Chicago Conspiracy Contempt Briefs; 1. Brief on Behalf of David Dellinger et al., Appellants, Brief on Behalf of Bobby Seale, Appellant (portions), 3. Amicus Brief

New York: The Center for Constitutional Rights, 1972. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Wraps. Good. Various paginations. [2], v, (1), 388, a - h, (1), 4-6, 17, 49 - 54, 119 -151, 178, (1), 2 --6 pages. Footnotes. Cover has some wear, soiling, and discoloration. The Chicago Seven (originally Chicago Eight, also Conspiracy Eight/Conspiracy Seven) were seven defendants—Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner—charged by the United States federal government with conspiracy, crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot, and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War and countercultural protests in Chicago, Illinois during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The Chicago Eight became the Chicago Seven after the case against co-defendant Bobby Seale was declared a mistrial during the trial. All of the defendants were charged with and acquitted of conspiracy; Hoffman, Rubin, Dellinger, Hayden, and Davis were charged with and convicted of crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot; Froines and Weiner were charged with teaching demonstrators how to construct incendiary devices and acquitted of those charges. All of the convictions were later reversed on appeal. While the jury deliberated, Judge Julius Hoffman convicted the defendants and their attorneys for contempt of court and sentenced them to jail sentences ranging from less than three months to more than four years. These convictions were later reversed on appeal, and some were retried before a different judge. From the beginning of the trial, the defendants and their attorneys have been represented in a variety of art forms, including film, music, and theater. In 1968, counterculture and anti-Vietnam War protest groups began planning protests and demonstrations in response to the Democratic National convention, and the city promised to maintain law and order. The protesters were met by the Chicago Police Department in the streets and parks of Chicago before and during the convention, including police violence against protesters, reporters, photographers, and bystanders that was later described by the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence as a "police riot". Chicago's security forces prepared for the protests during the convention. Besides the standard gun and billy club, Chicago Police Department officers had mace and riot helmets. For the convention, the CPD borrowed a new portable communications system from the military, thus increasing communication between field officers and command posts. All summer long, police officers had received refresher training on crowd control and riot techniques. During the convention itself, Police Academy instructors were with the reserve forces, giving last minute reminders. Mayor Daley, citing intelligence reports of potential violence, put the 12,000 members of the Chicago Police Department on twelve-hour shifts, while the U.S. Army placed 6,000 troops in position to protect the city during the convention and nearly 6,000 members of the National Guard were sent to the city, with an additional 5,000 National Guard on alert, bolstered by up to 1,000 FBI and military intelligence officers, and 1,000 Secret Service agents. During the evening of August 28, 1968, with the police riot in full swing on Michigan Avenue in front of the Democratic party's convention headquarters, the Conrad Hilton hotel, television networks broadcast live as the anti-war protesters began the now-iconic chant "The whole world is watching". On November 21, 1972, all of the convictions were reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which found Judge Hoffman erred in not asking potential jurors about political and cultural attitudes or about exposure to pretrial publicity, that he improperly excluded evidence and testimony, and that his failure to notify the defense of his communications with the jury was ground for reversal. The court further noted, "the demeanor of the judge and the prosecutors would require reversal even if errors did not." In January 1973, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it would not pursue any further prosecution. On May 11, 1972, in a separate proceeding, the same panel of judges declared some of the contempt charges against the lawyers to be legally insufficient, and the court reversed all other contempt convictions, which were remanded for retrial before another judge. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the personal nature of the conduct at issue required all of the contempt charges to be tried before another judge, and that each appellant whose sentence exceeded six months was entitled to a jury trial on the charge. The contempt charges were retried before a different judge, who found Dellinger, Rubin, Hoffman, and Kunstler guilty of some of the charges, but did not sentence any of them to jail or fines.