THE CHICAGO SEVEN
By the 1960s, however, turmoil over American involvement in the Vietnam War had shifted the spotlight to the political stage, as student radicals made their positions clear in the streets. Tension over the war simmered during the summer of 1968, during which the Democratic Party held their convention in Chicago. Well-known activists such as Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, and Tom Hayden publicized their intent to conduct demonstrations at the convention, while at the same time, Mayor Daley broadcast his intention to restrict the protests. Five thousand demonstrators were met by almost twenty thousand police officers, who soon began to break up the protests through the use of violence, akin to a "police riot." As the violence continued over several nights and was broadcast live on network television, America's attention turned from the political events inside the convention hall to the war zone developing outside.
In March 1969, Dave Dellinger, Rubin, Hoffman, Hayden, and four others were indicted for conspiracy under the 1968 Civil Rights Act, which made it a crime to cross state lines with the intention of inciting a not. After Bobby Scale's defense was separated, the defendants became known as the "Chicago Seven." The defendants hoped the trial would focus attention on the immorality of the Vietnam War, while the prosecution attempted to demonstrate the existence of a left-wing radical conspiracy.
From the beginning, the defendants faced an uphill battle. The judge, Julius Hoffman, presided over a jury selection that resulted in, as one trial observer put it, a jury that looked like "the Rolling Meadows Bowling League lost on their way to the lanes." William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass, the defense attorneys, had submitted a lengthy list of questions for jury selection, but Hoffman utilized only one of their questions. Consequently, after the trial, biased jurors voiced opinions that the defendants should have been convicted "on their appearance, their language, and their lifestyle." One juror even suggested that the activists should have been "shot down by the police."
Not surprisingly, given the personalities of the defendants, the Chicago Seven trial often resembled a circus. For example, the defendants would sometimes shout directly at the judge, show up for trial attired in blue jeans and beads, sit with their feet on the table, eat jelly beans, or sleep. The defense suggested that aspects of the prosecution's supposed conspiracy were merely jokes—the defendants' threat to put LSD in the Chicago water supply, for instance. The defense also suggested that it was ridiculous to even imagine all of the activists reaching an agreement on basic tactics, let alone working together, as Abbie Hoffman said, "Conspiracy? Hell, we couldn't agree on lunch."
The jury initially deadlocked, but after stern instructions from the judge to try again, they compromised and found the defendants guilty of crossing state lines to incite a riot, but not guilty of the conspiracy charges. Judge Hoffman sentenced each to five years in prison, in addition to the stiff sentences he imposed for their 159 counts of contempt of court. Interestingly, defense attorney Kunstler also received a sentence of four years and thirteen days for contempt. All convictions would eventually be overturned by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, based largely on the unfair method by which Judge Hoffman selected jurors.
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