Abstract
In the midst of the McCarthy era, eleven national leaders of the American Communist Party were arrested under the provisions of the Smith Act. Their case, Dennis v. United States, eventually rose to the Supreme Court, where a sharply divided Court ruled 6-2 to affirm the convictions of the eleven. The case sparked five written opinions: the plurality opinion of Chief Justice Fred Vinson, concurring opinions from Justice Frankfurter and Justice Jackson, and dissenting opinions from Justice Black and Justice Douglas. Though the Court's ruling enjoyed immense contemporary approval, as the century comes to a close, the Dennis ruling is now considered exceedingly deficient. The Court is typically accused of allowing or even encouraging the excesses of McCarthyism.This analysis seeks to better understand the actions of the Court during this trying time in American history. The analysis focuses on the written text of the Dennis decision, which is mined to uncover the arguments and counter-arguments made by the justices in attempting to decide the case. The analysis focuses on the plurality opinion of Chief Justice Vinson, and the manner in which the subsequent four opinions responded to Vinson's arguments. The analysis uncovered definite mistakes performed by the five justices, misinterpretations which are difficult to judge without knowledge of the author's intent, strategic restraint by the two dissenters, and the important influence of official impediments at the hands of judicial constraints. Lastly, several conclusions are offered concerning the judicial rhetoric, the anti-communism debate, and the role of the Supreme Court in the American democracy.
Carcasson, Martin (1998). The Cold War Court: a rhetorical analysis of the Supreme Court's debate concerning the American Communist Party in Dennis v. United States, 1951. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1998 -THESIS -C364.