Famed Playwright Arthur Miller Convicted of Contempt of Congress
The noted American playwright Arthur Miller had appeared before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) on June 21, 1956, and refused to answer questions about his political affiliations on First Amendment grounds.
On this day, Miller was found guilty of contempt of Congress, denied a passport, and sentenced to a $500 fine or 30 days in jail. He never spent any time in jail, however, and his conviction was reversed on August 7, 1958.
At this time, there was no established First Amendment right not to testify before a legislative committee. In the HUAC investigation of alleged communist influence in Hollywood in 1947, members of the Hollywood Ten simply refused to answer the question about their alleged Communist Party membership and were convicted of contempt and sentenced to prison. Amendment. In the 1951-1952 HUAC investigation of Hollywood, a number of witnesses refused to testify claiming Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
Contempt of Congress indictments became a heavy weapon against alleged subversives during the Cold War. While it had rarely been used before World War II, HUAC issued 21 contempt citations in 1946, 14 in 1947, and 56 in 1950. All other House Committees in those years issued a total of only 6 contempt citations.
The fact that many other people invoked the Fifth Amendment led anti-communist hardliners to condemn them as “Fifth Amendment Communists.” As a result, a major political controversy over the Fifth Amendment, one of the cornerstones of the Anglo-American system of justice, and there were powerful calls to revise it. Harvard Law School Dean Erwin Griswold gave an eloquent defense of the amendment on February 5, 1954 and later turned his remarks into a short book.
Miller had earlier written the play The Crucible (January 22, 1953), equating the anti-Communist hysteria of the Cold War with the infamous Salem Witch trials (see June 10, 1692). Miller’s play Death of a Salesman is widely regarded as one of the greatest American plays.
Read Arthur Miller’s famous play: Arthur Miller, The Crucible (1953)
Watch an interview with Miller on the 300th anniversary of the Salem Witch trials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulT8phOxSWU
Read Arthur Miller’s autobiography: Arthur Miller, Timebends: A Life (1987)