Julius Reiss

Era:1930s
State:Louisiana
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Biography

Julius Reiss was Louisiana Communist Party state secretary. In his first-person account, six New Orleans detectives led by Captain Harry O. Gregson raided the licensed People's Book Store, 130 Chartres Street, without producing a warrant on May 26, 1937, seized roughly 5,000 books and pamphlets and arrested him as a dangerous and suspicious character with no visible means of support. After release on bond he was rearrested May 31 under a state disturbing-the-peace act, specifically for possessing and offering literature allegedly alarming people nearby. The statute's other listed offenses are not all charges against him. Police Superintendent Reyer said complaints concerned books advocating racial equality. Following public protests to Mayor Maestri and Governor Leche, the mayor announced return of the books and dismissal of all charges. The exact final physical release is unprinted. These are two separate custody episodes. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/southernworker/v5n16-jul-00-1937-sw.pdf#page=7

Cases

Charges: Political bookstore raid and literature prosecution; first suspicious-character count, second disturbing-the-peace count.
Arrested: May 26, 1937
Sentence: Julius Reiss was Louisiana Communist Party state secretary. In his first-person account, six New Orleans detectives led by Captain Harry O. Gregson raided the licensed People's Book Store, 130 Chartres Street, without producing a warrant on May 26, 1937, seized roughly 5,000 books and pamphlets and arrested him as a dangerous and suspicious character with no visible means of support. After release on bond he was rearrested May 31 under a state disturbing-the-peace act, specifically for possessing and offering literature allegedly alarming people nearby. The statute's other listed offenses are not all charges against him. Police Superintendent Reyer said complaints concerned books advocating racial equality. Following public protests to Mayor Maestri and Governor Leche, the mayor announced return of the books and dismissal of all charges. The exact final physical release is unprinted. These are two separate custody episodes. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/southernworker/v5n16-jul-00-1937-sw.pdf#page=7
Charges: Political bookstore raid and literature prosecution; first suspicious-character count, second disturbing-the-peace count.
Arrested: May 31, 1937
Sentence: Julius Reiss was Louisiana Communist Party state secretary. In his first-person account, six New Orleans detectives led by Captain Harry O. Gregson raided the licensed People's Book Store, 130 Chartres Street, without producing a warrant on May 26, 1937, seized roughly 5,000 books and pamphlets and arrested him as a dangerous and suspicious character with no visible means of support. After release on bond he was rearrested May 31 under a state disturbing-the-peace act, specifically for possessing and offering literature allegedly alarming people nearby. The statute's other listed offenses are not all charges against him. Police Superintendent Reyer said complaints concerned books advocating racial equality. Following public protests to Mayor Maestri and Governor Leche, the mayor announced return of the books and dismissal of all charges. The exact final physical release is unprinted. These are two separate custody episodes. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/southernworker/v5n16-jul-00-1937-sw.pdf#page=7

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