Biography
C. R. Griffin was a lumberjack from Bellingham, Washington. C. R. Griffin was convicted at the mass IWW trial in Chicago, sentenced to five years in prison and fined $30,000. He served in the Cook County Jail and Leavenworth Penitentiary from December 1917 to April 1918 and from September 7, 1918, to July 22, 1920.
The March 1920 One Big Union Monthly prisoner roster, under the printed name GRIFFIN , C. R., reports: Federal. Indicted Chicago, Sept. 28, 1917. Conspiracy to violate Sections 6, 19 and 37 and Section 4 of Espionage Act. Convicted, 5-year sentence. Bail, $5,000. Leavenworth Federal prison. This is the contemporary labor organization’s account. Indictment, bail and imposed sentence are distinguished from physical admission, actual release and complete time served; no missing custody endpoint is inferred. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/one-big-union-monthly/v02n03-mar-1920_One%20Big%20Union.pdf#page=11
1920s custody-date review: Kohn distinguishes an earlier jail interval ending in April 1918 from the later penitentiary term. These intervals are recorded separately at month precision where exact days are not supplied; the gap is not counted as imprisonment.
Source: Stephen M. Kohn, American Political Prisoners, page 103.
The March1922 official report lists C. R. Griffin in List1 of convicted prisoners or parolees. The government entry reports Conspiracy and violating the espionage act. a sentence of August 30, 1918, 5 years Leavenworth Penitentiary.. Imposed terms, projected term-expiration dates, parole eligibility and intervals on bond are different measures; none is entered as a complete actual custody total. This attributed government entry is retained alongside the independently established individual chronology. [PDF9] The report expressly records release on parole July22,1920. [PDF9]
Government Prosecutions under the Espionage Act, Senate Document159 (March1922), PDF page 9.
