Ellen Grusse

Released
Date of birth:June 1946
Era:1970s
State:Connecticut
Time Imprisoned:
7 Months 6 Days
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Biography

Ellen Grusse was a New Haven feminist imprisoned for refusing federal grand-jury testimony in 1975. Two civil-contempt proceedings resulted in separate periods of confinement.

Contact’s May 7, 1975 report individually names Ellen Grusse among the two Hartford witnesses similarly jailed for refusing grand jury testimony. Attorneys Robert Sedler and Judith Peterson accused the Justice Department of using the grand jury to compel answers that witnesses could legally decline to give FBI agents. That criticism is attributed to the lawyers. The report supplies no exact jail-entry or physical-release day and does not establish an additional custody episode. Source: https://www.houstonlgbthistory.org/Houston80s/Voice/Contact/contact_19750507.pdf#page=11

Cases

Charges: Civil contempt for refusing grand-jury testimony — 28 U.S.C. §1826
Sentenced: Feb 19, 1975
Incarcerated: Mar 5, 1975
Released: Apr 1, 1975
Sentence: February 19 contempt order; execution stayed. Actual confinement March 5 to April 1, 1975. This was coercive civil custody, not a criminal conviction.
Judge: Jon O. Newman
Charges: Second civil contempt for refusing grand-jury testimony — 28 U.S.C. §1826
Sentenced: Jun 6, 1975
Incarcerated: Jun 10, 1975
Released: Dec 19, 1975

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