7.29.2013 JUDGE MEDINA

this is a biography by hawthorne daniel (1952) about a judge who overcame tremendous obstacles
inside and outside the courtroom over a 7 month period during which the communist party tried
to destroy him or cause a mistrial by many different delaying and disruptive methods. the part quoted below starts on p252 and describes one of the many scenes of courtroom chaos which he had to navigate through. this was the beginning of the end
for the communist plan and for justice to be served. picked it out of the library booksale...it called to
me and i am very glad to have read it. my father, for exposing a high ranking communist sympathizer
during the korean war...a few years after this (1948-9) courtroom event, was returned to a military mental hospital in valley forge. after some action taken on his behalf he was released with an honorable discharge.

 the beginning of the trial...

the strain of his court duties was beginning to wear him down...
he recalled the 1944 sedition trial in washingtom
-the trial over which judge eicher had presided, until his death,
amid just such mad conditions as now were daily taking place in new york.
and suddenly he understood that these defendants and their supporters were doing their utmost
both in court and outside, to wear him out-
even, perhaps, to shorten his life
or to break him down mentally or physically.

it was when he began to understand their plan that he made his decision (i call it 'limitation of everything inwardly and outwardly' for the purpose of focus and stamina).
NO MORE DELEGATIONS (they were swamping him and constantly demanding 'audience' with him)
NO MORE CASUAL USE OF ANY PORTION OF HIS TIME
NO MORE IRREGULAR HOURS
SCHEDULE EVERYTHING (he laid out a program that covered every minute of the day-
a program that revolutionized his habits
and even controlled the least detail of his private life
..gregarious and friendly...he closed the door on every social and personal contact save only with his wife.
NO MORE PASTIMES
NO MORE PARTIES
NOTHING EXTRA
..finding it difficult to sleep he was given a mild liquid sedative by his doctor
..every day after the court was adjourned at 4:30 he went to a nearby building where he went through
a mildly strenuous series of exercises. next he went to the 'dry-hot' room for several minutes,
then to the shower, hot and cold,
and finally to the massage table.
...mrs. medina carefully designed dinner to place the least possible strain on his digestion.

delegations cut off, a new campaign began...letters, postcards, telegrams.
the phrases they contained were often repeated. many times he was called
'a degenerate from the bowels of hell,
tyrant
a fiend incarnate
a travesty on justice.
he was referred to as an SOB or, more openly, a son of a bitch.

withing three or four weeks he had begun to realize that the task that faced him was
INFINITELY MORE DIFFICULT
-AND INFINITELY MORE VITAL TO THE WELFARE OF THE COUNTRY
-than he had imagined it could be when he first faced this assignment.
but now he was seeing it clearly,
and knew that day by day for an indefinite period
he had need to watch his every move
-TO GUARD AGAINST ANY  (IR?)REVERSABLE ERROR
as he considered  the endless points and motions and objections that were raised in court.
he was being GUARDED WHEREVER HE WENT...
yet he was ALONE...

courtroom chaos....

'the courtroom in which the trial was being held is on the main floor of the cour house
and is easy of access from the large, marble walled entrance hall.
each morning for weeks the limited space available for the public
had been filled by observers who waited in line outside the courtroom doors
until they were opened.
always there were many who, because of the lack of space, could not gain admittance,
and if any person left while court was in session his place was certain to be taken at one
by someone else who was waiting at the door.
but on the morning of june 3 the throng outside the courtroom
began to gather earlier than usual.
it was larger than usual, too, and by 8 oclock, though court would not be convened until 10:30,
the police assigned to the court house entrance began to see that
this gathering was made up almost exclusively of communists and their sympathizers,
many of whom they recognized from having seen them among the omnipresent pickets
or at earlier sessions of the court.
when the doors were opened, the courtroom was filled in a single hurried rush
so that almost every person in the place, except for
the officials, the reporters, and perhaps a few individuals  who
had gained entrance through the courtesy of some of the district judges,
was a partisan of the 11(communists) who were on trial.

john gates, the editor of the daily worker, had been put on the stand more than a week before
as the first witness for the defense (of the communists), and now he was called again
for the eighth day.
at intervals during the preceding week difficulties had arisen.
gates himself had not caused much trouble until the day before,
but the lawyers for the defense had been more than usually intractable,
and Benjamin j. davis jr., the negro defendant who was also city councilman in new york,
had been especially obstreperous.

'its pretty hard, he had shouted at one time,
for the defendants to sit like bumps on a log while the court cuts the guts out of the defense!

'i consider that an extremely offensive statement, judge medina warned.

'well, the whole trial is offensive to me, davis retorted , continuing to argue and object.

'if you insist on being disorderly, the judge remarked,
i shall remand (put back in prison) you for the remainder of the trial.

threatened so definitely with jail, davis sat down;
and during the days that followed, the trial had gone on with little more wrangling,
except that gates, also, had almost been remanded for contempt (of court).
this had been on the day before, when he had refused to answer a question.

'we have a man here, the judge had explained,
who insists on being his own counsel. (this one of the 11 had dismissed his lawyer,
with the judge's permission)
he is not learned in the law, and for his own protection i excuse the jury.

the judge had then explained that having taken the oath as a witness,
gates could not choose which question he would or would not answer.
at first, despite the explanation, gates seemed inclined to continue to refuse,
but harry sacher (one of the 5 remaining lawyers representing the communists)
advised him to reply to the question,
and when the jury had been called back he had done so.
now, as the next morning session of the court began with gates still on the stand,
the cross examination went quietly for a time.
in the course of the questioning, the witness testified that three members
of the party's national veterans' committee had helped him prepare a
postwar pamphlet for veterans.

