Biography
Joe Morris was a tiff miner and strike leader in Potosi, Missouri. The Daily Worker, February 18, 1936, page 5, in a February 17 dispatch, reports that he had been released from jail following imprisonment for contempt of court. During the previous year’s strike, Morris had argued at strike meetings that Judge E. M. Dearing should be impeached for orders against picketing. Another judge tried him without a jury; an appeal confirmed the decision, and a $50 fine was imposed. Unable to pay, Morris was jailed until he purged the contempt by paying. The American Civil Liberties Union appealed and supported a challenge concerning jury trial and criticism of judges. Release is reported as accomplished, but its day, the original arrest day and actual duration are unknown. The possibility of indefinite imprisonment is not recorded as a life sentence. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1936/v13-n042-NY-feb-18-1936-DW-Q.pdf