Chicago Seven (originally eight)

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May 23rd, 2009 at 08:54pm
(mostly) From Wikipedia...

The Chicago Seven (originally Eight) were seven defendants. Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner. Who called themsefs yippies (Youth International party) were charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to protests that took place in Chicago, during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Bobby Seale had his trial severed during the proceedings, lowering the number from eight to seven.

The Democratic National Convention, convened to select the party's candidates for the November 1968 Presidential election – was the scene of massive demonstrations protesting the Vietnam War. Thousands of people showed up to protest. Police and national guard forces were violent and used tear gas, struck people with batons, and made arrests. These clashes between protesters and the police continued to escalate over the next few days. A grand jury indicted eight demonstrators and eight police officers.

Early in the course of the trial, Black Panther Party activist Bobby Seale hurled bitter attacks at Judge Hoffman in court, calling him a "fascist dog," a "pig," and a "racist,. Seale had wanted the trial postponed so that his own attorney, Charles Garry, could represent him (as Garry was about to undergo surgery); the judge denied the postponement, and refused to allow Seale to represent himself, leading to Seale's verbal onslaught. When Seale refused to be silenced, the judge ordered Seale bound and gagged in the courtroom, Ultimately Judge Hoffman severed Seale from the case, sentencing him to four years in prison for contempt, one of the longest sentences ever handed down for that offense in American history at that time.

The defendants mocked courtroom decorum One day, defendants Hoffman and Rubin appeared in court dressed in judicial robes. Abbie Hoffman blew kisses at the jury. Judge Hoffman became the favorite courtroom target of the defendants, who frequently would insult the judge to his face. Both Davis and Rubin told the Judge "this court is bullshit."

On February 18, 1970, all seven defendants were found not guilty of conspiracy Two (Froines and Weiner) were acquitted completely, while the remaining five were convicted of crossing state lines with the intent to incite a riot, a crime instituted by the anti-riot provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. They were each fined $5,000 and sentenced to five years in prison

On November 21, 1972, all of the convictions were reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on the basis that the judge was biased in his refusal to permit defense attorneys to screen prospective jurors for cultural and racial bias.The Justice Department decided not to retry the case. During the trial, all the defendants and both defense attorneys had been cited for contempt and sentenced to jail, but all of those convictions were also overturned. The contempt charges were retried before a different judge, who found Dellinger, Rubin, Hoffman, and Kunstler guilty of some of the charges, but opted not to sentence the defendants to jail or fines.Of the eight police officers indicted in the matter, seven were acquitted, and charges against the eighth were dismissed.

Sorry about all the background info on this Laughing


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The main questions are..

Do you think the trail was fair?
Was it wrong for them to mock the court or is it just freedom of speech?
Was it approprate for them to protest?
Did the police overreact to the incedent?

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