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Maurice McCrackin

Released
Date of birth:1905
Date of death:1997
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1950s
State:Ohio
Time Imprisoned:
15 Days
Support
Anti-War
Maurice McCrackin

Biography

The Rev. Maurice McCrackin was a Cincinnati minister who for ten years refused to pay federal income taxes because he would not 'buy guns or bombs.' In 1958 federal agents carried him bodily before a commissioner; indicted in November, he was jailed for an indefinite contempt term, went on a hunger strike, and on Dec. 12 was convicted of refusing an IRS summons and sentenced to six months and a $250 fine.

Separate ten-day Williams International confinement in 1983

The December 16, 1983 report individually identifies Maurice McCrackin as held for ten days during the late-November/early-December Williams International protests in Michigan because he refused to cooperate with the court. A not-guilty plea was entered for him and he was then released. Exact arrest, jail-admission and discharge days are not printed, so the action-week dates are not assigned as his endpoints. This is distinct from the existing 1958 tax-resistance and 1984 GE cases.

The Nuclear Resister No22, December 16, 1983, original page 1.

National Guardian's December 15, 1958 report identifies Judge John H. Druffel and says McCrackin refused to enter either a guilty or not-guilty plea. It describes county-jail custody beginning November 24. The June 15, 1959 retrospective distinguishes the six-month sentence and $250 fine from actual federal confinement described as five months and four days. It says an anticipated April 29 release was extended by 30 days after he refused to pay the fine, and confirms actual parole on May 29. The federal-prison description is not treated as the entire county-plus-federal custody total; the nominal six-month served-time override is removed without inventing a new aggregate.

Original contemporary source, PDF pages 4.

The retrospective report distinguishes federal confinement, the nominal sentence, fine-related extension and actual parole.

National Guardian, June 15, 1959, PDF page 5.

Cases

Charges: Refusing an IRS summons; contempt of court (war-tax resistance)
Arrested: Sep 12, 1958
Sentenced: Dec 12, 1958
Incarcerated: Nov 24, 1958
Released: May 29, 1959
Sentence: Initial September 12, 1958 arrest followed by release; not counted as continuous confinement. Actual county-jail admission November 24, 1958 documented in National Guardian, December 15, 1958, p. 4: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/national-guardian/1958-12-15-11-9-nat-guardian.pdf. Six-month sentence and $250 fine imposed December 12, 1958; actual parole May 29, 1959 confirmed in National Guardian, June 15, 1959, p. 5: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/national-guardian/1959-06-15-11-35-nat-guardian.pdf. September arrest and release documented in National Guardian, September 29, 1958: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/national-guardian/1958-09-29-10-50-nat-guardian.pdf. Later accounts of Christmas Eve sentence service or January 31 Allenwood arrival are not the first county-jail admission. The six-month term is the imposed sentence, not an exact aggregate actual-service override. National Guardian, June 15, 1959, page 5 describes five months and four days in federal prison, separately from the earlier county-jail confinement; precise aggregate service remains unresolved.
Judge: John H. Druffel
Convicted: Yes
Plead: Refused to enter a guilty or not-guilty plea
Charges: 1984 General Electric Evandale anti-nuclear trespass prosecution and failure to cooperate with court proceedings.
Arrested: May 11, 1984
Sentenced: May 16, 1984
Incarcerated: May 11, 1984
Released: May 16, 1984
Sentence: Initial April17,1984 GE protest arrest followed by release. After failure to attend May2trial, warrant issued and later re-arrest brought actual jail admission on 1984-05-11. Trial May16 resulted in seven-day sentence with time-served credit. Actual release 1984-05-16 explicitly reported. Seven is imposed term/credit, not an asserted actual7day total. Source: https://media.nukeresister.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/NR026_19840802small.pdf#page=2
Sentence: The December 16, 1983 report individually identifies Maurice McCrackin as held for ten days during the late-November/early-December Williams International protests in Michigan because he refused to cooperate with the court. A not-guilty plea was entered for him and he was then released. Exact arrest, jail-admission and discharge days are not printed, so the action-week dates are not assigned as his endpoints. This is distinct from the existing 1958 tax-resistance and 1984 GE cases.
Charges: May 28,1985 Peace Pentecost White House anti-nuclear protest
Arrested: May 28, 1985
Incarcerated: May 28, 1985
Released: May 30, 1985
Sentence: Individually arrested May 28, jailed after noncooperation, and unconditionally released two days later. Contemporary participant report alleges police mistreatment; no numeric whole-day counter inferred.