Powell
Powell v. United States Dept. of Justice
Opinion
Opinion
Patel, J.
OPINION RE IN CAMERA REVIEW
Plaintiff John Powell, his wife Sylvia Powell and Julian Schuman were journalists residing in China both before and after the 1949 Chinese Revolution. During the Korean War they were editors of the China Monthly Review, an English language journal published in China, which contained articles critical of the United States’ conduct in the war. When the Powells and Schuman returned to the United States in 1953, they became victims of McCarthyism and the anti-communist zealotry then prevalent in Washington. They were subpoenaed to testify before various congressional committees, and high officials in the government called for their prosecution. In 1956 the government indicted the Pow-ells and Schuman on charges of sedition based solely on the content of the articles they published in the China Monthly Review. Trial finally commenced in 1959 and ended in a mistrial a few days after the government had begun its case in chief. Immediately thereafter the government filed a superseding indictment charging the Powells and Schuman with treason, a capital offense, and sedition. Two years later, in 1961, the government dismissed this indictment.