Scales v. United States
Citation | 227 F.2d 581 |
Decision Date | 07 November 1955 |
Docket Number | No. 7016.,7016. |
Parties | Junius Irving SCALES, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit) |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Edwin M. Stanley, U. S. Atty., Greensboro, and Kevin T. Maroney, Atty., Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. (William F. Tompkins, Asst. U. S. Atty., ton, D. C., on the brief), for appellee. John H. Davitt and William G. Hundley, Attys., Department of Justice, Washing-
Before PARKER, Chief Judge, and SOPER and DOBIE, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal in a criminal case by a defendant who has been convicted of violation of section 2 of the Smith Act of June 28, 1940, 54 Stat. 670, 671, 18 U.S.C.A. § 2385. That section, as brought forward in the United States Code, is as follows:
The indictment, which was returned on November 18, 1954, charged that the Communist Party of the United States of America has at all times been "a society, group and assembly of persons who teach and advocate the overthrow and destruction of the Government of the United States by force and violence as speedily as circumstances would permit" and that the defendant Scales "had been a member of said Communist Party from January 1946 up to the filing of the indictment well knowing during all of said period that said Communist Party of the United States of America was and is a society, group, and assembly of persons who teach and advocate the overthrow and destruction of the Government of the United States by force and violence as speedily as circumstances would permit, and said defendant intending to bring about such overthrow by force and violence as speedily as circumstances would permit."
The evidence in the record amply sustained the charge in the indictment. There was evidence, similar to that in United States v. Dennis, 2 Cir., 183 F.2d 201; Dennis v. United States, 341 U.S. 494, 71 S.Ct. 857, 95 L.Ed. 1137, and Frankfeld v. United States, 4 Cir., 198 F.2d 679, to the effect that the Communist Party advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States by force and violence. It was admitted that defendant Scales was a member of the party during the period covered by the indictment and was chairman of the North and South Carolina District of the party; and there was ample evidence that he knew of its purpose to overthrow the government by force and violence, that he approved of that purpose and that he had so expressed himself to witnesses who testified on the trial.
The case was submitted to the jury in a charge which clearly excluded any possibility of "guilt by association". The jury was expressly instructed that, before there could be a conviction of defendant, four things must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) That the Communist Party of the United States was a group teaching or advocating the destruction or overthrow of the Government of the United States by force and violence, (2) that the defendant was a member of the party, (3) that, while a member of the party, he well knew of its teachings and purposes and (4) that he himself intended to bring about the overthrow of the Government of the United States by force and violence. In addition to this the trial judge carefully explained that the defendant could not be convicted merely because he was a member of the Communist Party but only upon a finding that he knew of and participated in the purpose of the party to overthrow the government by force and violence, saying:
The principal contentions of defendant upon this appeal are: (1) that the act under which he is indicted is unconstitutional and void; (2) that prosecution of the offense charged is barred by section 4(f) of the Internal Security Act, 50 U.S.C.A. § 783(f); and (3) that the court erred in admitting and allowing the jury to consider evidence tending to show the purpose of the Communist Party to overthrow the government by force and violence, where such evidence did not consist of statements made by defendant or in his presence or related to matters occurring...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Scales v. United States
...was first convicted before a jury in the Middle District of North Carolina in 1955. The conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals, 4 Cir., 227 F.2d 581, and we granted certiorari at the 1955 Term. 350 U.S. 992, 76 S.Ct. 542, 100 L.Ed. 858. The case was first heard here at the 1956 Term,......
-
Scales v. United States, 7637.
...under this indictment in April 1955, and was sentenced to imprisonment for six years; and the judgment was affirmed by this Court in 227 F.2d 581. The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari and after argument and confession of error by the United States, under the later decis......
-
Hamer v. United States
...held applicable to non-capital offenses.4 United States v. Van Duzee, 1890, 140 U.S. 169, 11 S.Ct. 758, 35 L.Ed. 399; Scales v. United States, 4 Cir., 1955, 227 F.2d 581; Brown v. Johnson, 9 Cir., 1942, 126 F.2d 727; Spivey v. United States, 5 Cir., 1940, 100 F.2d 181, certiorari denied 310......
-
United States v. Lightfoot, 11470.
...... Only one other Court of Appeal has passed upon the claim that the membership clause of the Smith Act is unconstitutional. In Scales v. United States, 4 Cir., 227 F.2d 581, the Fourth Circuit held the membership clause of the Smith Act to be constitutional. See also Frankfeld v. ......