Ole Fagerhaugh v. United States

Appellant was indicted for contempt of Congress, 2 U.S.C.A, § 192, for refusing to answer a certain question asked of him when he appeared as a witness before a sub-committee of the Committee on Un-American Activities of the House of Representatives of the United States, holding hearings in San Francisco on Friday, December 4, 1953. Appellant’s motion to dismiss the indictment was denied. Upon his plea of not guilty he was tried before the court without a jury and found guilty.

Appellant was fined $100.00 and sentenced to imprisonment for one month. This appeal was taken from that judgment and sentence thereon.

The indictment charged a refusal by appellant to answer a pertinent Committee question concerning where he was then employed.

At the Committee hearing its counsel asked appellant, “Where are you employed ?” It was a refusal to answer this question that became the basis of the indictment. After some colloquy between Committee members and appellant (in which counsel for the Committee and appellant also joined) appellant stated he would not answer as the Committee “is already fully aware of where I am employed.” Appellant then added that he would not be “a party to dragging…