HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017208.jpg
2.42 MB
Extraction Summary
7
People
6
Organizations
5
Locations
3
Events
3
Relationships
4
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Manuscript / legal memoir (draft or excerpt)
File Size:
2.42 MB
Summary
This document appears to be a page from a memoir or legal narrative, likely by Alan Dershowitz (referenced in the footnote), produced during House Oversight proceedings. The text recounts the author's legal work during the Vietnam War era, specifically his involvement in high-profile First Amendment and anti-war protest cases, including the defense of the Chicago 7 lawyer William Kunstler, Harvard students, and Stanford professor Bruce Franklin. It details the author's perspective on the conflict between national security and civil liberties during that period.
People (7)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Dershowitz | Author (Implied) |
The narrator ('I') describing his legal career; footnote cites 'Dershowitz, Stretch Points of Liberty'.
|
| Dr. Benjamin Spock | Defendant |
Antiwar leader prosecuted for conspiracy; author played a consulting role in his defense.
|
| Reverend William Sloan Coffin | Defendant |
Antiwar leader prosecuted for conspiracy alongside Spock.
|
| William Kunstler | Defense Lawyer |
Lead defense lawyer for Chicago 7; held in contempt; author helped appeal his sentence.
|
| Berrigan brothers | Defendants |
Radical leaders of draft resistance; author was asked to defend them but was fired.
|
| Bruce Franklin | Professor / Defendant |
Professor of English literature at Stanford; fired for political activities; represented by author via ACLU.
|
| Frank Snepp | CIA Agent / Author |
High ranking CIA agent who wrote 'Decent Interval'; sued by CIA for not submitting manuscript for approval.
|
Organizations (6)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| New York Times |
Publication where the author wrote an article about the Spock case.
|
|
| Harvard University |
Site of 1969 anti-war protests; author represented students against the university.
|
|
| Stanford University |
Employer of Bruce Franklin; stripped him of tenure.
|
|
| American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) |
Organization on whose behalf the author took Bruce Franklin's case.
|
|
| CIA |
Central Intelligence Agency; sued Frank Snepp.
|
|
| House Oversight Committee |
Implied by the document stamp 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017208'.
|
Timeline (3 events)
1968
Democratic Convention demonstrations leading to the 'Chicago 7' trial.
Chicago
Chicago 7
William Kunstler
1969
Anti-war protest at Harvard leading to violence and student disciplinary actions.
Harvard University
Harvard students
Author
Post-Vietnam War
Locations (5)
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
|
Subject of the war and protests discussed.
|
|
|
Location of 1968 Democratic Convention and 'Chicago 7' trial.
|
|
|
University campus (Cambridge, MA).
|
|
|
University campus (California).
|
|
|
Country mentioned regarding withdrawal from Vietnam.
|
Relationships (3)
I was part of the legal team assembled to prepare the appeal of that contempt order.
I took his case on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
I was asked to work on the defense of that case, but was 'fired'...
Key Quotes (4)
"I played a consulting role in the defense of Dr. Spock and eventually wrote an article for the New York Times about the case after the convictions were reversed on appeal."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017208.jpg
Quote #1
"I was asked to work on the defense of that case, but was 'fired' by one of the more militant defendants when he learned that I was a Zionist."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017208.jpg
Quote #2
"One was accused of 'giving the finger' to a speaker. Another was accused of shouting 'no silence in the face of death,' when the speaker requested a moment of silence for soldiers killed in combat. We won both cases."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017208.jpg
Quote #3
"It was the first political firing of a tenured professor by a major university since the terrible days of McCarthyism."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017208.jpg
Quote #4
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (3,196 characters)
4.2.12
WC: 191694
WC: 191694
I was asked to help confront this challenge early in my career in several important cases pitting national security against the First Amendment.
These early cases grew out of our disastrous experience in Vietnam, and I observed at close range the ravages of war on our freedoms at home.
The first major Vietnam case was the conspiracy prosecution against Dr. Benjamin Spock, the Reverend William Sloan Coffin, and several other antiwar leaders. I played a consulting role in the defense of Dr. Spock and eventually wrote an article for the New York Times about the case after the convictions were reversed on appeal.
The most publicized and notorious of the Vietnam protest cases was the conspiracy prosecution against the "Chicago 7" growing out of demonstrations during the 1968 Democratic Convention. After the trial of that case, the lead defense lawyer—William Kunstler—was held in contempt of court and sentenced to four years imprisonment. I was part of the legal team assembled to prepare the appeal of that contempt order. We won.
Another major prosecution was against the Berrigan brothers and other radical leaders of the draft resistance movement. I was asked to work on the defense of that case, but was "fired" by one of the more militant defendants when he learned that I was a Zionist.
The bitterness of the Vietnam War spread rapidly over college and university campuses. What began as peaceful teach-ins and protests soon turned to confrontations and violence. In 1969, there was an anti-war protest at Harvard that led to violence and several years of continuous turmoil on that venerable campus. These events led the university to attempt to suspend or dismiss numerous students. I represented several of these students against the university. One was accused of "giving the finger" to a speaker. Another was accused of shouting "no silence in the face of death," when the speaker requested a moment of silence for soldiers killed in combat. We won both cases.
At Stanford University the leader of the antiwar group was a professor of English literature named Bruce Franklin. He was a Maoist, a Stalinist, and an advocate and practitioner of direct action, including violence. As a result of several speeches he gave and activities in which he participated, the Stanford administration decided to strip him of tenure and fire him. It was the first political firing of a tenured professor by a major university since the terrible days of McCarthyism. I took his case on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
As the war was winding down and the United States was deciding to withdraw from Vietnam, the CIA was given a major role in overseeing the American evacuation. One of the highest ranking CIA agents in charge of the operation was Frank Snepp. Snepp wrote an uncensored account of his experiences—taking care, however, not to disclose any classified material. He refused to submit his manuscript for prior "approval" by the CIA, as required in his employment contract. When his book entitled Decent Interval was published the CIA sued him, and the case eventually
41 See Dershowitz, Stretch Points of Liberty
121
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017208
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