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
External links
- Text of Wilkinson v. United States, 365 U.S. 399 (1961) is available from: CourtListener Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Oyez (oral argument audio)
- Looking at Wilkinson v. United States in light of Wilkinson v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Frank Wilkinson, Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review Vol. 33:681 January 2000
- § 192. Refusal of witness to testify or produce papers 2 U.S.C. § 192
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