'who are they? mr. mcgohey (the prosecuting attorney for the government) asked.

'these people are engaged in private industry, gates replied.
i will not disclose their names because they will lose their jobs.

'i ask the court, mr. mcgohey began after a pause,
to instruct the witness to answer.

'strike out the answer (that gates had just given),
judge medina instructed the court stenographer, and then he turned to gates.

'answer the question, he ordered.

harry sacher leaped to his feet.

'i advise him of his constitutional right to refuse, he shouted.

'i repeat my direction, said the judge.

'on the grounds of the first and fifth and tenth amendments i decline to answer,
gates replied.
'i would have to bow my head in shame and i could never raise my head
in decent society if i ever became a stool pigeon even under the courts direction.

'strike out the answer, ordered the judge.

'would the court please tell the witness he has no such right? asked mr. mcgohey.

'i do so advise him, said the judge.

gates still refused and an argument began in which
all the lawyers for the defense attempted to join.
the jury was consequently excused,
and judge medina quietly turned to the man on the witness stand.

'now, mr. gates, he began, pursuant to the authority vested in me
by title 18 of the united states code, section 401...
i now adjudge you guilty of wilful and deliberate contempt
and by reason thereof i sentence you as follows:
you are to be remanded until you have purged yourself of your contempt
for a period not to exceed 30 days.

the words were hardly spoken when the courtroom was filled with an angry roar.
almost as one man the whole room rose,
with hardy a person remaining in his seat
except judge medina,
the counsel fro the prosecution,. the startled gates,
and the occupants of the press section.
the defendants, their lawyers, the observers who filled the room,
leaped to their feet in a pandemonium of sound.
with arms waving, one or two of the defendants advanced toward the bench
a step or tow,
almost as if threatening the judge,
and amid the angry uproar only an occasional voice,
here and there,
could be hear more clearly than the rest.

'it was only by the help of the good Lord, judge medina later told me,
that i was able to carry on that day.
i really felt that Somebody was helping me.
in all that excitement i felt perfectly calm.
i did not raise my voice.
and i know that my unguided will alone was unequal to that test.
if ever a man felt the presence of Someone beside him,
strengthening his will and giving him aid and comfort,
i felt it on that day.

henry winston (one of the communists defendants) was shouting more loudly than most,
and judge medina listened carefully, noting what he said, getting it down on the record.

'more than 5000 negroes have been lynched in this country-

'now, mr. winston, the judge said quietly.

'-and the government of the united states should be ashamed for bringing in this monstrosity.

'mr. winston, the judge repeated in a voice that was almost lost in the furor,
i hereby direct that you be remanded for the remainder of the trial.

the courtroom was still filled with noise-with voices-
with a scrape of chairs and the shuffle of feet.
deputy marshals who had been on duty at alger hiss perjury trial
which was being conducted in an upper courtroom, came hurrying down.
they moved rapidly  to the rail -stood tense and watchful
as the defendants and their lawyers alike kept up their angry shouting.

'it sounds more like a kangaroo court than a court of the united states, shouted gus hall.
(another communist defendant)
i've heard more law and more constitutional rights in kangaroo courts.

'now let me see, remarked the judge. ' this is mr. hall?

he paused for a moment.

'mr. hall, he went on quietly.
you are hereby remanded for the balance of the trial.

more argument followed , but the judge's
quiet confidence
and his controlled voice
began to have its effect/
the shouting among the onlookers in the courtroom lessened.
the visitors fell silent
-listened
-sat down.
only the defendants and their lawyers still remained standing.
the noise was greatly less,
but eugene dennis was still shouting,
apparently bent on forcing the judge to remand him to jail with the others.

'mr. dennis, the judge remarked.
don't you remember that i told you i was going to treat you as one of the lawyers?
i have tried to stick to my determination not to do anything to counsel.
they may do whatever they choose and take the consequences in due time.

(good to his word after the guilty verdict was given to all 11 defendants by the jury,
judge medina said,
'i will now proceed to judgment, he went on and
listed the lawyers again, one by one, with the contempts charged against them
and their punishment.
harry sacher - six months
richard gladstein - six months
george w. crockett, jr. -four months
louis f. mccabe - thirty days;
abraham j. isserman - four months
eugene dennis - six months

isserman was the first to speak, and excitedly insisted that the finding
'was unwarranted by anything that took place during the trial.
sacher followed shouting his comments and finally referring to 'the price of liberty.

'it is not the price of liberty, the judge replied calmly.
it is the price of misbehavior and disorder.)

the judge paused and then leaned forward.

'i think, he added, that it would be much better if you all sat down.

dennis lowered his voice and turned toward his fellow defendants,
apparently  telling them to sit down, and, as david snell described in in the new york sun,
'they took their seats immediately, like a well disciplined platoon.

sacher and gladstein asked for a stay of the order remanding the defendants.
mccabe insisted that no contempt had been intended.
but the judge refused the requests
-denied the motions that were offered.
his order remained in effect and when, a few minutes later, a recess was ordered,
gates, hall and winston were taken into custody by the marshals.