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Wilkinson v. United States

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Wilkinson v. United States
Argued November 17, 1960
Decided February 27, 1961
Full case nameFrank Wilkinson v. United States
Citations365 U.S. 399 (more)
81 S. Ct. 567; 5 L. Ed. 2d 633
Court membership
Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · Felix Frankfurter
William O. Douglas · Tom C. Clark
John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr.
Charles E. Whittaker · Potter Stewart
Case opinions
MajorityStewart, joined by Frankfurter, Clark, Harlan, Whittaker
DissentBlack, joined by Warren, Douglas
DissentDouglas, joined by Warren, Black
DissentBrennan, joined by Douglas
Laws applied
2 U.S.C. § 192

Wilkinson v. United States, 365 U.S. 399 (1961), was a court case during the McCarthy Era in which the petitioner, Frank Wilkinson, an administrator with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, challenged his conviction under 2 U.S.C. § 192,[1] which makes it a misdemeanor to refuse to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry for any person summoned as a witness by Congress. The petitioner's conviction was sustained in a 5–4 ruling, upholding a prior ruling in Barenblatt v. United States.

The petitioner was indeed summoned to testify before a Subcommittee of the House of Representatives' Un-American Activities Committee, which was investigating alleged Communist infiltration into basic industries and Communist Party propaganda activities. The petitioner refused to answer a question as to whether he was a member of the Communist Party, contending that the Subcommittee lacked legal authority to interrogate him and that its questioning violated his First Amendment rights. He was convicted of a misdemeanor violation of 2 U.S.C. § 192.[1] The Court also, on February 27, 1961, denied Braden v. United States, a companion case appealing a similar 2 U.S.C. § 192 conviction.

The underlying activities of the FBI and government agencies later resulted in a case, Wilkinson v. FBI,[2] in which it was revealed that the FBI believed the witness that provided the assertion of Wilkinson's association with the Communist Party was "unreliable and emotionally unstable."[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b 2 U.S.C. § 192.
  2. ^ Wilkinson v. FBI 633 F. Supp. 336 (C.D. Cal. 1986)
  3. ^ Books.Google.com
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