Biography
James Edward Jackson Jr. was a Black Communist organizer and editor indicted under the Smith Act in 1951. After living underground, he surrendered on December 2, 1955 and was held for $20,000 bail while awaiting trial. He was convicted in 1956, but the court of appeals reversed the conviction in 1958 before he began the sentence. A grand jury jailed Jackson for contempt on March 9, 1962 after he refused questions about Communist Party activity and the court imposed a six-month term; the reviewed record does not give his release date or confirm how much of that term he served.
