Biography
Henry Winston was One of twelve Communists sentenced under Dennis v. United States.
Henry M. Winston, a leader of the communist Workers' Party, along with eleven other party leaders were found guilty for advocating the violent overthrow of the United States. None of the defendants ever directly advocated to overthrow the government, but the prosecutor claimed that by supporting an ideology that advocated for violence, they also did by extension. The defendants claimed that their First Amendment freedom of speech rights were violated and they served no "clear and present danger to the nation".
They were found guilty and each sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court who affirmed the lower court's verdict.
White reports that following recapture and imprisonment in the Smith Act case Winston became permanently blind and disabled from a brain tumor which prison officials waited two years to treat adequately. This is the historian’s account of prison medical neglect, without a new custody date or second duration.
Ahmed White, Under the Iron Heel (University of California Press, 2022), physical PDF pages [242] (printed page = physical minus 11); source193 SHA256 7c24fb0ba336fcbf379fb9720f70dcdbf754d796a50dee77b39e38e0f9bd2868.
