seat of the state university, three officers of the local chapter of the YSA have been indicted, are out on bond and face two to six years in prison under the infamous Indiana Anti~Subversion Law. ,
This is the first time in U.S. history that students have been charged with sedition for their activities on a university campus. The results of this case will be of crucial significance to the future of the post-McCarthy generation of students that has begun to stir in support of the Negro people's struggle, the Cuban and other colonial revolutions and social justice in general.
Tom Morgan, 23 (a native of Terre Haute, the birthplace and home of the great American socialist leader, Eugene V. Debs), Jim Bingham, 25, and Ralph Levitt, 25,:were first indicted on May Day of 19635 on trumped~up charges of having. assembled. to allegedly advocate the violent overthrow of the state of Indiana and of the U.S. government. The occasion of the assembly? A meeting on the Indiana University ~campus, sponsored by the YSA, at which the speaker was Leroy MoRae, YSA national organizational secretary, McRae, a young Negro socialist and civil-rights fighter, said that in addition to the tactic of non-violence the Negro people must be ready to defend themselves, a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, against the violenoe of the white supremacists and Ku Klux Klanmers.
The local prosecutor responsible for bringing this indiotment was right-wing, John-Birch-minded Thomas A. Hoadley. Hoadley made numerous allegations against the YSA and its officers, which were played up by the "yellow press" in Indiana, in order to inflame public opinion against the defendants, ©
Among these charges were that the YSA was organized by "Moscowtrained agents" (the YSA is a Trotskyist youth group); that the YSA was "in a running gun battle with the State of Kentucky"..(the group had organized aid to striking miners in the Hazard, Kentucky, area); and, most recently, that it was somehow connected with Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President Kennedy.
The law under which the indictments were brought is a key element in the case, The Indiana Anti-Subversion Law was passed by the Indiana legislature during the height of the McCarthy hysteria. In that same period, Indiana officials attempted to ban the story of Robin Hood from the public schools, beoause this story-book hero took from the rich and gave to the poor; this made him an obvious "subversive,"
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In the 1920's Indiana wags a seat of power of the Ku Klux Klan, In the 1930's the Silver Shirts, a fascist stormtrooper organization, flourished there. More recently, in 1958, the John Birch Society was founded in the state capital. Such ultraconservative traditions are embodied in the Indiana Anti-Subversion Law, which states that it is the "public policy" of the state of Indiana to “exterminate Communism, Communists and any or all teachings of the same,"
The students are being defended by Leonard B,’ Boudin, a noted constitutional authority and General Counsel of the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, and by Daniel T, Taylor, III, of Louisvillo, Kentucky, The defense attorneys contend that the indictments should be thrown out because the Indiana law is unconstitutional on the following grounds: (1) it violates the constitutionally guaranteed free-~ doms of speech, assembly and conscience; (2)-a technical point, that it is superseded by federal legislation, such as the Smith and McCar~ ran Acts, eto. (This, of course, in no way implies support for these odious federal sedition laws,) The defense will contend, finally that even if the law were valid, the Indiana students did not violate the provisions concerning advocacy of violence against the government.
The prosecution, supported by powerful business and press interests, claims that the students are not necessarily guilty of any particular violation of the law but that. their ideas constitute a con-spiracy against the state of Indiana, Hoadley stated: "We want only to stamp out Communism and what it stands for,"
On March 20. the defense will plead its motions in the Bloomington courts, If unsuccessful, the case will then proceed to a jury trial, in which the prosecutor will attempt to enter as evidence. the entire content of socialist theory, of Marxism, Leninism and Trotsky~ ism, .
A national defense committee has been formed to publicize the legal and moral issues in the case and raise funds for. the costly court: battle, The Committee to Aid the Bloomington Students is dedi-~ cated to one purpose, the defense of the indicted YSA officers and victory over the Indiana witch-hunt, The national and international support that CABS is getting marks its efforts as a high-water point in recent American labor defense history.
All expressions of international support are strongly welcomed, Please send all inquiries and messages of support to:
Committee to Aid the Bloomington Students
P. O. Box 213, Cooper Station
New York, New York 10003
BERTRAND RUSSELL .