Biography
Joseph Baltrusaitis was a Lithuanian worker from St. Louis imprisoned at Leavenworth after distributing Communist literature. The April 11, 1924 Daily Worker reports his actual commitment following affirmance of a conviction on appeal. It dates his arrest to November 1920 and his two-year sentence to October 1921. The American Civil Liberties Union sought a pardon, arguing that the wartime Espionage Act was being applied to postwar political speech and that Baltrusaitis could neither read nor write English. The newspaper says a government detective requested the pamphlet; that account and the ACLU's criticism are attributed rather than treated as judicial findings.
Joseph Baltrusaitis was a Lithuanian worker from St. Louis imprisoned at Leavenworth after distributing Communist literature. The April 11, 1924 Daily Worker reports his actual commitment following affirmance of a conviction on appeal. It dates his arrest to November 1920 and his two-year sentence to October 1921. The American Civil Liberties Union sought a pardon, arguing that the wartime Espionage Act was being applied to postwar political speech and that Baltrusaitis could neither read nor write English. The newspaper says a government detective requested the pamphlet; that account and the ACLU's criticism are attributed rather than treated as judicial findings. Two years imposed in October 1921; actual Leavenworth confinement reported after appeal. Neither the exact physical admission nor release nor time actually served is established. The article's relative phrase last month is not converted into a calendar admission date.
The Daily Worker, April 11, 1924, original page 3, New Political Prisoner Sent to Leavenworth.
The Missouri report dates his indictment May3,1921, conviction October24,1921, and reports him on$6,000supersedeas bond pending appeal. This supports the political-publication case, not actual imprisonment throughout the appeal interval. [PDF42]
Government Prosecutions under the Espionage Act, Senate Document159 (March1922), PDF page 42.
